HOLMES INSTITUTE Session 5 Develop and Design Complex Text Documents This session introduces the advanced features of OpenOffice.org Writer about the merging of a standard letter with selected addressees to produce a set of specific letters to particular customers. The session also introduces the printing of envelopes. It is followed by a practice of producing information sheet of multi-column design. 1. Mail Merge In business environment, there are often situations that correspondences with similar contents are to be sent to a group of customers. For example, an organisation needs to send letters of collection to customers who won prizes of a lucky draw. The letter may look like: 18 September 2017 Mrs. Helen Kwong 38 Prince Edward Road Mongkok, Kowloon Dear Mrs. Kwong, Collection of Lucky Draw Prize It is our pleasure to invite your presence to collect the lucky draw prize. Please bring along with you this letter and call on us at 1328 King s Road, North Point during 9am to 6pm, Mondays to Fridays, on or before 30 October 2017. Yours truly, Ludwig Alphas Customer Services Manager HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 1 of 8
A similar letter would be needed for the customers. So, the company may have a list like: Title First Name Last Name Address Line 1 Address Line 2 Gender Mr. Samuel Tong 435 Queen's Road East Wanchai, Hong Kong M Mrs. Helen Kwong 38 Prince Edward Road Mongkok, Kowloon F Mrs. Linda Ko 20 Ko Lok Road Wanchai, Hong Kong F Mr. William Yuen 72 King's Road North Point, Hong Kong M To automate the above process, mail merge is the advanced function to be used. The procedures include: Write a letter (like the letter on page 1) without the customer details Perform mail merge to input addressee details Review layout and generate the letters 1.1 Write a Letter Start with a new text document. Write the contents of the letter without the customer details. Practice Create the letter and save the file as prize.doc. Keep it being opened. 1.2 Start Mail Merge Click the Mail Merge Wizard in the Tools menu. Click Next >> to continue. Ensure that Letter is selected, click Next >> to continue. HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 2 of 8
Click Select Address List and then click Create to start inputting customer data as below. After finishing one record, click New to add next record. Upon completion of all records, click OK and save the list with a file name, e.g. customers. Then, edit the format of the address block as below. Review the resulting form using < or > buttons. Click Next >> to continue. HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 3 of 8
Now, edit the salutation to show a correct one according to the gender. Click Next >> to continue. Adjust the positions of the address box and salutation, if required. Click Next >> to continue. It comes to the final chance that one can edit the document for all addressees. Upon finishing, click Next >> to go to Step 7 and then Next >> to go to Step 8. Finally, select Save merged document and Save as single document. Click Finish to close the Mail Merge function. Practice Perform the above steps to produce the merged letters. Save them as prizes.doc HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 4 of 8
2. Design Choices On top of the technical knowledge of knowing how to prepare the merged letters or documents, it is also important to consider the choices in designing complex text documents. In general, the design choices include: Balance Diversity Relative positioning of graphics and headings Simplicity Text flow Typography In details, the balance refers to the use of text, paragraphs, page layout, and graphics. One may consider writing a core message in one or more paragraphs. It is not suggested to write more than one core message in a single paragraph. Moreover, a long paragraph can further be divided into multiple paragraphs. Keep each paragraph as short as 6 lines. Allow sufficient spaces in page layout. Ensure there are sufficient page margins and logically appropriate pagination (page break and keep lines together). Diversity refers to the use of font type, colour, and size. For the font types, there are business-like font types such as Arial, Courier, etc. The Times New Roman font is more likely for text books or academic literature while other font types may be suitable for casual purposes like sports, entertainments, and children. Concerning the relative positions of graphics and headings, it is important to align such objects with text body in a harmonic tone. Consistency is the key. One may keep using leftjustified headings throughout the document or even throughout the entire set of documents. Also, it is suggested to give each graphic a caption. It is good for describing the object as well as creating the Table of Figures. Simplicity does not mean going against the above listed choices. It refers to the reduction of complexity but not diversity. Keeping the use of different elements to a reasonable scope is the key to success. A company colour scheme is a good example of simplicity. It tells staff members as well as customers which set of colour can be expected and the ways being used. It prevents staff members using other set of colour which may from time to time similar to those used by competitors. Consider the colour scheme of Mannings Health and Beauty being orange and white. It would not be good to use green and white which is the colour scheme of Watsons Chemist. HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 5 of 8
Text flow refers to the approaches that an organisation may specify. For example, when writing correspondences to customers, there are choices of direct approach and indirect approach. Direct approach would highlight the purpose upfront and tell the customers about what to do next. Indirect approach would explain a situation and induce the customers to take into consideration of the projected products and services. Finally, typography refers to the design of presentation styles from font type to design theme. Organisations may design their own font type, name card, letterhead, envelope, web site, and even packaging materials. 3. Envelopes If a letter is to be sent to a customer by mail, an envelope should be prepared. It is not acceptable to write the addressee and mailing address by hand. It is acceptable to type them using a typewriter. However, it is difficult to find a typewriter now. Therefore, the only efficient way is to make use of OpenOffice.org Writer to print envelope(s). The function of Envelope can be found in the Insert menu. Under the first tab (Envelope), enter the addressee details. If the envelope does not have company logo and address, enter Sender information. Go to the second tab (Format), select the appropriate size (format) of the envelope, e.g. #10 Envelope is the common one with approximate 10.16cm x 22.86cm. HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 6 of 8
Finally, go to the third tab (Printer), select the appropriate orientation of the envelope. There are a total of 12 orientations of the envelope. Six orientations for printers printing on the top while another six for printers printing on the bottom side of the inserts. Of each six orientations, there are three for landscape and three for portrait. Make sure the correct one is chosen. Otherwise, one may waste up to 11 envelopes. This sign can be found inside a paper tray of a printer. Make sure the orientation of paper or envelope is loaded correctly. 4. Multiple Columns For a single page leaflet, it is seldom to put all text in single lines across the width of the page. On the contrary, there are columns to separate the text and may have clip art for better presentation. One may also make use of 3-column setting to produce fan-fold leaflet. To set columns for a few paragraphs of a document, it is suggested to type the text in normal setting first. Once all text has been completed, the said paragraphs can be selected. Then, click Format menu and click Columns to display the following window. The number of columns can be selected. Line between columns can be set to give the column marks more significant. HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 7 of 8
However, if a whole-page style is to be used, it is suggested to set the 3-column style before typing in the text. When typing the text, observe how the text moves from the first column to the second and so on. If special font effect is required, click the Fontwork Gallery button tool bar. See demonstration of using Fontwork Gallery. of the Drawing Practice Try to create a fan-fold leaflet which may look like. The core message of the above leaflet is to invite staff members to join the 10 th Anniversary Camp to be held in Shenzhen, China. When it is folded together, one-thirds of the page can be seen. It is the ship, heading, and location in text. After opening it, the programme details are shown. The administrative procedures are listed on the right side. Students are suggested to create a fan-fold leaflet as shown. - End of Session 5 - HIAB170701 Session 5 of 10 Page 8 of 8