How to Create a Fill-in Form using OnMerge Images

Hold Ctrl+click to open sample

This is an example of a fill-in form which will be sent by several people, each with
a different name and signature (George in the screen shot below). When a user
double-clicks on the file to open it, Word asks for the sender’s name and
automatically changes the name of the sender and associated signature.

To do this merge, you will need:

 Photos for each sender named with this pattern: firstname-signature.JPG.
The examples shipped with OnMerge have images for names John,
George, Paul and Ringo.

Setting Up the Data Source

No data source is used in this example. The variable input comes from manual
user input each time a new letter is created from a template.

Setting up the Master Directory Template

We have included a pre-setup template for the above directory so you can easily
follow along these steps. Hold down the Ctrl key and click on this sentence to
bring up that template in another window.

Getting Started
 Type in the letter you wish to send, with blank lines where the signature
will go.
How to Create a Fill-in Form using OnMerge Images 1
Copyright © 2005-2010 OnMerge. All rights reserved.
 The text must include the words that will be used as variable fields by
OnMerge. In this example, the variable will be the word “George” in the
header. If you don’t want a particular variable to be visible in the letter,
simply place it on the page and make it white.

 Delete the word George, leaving the cursor in the same place.

 Press Ctrl + F9. Word will show the cursor inside of curly braces like this:
{ | }. Leave the cursor inside the braces and type FILLIN “Writer’s
name?” \o and press F9. The text inside the quotation marks can contain
whatever prompt text you want to show users when they’re prompted for
input, as shown below.

You’ll immediately see the dialog below, which you should answer as
shown and press OK (do not hit Enter instead).

The document will now contain the name you just entered on a gray
background.

 Carefully select the Word that was inserted by the fill-in field (e.g. Paul).
Select Insert + Bookmark. In the dialog, enter WriterName as the
Bookmark name, press Add.

 You have now created a fill-in field which will prompt the user for the
“Writer’s name” each time a new document is created from the template,
and you have wrapped the fill-in field in a Word Bookmark. We’ll now be
able to refer to the current value of the fill-in field by referring to the
bookmark WriterName in other parts of the document.

 Place the cursor in the space which you reserved for the signature line.
Click [Word 2002 & 2003: the button in the Mail Merge toolbar] or
[Word 2007 & 2010: Mailings + OnMerge Images] to activate the
OnMerge dialog box.

o Click Browse to tell OnMerge which folder your image collection is

located in. In this example, the folder is located in My
Documents\OnMerge Examples\ and click OK. There is no need

How to Create a Fill-in Form using OnMerge Images 2

Copyright © 2005-2010 OnMerge. All rights reserved.
 to select a specific image file, just the folder the images are located
in.

o In the first row under Type of name part, select Bookmark and
under Field Name, Bookmark or Text, select WriterName.

o The photos are named with person’s first name followed by “–

signature”. Click Field Name, Bookmark or Text, in the second
row and type -signature. You will immediately see the person’s
signature appear in the preview area.

o Click on the Options tab near the top of the dialog box.

o Select Merge blank image to make OnMerge insert blank space if

no picture is available for a given writer.

o Set Image Box Width to 4 and Height to 1

o Select OK.

 Save the document as a Word template [Word 2002, 2003 & 2010: File +
Save As. Enter a suitable file name. In the dialog, under Save as type,
select Document Template] or [Word 2007: Office Button + Save As +
Word Template]. Press OK

Using the Template

Users will be creating new documents based on the template you created. To do
so, they can double-click on the template document in Windows’ file manager.
They’ll be prompted for the writer’s name.

Alternately, they can create new documents from within Word:

[Word 2002 & 2003: File + New. On the selection bar that appears, under
heading New from existing document, click Choose document ] or [Word
2007: Office Button + New + New from existing] or [Word 2010: File + New +
New from existing].

Navigate to select the saved template and click OK.

Sizing Images?
Different images that you merge in the same spot may have different sizes and orientations. When
you actually do the merge, OnMerge will size the image to the largest possible size that your master
template supports.
There are two ways to tell OnMerge what that maximum image size is. 1) On the Options tab of the
OnMerge dialog, set Image Box Width and Height; or, 2) Drag the image’s corner so that it fills the
maximum width and height (image box) that the image could possibly occupy in your layout. As you
drag the corner, note that the image may appear distorted or stretched but OnMerge will correctly
resize the image as soon as you click outside it.
OnMerge will remember the maximum image box you just sized and use that size in the
merge even though it does not appear on-screen in the master template. This means that,
How to Create a Fill-in Form using OnMerge Images 3
unless all merged images have exactly the same proportions, you may end up with white or blank
Copyright © 2005-2010 OnMerge. All rights reserved.
space on sides or tops of the merged images since each merged image may have different
proportions than the maximum image box.