Address labels with LibreOffice

A few times a year, I have to print mailing labels from an Excel spreadsheet. I use Ubuntu, so I have LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office. Unfortunately, it's a little tricky to get mailing labels out of, and I always forget the magic incantation by the next time I have to do it. Several descriptions I found online are incomplete or out of date.

What is the recommended way to take addresses from a spreadsheet and print them on mailing labels?

Solution 1:

I finally found some workable instructions that load the addresses directly from the spreadsheet.

1. Save the spreadsheet in ODS format. Make sure there are text labels at the top of each column.
2. Choose File: New: Database.
3. Select Connect to an existing database.
4. Change “JDBC” to “Spreadsheet”, and click Next.
5. Browse for the spreadsheet you just saved with the addresses in it, and click next.
6. Deselect “Open the database for editing”, and click Finish.
7. Name and save your Data Source as a database file in ODB format.
8. Choose File: New: Labels.
9. Delete old fields from the template, if there are any.
10. Select the database you just created from the Database dropdown.
11. Select a sheet in your spreadsheet from the Table dropdown.
12. Select a field like name or address from the Field dropdown.
13. Click the arrow to insert the field in the label template.
14. Select and add any other fields to the label template. You can also add extra spaces or other text by typing in the template.
15. Select the labels you want to print on from the Brand and Type dropdowns.
16. Swith to the Options tab and select Synchronize contents, if you want to be able to edit the labels later or add extra formatting.
17. Click New Document.
18. Choose File: Print.
19. Click Yes to “Your document contains address fields. Do you want to print a Form Letter?”
20. Set output to a file so you can preview before printing.
21. Choose Save as single document, and click OK.
22. Open the saved file and print it.