You can insert a serial number in any Publisher publication. If you are distributing software, for example, you can create serialized diskette or CD-ROM labels. This article explains how to create serial numbers for labels. First, use Excel to create a spreadsheet with the serial numbers. Next, design a your label or other publication in Publisher. Then, use Mail Merge in Publisher to print the numbered publications.

To create serial numbers in Excel

1. Open a new Excel spreadsheet.
2. In cell A1, type Serial Numbers.
3. In cell A2, type the number for the first serial number.
4. In cell A3, add 1 to the number you entered in cell A2, and type that number.
5. Click cell A2, and then press SHIFT while clicking cell A3.
6. Click the fill handle in the lower-right corner of the highlighted area, and drag it down the column until you reach the final serial number you want.
7. On the File menu, click Save, and note where you save the file.
8. On the File menu, click Exit.

To design your disk label in Publisher

1. Open the Publisher Catalog.
2. On the Publications by Wizard tab, click Labels.
3. Click Computer Disk or Compact Disc.
4. Click Start Wizard.
5. Replace placeholder information with your text and graphics.
6. On the Objects toolbar, click the Text Frame Tool, position the mouse pointer where you want the text frame for the serial number to appear, and drag the mouse diagonally until the frame is the size you want.
7. Type a sample serial number in the new text frame, and then adjust the formatting and position of the number.
   The sample should have the same number of digits as the largest serial number in your Excel spreadsheet.
8. On the File menu, click Save.

To merge serial numbers with the disk label you designed

1. On the Publisher Mail Merge menu, click Open Data Source.
2. Click Merge information from another type of file.
3. In Files of Type, click Microsoft Excel (*.xls), select the Excel spreadsheet you just created, and then click OK.
4. When asked, Do you want to use the entries in the first row of your data as field names?, click Yes.
5. In the Choose Sheet or Table dialog box, type Sheet1, and then click OK.
6. In your label, highlight the sample serial number.
7. In the Insert Fields dialog box, highlight Serial Numbers, and then click Insert.
8. Click Close.
9. On the Mail Merge menu, click Merge.
10. Preview your labels, and then click Close.
11. On the File menu, click Save.

After previewing your labels, you may want to adjust your formatting and layout. To preview your labels again, click Show Merge Results on the Mail Merge menu.

To print your serialized labels

• On the File menu, click Print Merge.

For More Information

For help using mail merge, click Microsoft Publisher Help on the Publisher Help menu, and then type mail merge in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab.