Created:  02/22/2012

How to Create a Simple Letter

Go to Tools>>Merge Setup

• Enter a unique Code for the letter/form

• • Codes cannot be changed after they are saved

• Enter a unique Description

• • Descriptions may be changed at any time.  Descriptions must be unique.

• Select a Letter Type of Standard Employee Letter/Form

• Enter the number of Pages the letter will have

• • The number of pages can be edited later if needed

• Click the Pick Sample button and select an employee (optional - this will not be a permanent part of the letter but may help show some information during the design)

• Click the Design button to open the Edit Layout

• Click Cancel on the Project Wizard

• Uncheck Base and Following Pages under Layers on the upper left of the view

To include a letterhead shared component template (can skip if you do not have one setup or if you do want one on this letter)

• Go to Project>>Include and click the icon to open the dialog box

• • Browse to where the letterhead template is stored

  • Highlight the file and click open

  • Click OK (the letterhead should now be shown on the page)

To add the current Date (the letter/form will always print with the date the letter was printed)

• Click the text icon

• • Go to the page, hold down the left mouse button and draw a box where you want the date to be

  • Double click the box to open Paragraph Properties

  • Click the icon or double click the dotted lines

  • • Click the Date Format tab

    • Highlight a date style and click the Insert button

    • Click OK twice to close all dialog boxes - the current date will now be shown in the text box

  • The box can be moved anywhere on the page

To add an Employee's Address

• Click the + in front of the Employee folder under the List of variables on the right side of the view to open the list

• • Use the left mouse button to click Fullname - keep the button down and "drag" Full_Name over onto the page and release the button - a box will appear

  • • NOTE: The box will look empty in preview unless a "sample" was picked - but will have the head of household's full name when the letter is printed.

  • Further down the listing under Family find Address1 or Address2 lines - repeat the "drag" and drop action to drag unit or mailing address lines over - drop them into the same box that Fullname was dropped into

  • For City, State and Zip look for the City_State_Zip (do not add City, State, etc separately)and repeat the drag and drop process into the same box

  • Double click the box to open it

  • • Look at the order of the listed lines

    • Use the up or down arrows   to move lines that may be out of order, if applicable

    • Click OK to close the box

  • The box can be moved anywhere on the page

  • • Note:  Other variables can be "dragged and dropped" in the same manor and placed or moved around the page.

To add the body of the letter

• Click the formatted text icon on the left side of the view

• Go to the page and while holding down the left mouse button - "draw" a box for the body of the letter (the box position and size can be adjusted anytime)

• On the left side of the view under Properties (underneath Layers)

• • Change Page Break = Yes to No

  • • A formatted text box should always have the Page Break property set to No or forms/letters with more than one formatted text box will not print properly

• Double click the Formatted Text box to open it

• Type the information into the body of the letter - there is no spell checker - can do some formatting of the text, i.e. bold, underline, etc.

• • Information can also be copied from a Word document

  • • Open the Word document

    • Highlight the text that is to be copied

    • • use CTRL+C to copy the highlighted text

    • in the open Formatted Text box use CTRL+V to paste the text

• When information has been entered, click "Apply" and then "OK" to save the information and close the formatted text box

To add a merge variable into the body of the letter

• With the Formatted Text box open and the cursor where you want to have the variable appear

• Click the icon

Note:  Variables with a # sign need assistance to insert correctly - variables with an A usually do not

Number Variable:

1. • Click the Number Format tab

   • Highlight and insert the first number in the list -{Number} will be highlighted do not change that

   • Click the Data and Functions tab to open the list

   • Click the + beside the Variables folder to open the list

   • • Double click a # field

     • The highlighted {Number} will be replaced with the variable value (in our example it will show Fstr$(Employee.Local.Effective_Rate,"#####&.##") in the window and 0.00 below the window.  Note:  if we had selected a "sample" using the Pick Sample button we should see the employee's effective rate amount.

     • Click OK to close the Edit Function box and return to the formatted text box

   • Click Apply and OK to save the information and close the formatted text box when done

Finish the letter

• When the letter is completed, click   to close the Edit Layout, if information has not been saved, the user will be prompted to save changes, click Yes unless you do not want to save the information.

The letter template will be available to print from the Employee Master or Print Batch Letters.