Only get a red x after merging pictures

Anonymous
2010-04-14T02:24:00+00:00

My data source is an xlsx file and one field (PictureLocation) has the full path name of each jpg file I want to merge into a document.  I use this merge function:  {INCLUDEPICTURE "MERGEFIELD PictureLocation}"} which works fine except I only get a box with a small red x in upper left-hand corner where the picture should be.  I have tried F9, but to no avail.  What am I doing wrong or what have I set incorrectly?  I use VISTA and OFFICE 2007. dottybee

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2010-04-14T05:38:23+00:00

What is in the PictureLocation field?

The filepath separators need to be duplicated \ or you need to use / as a separator.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-06-23T21:40:08+00:00

    See the "Graphics from data base" item under the "Special merges" section of fellow MVP Cindy Meister's website at: http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/MergFram.htm

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-23T20:52:00+00:00

    So, I"m glad I'm anonymous here because I feel like an idiot.  BUt here goes.

    Let's just start with the sentence "In your mail merge data source,

    include a field for those filenames, using just the part that's different:

    Brown, Jones, Smith."

    In my mail merge data source, what am I supposed to do?  Like exactly what?

    The way my file looks now I have a picture holding a place in the upper left corner of page and I have three lines of fields centered right of the picture.  So I know how to insert fields for text but obviously I"m stuck figuring out how to do the picture kind.

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  4. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2010-06-21T18:53:52+00:00

    Sorry, I didn't realize you weren't the OP, as I'm posting via NNTP with read messages hidden and was going by the subject line. The INCLUDEPICTURE field can be inserted by using Insert | Picture and selecting "Link to File" (or the corresponding option in whatever version you're using).

    Let's say you have a folder full of pictures with the names of people: Brown.jpg, Jones.jpg, Smith.jpg, etc. In your mail merge data source, include a field for those filenames, using just the part that's different: Brown, Jones, Smith.

    In your mail merge main document, insert the IncludePicture field, selecting one of the photos; this will result in a field that will have the correct syntax and the entire file path needed for the photo. Then select just the first part of the filename (Brown, Jones, or Smith) and substitute a mergefield for the field that contains the filename.

    Let's say that you've called that field Photo. So you insert a photo from the folder and get a field such as:

    { INCLUDEPICTURE "C:\Documents and Settings\ProfileName\My Documents\My Pictures\RésuméPhotos\Jones.jpg" \d }

    You then substitute your mergefield and get this:

    { INCLUDEPICTURE "C:\Documents and Settings\ProfileName\My Documents\My Pictures\RésuméPhotos\{ MERGEFIELD Photo }.jpg" \d }

    When you perform the merge, the correct photo will be inserted, but, as noted, you may need to update fields to see the photos.

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