I have a need to print envelopes using a list of addresses in csv/Numbers format. A bit of googling indicates there is not a native mail merge capability within Pages. I see at least one recommended workaround though it seems convoluted.
Before I research further and begin tinkering I thought I would ask this group. Any recommendations for best approach for this? If absolutely necessary I can use Word/Excel on my work MacBook, but would prefer not. Tips? thanks in advance – jay
I’d be interested to know this too.
Frustratingly enough, iWork 2009 had this feature, but it was lost when Pages/Numbers were “updated” to match the iOS versions, and Apple has never bothered to add it back in.
(I think it took them like 7 years to add “View Two Pages At Once” so maybe it will appear “someday”… but I wouldn’t hold my breath.)
Yes, frustrating.
I just pulled out my work MacBook and fired up Word. As expected, the usual and customary mail merge features are there. That may end up being my best option… would rather not do this there, but at the same time I know it will work and won’t require all sorts of crazy AppleScript!
Tried doing this a year ago with an email and just ended up using excel, word, and outlook. It appears and to do this with the iWork suite requires some AppleScript and I didn’t feel like trusting some random script online to do this communication for me.
Try LibreOffice (free). I’ve used it in the past and it works well. Here is one of many links that give instructions. https://www.bettertechtips.com/office/mail-merge-libreoffice-writer/.
It is frustrating that Apple hasn’t added the capability back to Pages. I teach workshops for both Pages and Numbers and the question always comes up about mail merge. I have to say that it can’t be done!
I want to say that Avery have a free web tool to do this. I know I used they to do something years ago. The plus is that they know exactly the dimensions of their labels. Worth checking there.
I had someone do this type of mail merge once for me, and this is how it was done.
Nisus Writer Pro has a quite flexible and customizable mail merge but if you just need it once off, I’d use Word.
I use a custom NWP merge to randomize the order of answers and questions on exams and it works great.
thanks for the responses.
While not driven directly off of a csv/numbers sheet, but thought I’d share. The contacts app and Cardhop both have the ability to do all of this driven by your contact list from within the print dialog. I kept looking for the best way to do this with contacts. Came across this when trying to do holiday cards a couple months back. You could load the csv into a contact list.
+1 for LibreOffice. Especially if you can get 90+% of your work done in “iWork”. For the rare occasions where you need more capabilities, no need to buy Word/Excel.
Wow I had never seen that envelope printing feature before. Cool, thanks.
I know! It’s really a shame that it’s not obvious, and works great for the simple things.