Using the LabelWiz

These are instructions for using the LabelWiz designer to create/design/customize mailing/shipping labels for use with your Sesame applications. For LabelWiz installation/setup instructions and an easy tutorial on using LabelWiz, click the LabelWiz Setup button on the LabelWiz form.

LabelWiz helps you quickly and easily design mailing label templates that you can link to any form in any Sesame application to print mailing and shipping labels, ID/name badges, and the like. You don't need to export your data. You don't need an external program. LabelWiz does it all — right from inside Sesame.

LabelWiz works with US Letter size portrait-oriented label sheets. It's not for dedicated label devices like the DYMO, Seiko and Brother labelers. It's not an envelope printer.

Label Name
Assign a unique name to each label definition. The Label Name should describe the type of label (such as Avery 5160), the number of labels per sheet (30 Up, for example) and optionally the application and/or form that it is designed for (such as Contacts). If you will be accessing your label definitions from different applications or forms with differently-named elements, add the application name and/or form name as part of the Label Name. The Label Name is what will appear on your pop-up menu when you click the Print Label button on your form, so you want to be sure you're selecting a label with the correct layout elements for that form.

If you use the Find Label button, the Label Name field will automatically be filled with a default name for the selected label. You can then modify this name as above.

The Label Settings tab

Import Label
The Import Label button displays a pick-list of available Avery label templates, including their product number, labels per sheet, rows and columns, label width and height, column gap and top and left margins. When you select a label sheet, you're prompted to import its specs into the current record. If you say 'Yes' and there are already specs in the record (on the Label Settings tab) they will be overwritten. Any data on any of the other tabs will not be affected.

You can always enter your label specs manually, and make small adjustments to them to accommodate your particular printer.

Cols, Rows, Labels per Sheet
Select the number of columns and rows for the label sheet you're defining. The Labels per Sheet field will then show the number of labels on the sheet.

Font, Font Size
Select the font from the Font dropdown, or type in a different font. If you type in a different font, it must be spelled exactly. Otherwise, the label will print in your computer's default font. When using a different font, if the font name begins with the letter B, I or P then type the font name in lowercase letters. A capital B specifies bold, a capital I specifies italics, and a capital P specifies bold/italics. For example, if you're specifying "Baskerville" as your font, then type in "baskerville". If you want it to print bold, then type in "Bbaskerville".

Select your font size from the Font Size dropdown, or type in your own font size. If you are printing to small address labels, such as the Avery 5160 where the label size is 2 5/8 inches wide and 1 inch tall, then you must use a small font size, such as 12. Also, on a small label like this, you should not print more than 6 lines on it. If you do, the last lines are liable to print on the label below it.

Label Width, Label Height, Column Gap, Top/Left Margins
These settings must be accurate for the label you are using. You can measure these using a good ruler with small divisions, but you're better off getting the settings from a label maker or by using the LabelWiz's Import Label button. The following site has a cross-reference chart for the most popular Avery label sheets.

http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/pageaverylabels.htm

Find the Avery label number you're using on the chart, click the Click here to view button, then click the Click here for dimensions link. Use the dimensions shown when defining your label. Round all three-decimal-place numbers to two decimal places.

Small adjustments to the above settings can get your label sheets to print precisely to most any sheet-fed printer. All printers are not created equal. Some have slightly larger or smaller "no-print" margins, some feed the sheets so that printing starts a little closer to or farther away from the sheet edge. LabelWiz provides a little extra "breathing room" so that anything you print is more likely to print inside the label (die) cut.

Printing Tips

  1. Test print on a plain sheet of paper.
     
  2. Hold the printed sheet squarely behind the label sheet and hold them both up to the light to check the alignment of your layout. Slight adjustments to the layout might be necessary.
     
  3. If the labels "creep" down the sheet, decrease the label height a bit. If the labels creep up the sheet, increase the label height a bit. 
     
  4. If the entire sheet is slightly misaligned, adjust the top and/or left margins slightly.
     
  5. When satisfied with the layout, print onto the label sheets.

The Merge Elements tab

Element Names for Label
Type your layout element names in the multi-line field. If the element name on your form is "First Name", then type in *First Name*. If you have elements named "First Name" and "Last Name", and you want them to print on one line, type:

*First Name* *Last Name*

All merge fields must be enclosed in asterisks.

Use the "+" character to force additional space, as in the following example:

*City* *State*++*Zip*

In this case, you are telling LabelWiz:

Print two spaces between the State and Zip.

To print a line of literal text, just type it without asterisks, as in this example:

To Be Opened by Addressee Only!

You can place literal text and merge fields on the same line, as in this example:

Name: *FName* *MI* *LName*
Company: *Company*

or, as in this example:

To be opened by *FirstName* *LastName* only!

Important:
NEVER use the "+" sign except to specify additional space.
NEVER use the ";" (semicolon) character anywhere in the layout.
NEVER use the "*" (asterisk) character except to denote a merge field.

If you are using the Define Label form with several applications that have different layout element names, or with one application that has multiple forms with different layout element names, then you will need to create a Label record for each such form. Take care that such records do not have the same Label Name as the programming will find the first label with that name and use it, and it might not be the label you wanted.

The Label Options tab

Your label options are as follows:

  • Image Path — Specify an image to print on the label. Type in the full path to the image file and Tab out of the field. If the image exists along the path you've entered, it will appear in the Image Preview box, scaled to fit the box's dimensions. (This will not likely be the image's actual size.) You can optionally double-click on the Image Preview box and select the image from your file system that way. If you're going to be using images in your labels, you should go into Application Properties in Designer and specify the path to your image files. The default is set to the Pics folder which is presumed to be a folder in your working directory, but you can change it. In any case, the Image Path field should contain the full path so that the image can be found by the programming when the label is printed.

