Both of these turn a fixed document into something that reaches further — one by producing hundreds of variants, the other by bridging print and screen.
Mail merge to PDF
The merge itself is a Word feature and unchanged for years. The PDF part is where it gets awkward, because Word will merge to a printer, to email, or to a new document — but not directly to a folder of separate PDFs.
Merging to a new document gives you one file with every record, one after another, which you then export as a single PDF.
- Prepare the data as a spreadsheet, one row per recipient, with a header row.
- Build the template in Word and insert merge fields.
- Preview several records, including the longest names and addresses.
- Finish & Merge → Edit Individual Documents to produce one long document.
- Export that to PDF using Save as PDF.
- Split it if you need one file per recipient.
Step three is the one people skip. A template that looks right for "Jo Ng" breaks for a long double-barrelled name or a five-line address, and you find out after generating four hundred documents. Preview the extremes, not the first record.
One file per recipient
If each person needs their own PDF — which is usually the case for anything emailed — you either split afterwards or automate the merge.
Splitting works when every record is the same page count: merge to one PDF, then split every N pages. Split PDF handles that in the browser. It fails as soon as records vary in length, because the boundaries drift.
For variable-length records, a script is the honest answer — a Word VBA macro, or a small script driving a template. Naming is the part worth getting right: include the record identifier in the filename, because a folder of four hundred files called Letter1.pdf through Letter400.pdf is not usable by whoever sends them.
Data that breaks merges
| Problem | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers formatted by Excel | £1,234.50 becomes 1234.5 | Format as text, or use a numeric switch |
| Dates in the wrong order | 03/07 becomes 7 March | Use a date switch in the field |
| Empty fields | "Dear ," in the output | Conditional field, or clean the data |
| Leading and trailing spaces | Odd gaps in the text | Trim the source data |
| Accented characters | Garbled output | Save the source as UTF-8 |
Number formatting causes the most embarrassment because the output is still plausible. A price rendered as 1234.5 in a quotation reads as a mistake by the sender, and it will not be caught by a proofread of the template — only by looking at the merged output.
QR codes in printed material
A QR code is the only practical bridge from paper to a web page, and it fails in a small number of predictable ways.
Size is the first. A code needs to be at least 2cm square for reliable phone scanning at arm's length, and larger for anything scanned from further away — a poster read from two metres needs roughly 20cm. Below 2cm the scan failure rate rises sharply.
- Quiet zone. Clear space of four modules on every side. Text or a border crowding the code stops it scanning.
- Contrast. Dark on light. Inverted codes fail on many scanners, and low-contrast pairings fail on most.
- Vector, not raster. Place an SVG if you can, so print resolution is exact rather than resampled.
- Shorter URL, simpler code. Fewer characters means larger modules, which scan more reliably.
- Tell people what it does. A short label beside it measurably increases scans.
The quiet-zone rule is broken constantly by designers fitting a code into a tight layout. It is not a stylistic margin — the scanner uses that space to find the code's boundary, and without it detection fails before decoding begins.
Point it at something you control
A printed QR code cannot be changed. If it points directly at a campaign page and that page moves, every printed copy is dead.
Point it at a short URL on your own domain that redirects to the destination. The redirect can be updated at any time, the printed code keeps working, and you get scan counts as a side effect.
Add UTM parameters to the destination so the traffic is attributable — otherwise scans arrive as direct traffic and the print campaign appears to have produced nothing. UTM Builder assembles the parameters correctly, and QR Code Generator produces the code itself in the browser.
Getting the code into the PDF
Add it before exporting, not after. Placing an image into an existing PDF is fiddly; placing it in the source document is trivial and keeps the layout under control.
Generate the code, save it as PNG at high resolution or as SVG, insert it into the document, set the size in millimetres rather than by dragging, and export.
Then test the printed article, not the screen. A code that scans perfectly from a monitor can fail on paper because of ink spread, a low-contrast paper stock, or a scale that looked fine at screen size. Print one and scan it with an ordinary phone before committing to a print run.
Frequently asked questions
How do I mail merge to PDF?
Word cannot merge directly to separate PDFs. Use Finish & Merge → Edit Individual Documents to produce one long document containing every record, export that as a PDF, then split it if you need one file per recipient.
How do I get one PDF per recipient?
If every record is the same page count, merge to one PDF and split every N pages. If records vary in length the boundaries drift, so you need a script — a Word VBA macro or a template-driven job. Include the record identifier in each filename.
Why are numbers wrong in my merged documents?
Word takes the underlying value, not Excel's display formatting, so £1,234.50 arrives as 1234.5. Format the source column as text, or add a numeric picture switch to the merge field. The output stays plausible, so it is easy to miss.
What size should a QR code be in print?
At least 2cm square for scanning at arm's length. Scale up with distance — roughly 20cm for a poster read from two metres. Below 2cm the failure rate rises sharply.
Why will my QR code not scan?
Most often the quiet zone: the code needs four modules of clear space on every side, and the scanner uses it to find the code's boundary. Other causes are low contrast, inverted colours, too small a size, and a raster image placed at insufficient resolution.
Should a QR code point straight at the destination?
No. Point it at a short URL on your own domain that redirects. A printed code cannot be changed, so a direct link dies if the page moves. A redirect can be repointed at any time and gives you scan counts.
How do I track scans from a printed QR code?
Add UTM parameters to the destination URL before generating the code. Without them the traffic arrives as direct and the print campaign looks like it produced nothing. Combine with a redirect on your own domain so both the count and the destination stay under your control.