If you want to create a catalog that will list a small number of items, then you might want to start your catalog by selecting one of Publisher's pre-designed catalog publications. (In the New Publication task pane, click Publications for Print, click Catalogs, and then click the design that you want.)

You can replace the placeholder text and graphics in the pre-designed catalog publication with your own text and graphics. You can also customize the appearance of your catalog by changing the page layout, font scheme, or color scheme.

If you would like to create a large catalog that displays many items and you maintain records of these items in a spreadsheet, table, database, or another data source file, you can create catalog pages by using catalog merge to merge these records to a publication.

With catalog merge, you can merge multiple records from a data source into a single publication. You can use catalog merge to create pages for any publication that displays one or more items per page, such as a catalog, a directory, or a photo album. You can merge both text and pictures into your publication.

To create merged pages using catalog merge, start with a new, blank, one-page publication. This publication will become your catalog merge template. In your catalog merge template, you design the layout for the merged data in your final publication pages. You insert merge fields as placeholders for the information in your data source into the catalog merge area of your catalog merge template. When you complete a merge, the information in your data source populates these merge fields, and the catalog merge area repeats in the merged publication pages until all of the records from your data source are displayed.

When you complete a merge, you can add the merged pages to the end of an existing publication, or you can save the merged pages as a new publication. You can then edit these pages as you would any other Publisher publication. You can save your catalog merge template and use it again in the future to create additional sets of merged pages whenever you update the information in your data source.

If you plan to use the Mail and Catalog Merge Wizard to create content for your catalog, but you want to use the cover design from a pre-designed catalog publication, you can do so easily.

First, create a front and back cover for your catalog by selecting the pre-designed catalog publication that you want. Delete all but the first and last pages of the catalog, and then save and close the publication.

When you create your catalog merge template, be sure to set it up with the same page dimensions and page view (two-page spread) as the catalog cover. You can do this by selecting Booklet under Publication type in the Page Setup dialog box (File menu, Page Setup command).

When you complete your merge, click the option Add to existing publication, and select your saved catalog cover publication. Publisher adds the merged pages to the end of the cover publication. To rearrange the pages or move the back cover page to the end of the publication, click a page on the page sorter, and drag it to the location you want.