    The image file must be a BMP, JPG or PNG. The image will print at 100% unless you specify the Width and Height. (See Downsize Image below.) Images can be resized/resampled in most any graphics program. Suppose your image is 3 inches wide by 1 inch high and you're printing to Avery 8164 shipping labels (4 inches wide by 3.33 inches high). Any image you specify will print starting in the upper left corner of the label. If you Shift (see below) your label text Down by 1.5 and Right by .50, the address block will print below the image with plenty of white space around it.
     
  • Downsize Image — Image Width & Height. You can specify the Width and Height of the selected image. These settings are useful if you need to scale the image down a bit to fit on the label after performing a Test Print. Scaling an image (called resizing or resampling) is best done in a graphics program such as Photoshop, Paint Shop, PhotoPaint or Microsoft Paint (on the Accessories menu in Windows), but you can do it on-the-fly in the LabelWiz to see the effect of the scaling. You cannot scale an image upward (increasing its size), only downward. You can use Test Print to see the effects of your image sizing.

    Note: If you specify a Width setting and leave the Height setting blank, LabelWiz will maintain the image's correct width-to-height aspect ratio for the reduced width you specified.
     
  • Shift Text — Shift the label text down and/or to the right. This feature provides an offset for the label address block, such as when printing addresses on large shipping labels. Use this feature to shift the text down and over to the right so it prints more in the center of the label. Shift Text is particularly useful on larger labels, such as the Avery 8164. This label is 4 inches wide by 3.33 inches high. If you shift the text 1.25 Down and 1.00 Right, a typical address block will print close to the center of the label.
     
    No
    Shift Text    		   Shift
    Text
    Down &
     Right
    text
    		 
    text

    Shift Text is required if you're including an image on your label, such as a company logo, or printing a Label Frame (see below). The image will print starting in the upper left corner of the label, so you'll need to Shift your address block to print below that and perhaps a bit over to the right. With a frame, you'll need to shift the text down and to the right a bit (or more) so it doesn't print on the frame.

    You can also use small Shift Text settings to compensate for the small variations that all printers have as to where they actually put the ink on the paper.
     

  • All UPPERCASE. This option converts your name/address block to all uppercase characters, which is a good idea since it aids postal workers with poor eyesight and increases the likelihood of delivery. With proportional fonts, printing in all uppercase (as well as printing in a bold font) takes up more label space. So you'll need to take this into account with small labels that might contain lengthy names or address lines.
     
  • Add Label Frame. This feature prints a frame around the outer perimeter of the label. You can optionally use this for larger labels where you know you have enough  "white space" around the outside of the label. Label frames are not recommended for small 3-across labels (such as the Avery 5160) because these labels have barely enough room as it is to print an address block. Click the Pick button to select a frame style from a popup list. You can then print a sample of the frame style to your default printer by clicking the Test Print button.
     
  • Print Down. This feature prints your labels down the page in a phonebook-like "snaking column" format (right-hand graphic below) rather than across the page (the default). If you sort your records before printing the labels (always a good idea in case you experience a jam or didn't provide enough label sheets and have to reprint) then the sort order will go down the first column and continue at the top of the next column.
     
    Print
    Across
    Sheet
    (default)    		   Print
    Down 
    Sheet
     
    1 2   1 4
    3 4 2 5
    5 6 3 6

     

  • Add PostNet Barcode. If you check this box, then you must have a "bars12" font installed in your system. Download the "bars12" font at http://www.savepostage.com for $10.00. If you check this box and don't have the "bars12" font in your system, then your labels will print with something like this below the address block:

    /926271275/

    For the PostNet barcode feature to work, your ZIPCode element (whatever it is named) must be the last element on the label with no literal text or extra carriage returns below it. PostNet barcodes are really only useful with ZIP+4 (9-digit) ZIP Codes. The barcode prints right below the address block.

The Buttons

There are three buttons near the top of the LabelWiz form. Here's what they do:

  • LabelWiz Setup — Click this button on for information on the options you have for setting up (configuring) LabelWiz to work with your forms. You'll also find an easy-to-follow tutorial exercise ("Test Drive LabelWiz") for printing a few labels using the included Customers database and sample labels. This tutorial takes just a few minutes to complete and will familiarize you LabelWiz rapidly.
     
  • Design Help — The button you clicked to display this document.
     
  • Test Print — Click this button to print a sample label that represents your design specifications so far. Use this button as often as needed to check your label design. DO NOT use this feature to check label alignment on a label sheet.

Label Page Print Preview
Previewing the first page of a sheet of labels before wasting paper is always a good idea. LabelWiz lets you select any available printer to print to. By default, the printer menu includes only your default printer, but you can add to the menu any printer in your system. A good "printer" for previewing the first page of a label print job is PDF995. For $10.00 you can download PDF995 at http://www.pdf995.com. Once you've installed it in your system, you will have a new printer named "PDF995" which you can add to your printer menu by using the Add Printer menu selection. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer if you use PDF995. Adobe Reader is available free at http://www.adobe.com.
Note: PDF995 will display only the first page of labels for a print job.

If you need technical assistance for LabelWiz, contact us at office@insidesesame.com. We may ask you to send us the application you are using to print labels so we can determine the cause of the problem.

For LabelWiz setup instructions, click the LabelWiz Setup button
near the top of the LabelWiz form.