Install Label Maker Pro to your desired directory. To keep costs low, no installation program is currently included with Label Maker Pro. You will need to have a zip utility to uncompress the program from it's archive. Windows 98 contains such a utility built in, or you can look for other utilities on the internet (such as WinZip, or pkZip). If you would like shortcuts in your start menu, you will need to create a shortcut by right clicking on the executable, selecting "create shortcut", and moving the shortcut to your windows/start menu/programs directory.
When you first launch the application, you will be asked if you would like to associate .lbl (label files) and .lbf (label format files) with Label Maker Pro. By clicking on "yes", you will allow the program to be automatically launched when you click on one of these files. This is the recommended setting.
Next, you will be presented with a disclaimer. The application will not run unless you accept the disclaimer. Take the time to read the disclaimer, and if you are comfortable with continuing, click "Okay".
You will now be presented with the main application screen. There are 3 main divisions on this screen. At the top is your application toolbar, you will use these to adding text, and other fields to your label.
On the left side of the application is the field editor. All fields that you place on your label have several features that you can edit. These features will show up and disappear depending on which field you are editing.
On the right side of the application, you will see a grid over a white canvas. This is your label, and will be the primary work area where you can customize the label.
Before you start adding fields to your label, it is probably a good idea to set up your label and page dimensions. You can do this by selecting Edit->Custom Label Settings.
Using Edit->Custom Label Settings, you can customize your label size, margins, and gutter (the gap between labels on a page).
Customizing your label
* Measurement Units - Select between inches and centimeters.
* Label Dimensions - This is the size of your label, you can individually edit the width and height fields.
* Page Margins - Set the left margin to the size of gap between the left page edge and your first label. Set the top margin to the size of gap between the top page edge and your first label.
* Label Gutters - This is the size of gap between your labels. For the width gutter, enter the distance between the right edge of your first label and the left edge of your second label. If you label sheet only has 1 column, this amount should be 0. For the height gutter, enter the distance between the bottom edge of the top label, and the top edge of the label immediately below.
On the top right of the form, you will see the calculated label columns and rows for your page. This calculation takes into account the label dimensions, page margins, label gutters, and page size. If you want to select a different size page, or select a different orientation (landscape, portrait), then click on the print setup button.
Also pay attention to printer page limitations. Most printers are unable to print up to the very edges of the page. This is not a limitation of Label Maker Pro, but a limitation of your printer. If the label sheet your attempting to print to has margins smaller than your printer limitation, you are likely to see some of your label cut off. Most label manufacturers are diligent about trying to create labels that will print within most printer's limitations. If you run into a case where your labels are getting cut off, the only solutions are to try and use only the center portion of your label, selecting a different label stock with more acceptable margins, or switching to a printer with little or no page margin limitations.
* Basics
* Changing font
* Alignment
* Rotation
* Transparency
* Basics
* Changing font
* Alignment
* Rotation
* Transparency
* Basics
* Barcode Type
* Interpretation Line
* Scale (Auto Scale)
* Alignment
* Rotation
* Transparency
* Basics
* AutoSize
* Changing Shapes
* Line Size
* Pen Color
* Fill Color
* Fill Style
* Alignment
* Rotation
* Transparency
* Basics
* Maintain Aspect Ratios
* AutoSize
* Alignment
* Rotation
* Transparency You might notice that some objects are obscured by other fields. This is due to the Z order. The application draws each object in an order. You may change this order by selecting an object on the label, right clicking, and selecting "move to top" or "move to bottom". If your having trouble with an object that is behind another object, you may need to "move to bottom" the top object. Advanced fields are one of the most exciting features of Label Maker Pro. This option allows you to import text from a file, add a sequence number, a date time stamp, some text, or any combination of the above.
* Basics
* Text
* Imported Text
* Sequence
* Date/Time Stamp Label Maker Pro allows you to import text into your labels. Simply place a text, memo, or barcode field onto your label canvas. Select "Advanced Fields", and add a "imported field". Files must be in standard ASCII format, with a carriage return/line feed in between each row. You can select an import file at print time. When you select the file, the import file wizard will be displayed to help you choose the correct delimiters for your file.
* Rows
* Delimited Columns In the above example, the first label would use "John" for Field #1, "Doe" for Field #2, and "1234" for Field #3. The second label would have "Bob" for Field #1, "Smith" for Field #2, and "2345" for Field #3. The third and final label would have "Jack" for Field #1, "Miller" for Field #2, and "4321" for Field #3.
* Fixed Length Columns In the above example, the first label would use "John" for Field #1, "Doe" for Field #2, and "1234" for Field #3. The second label would have "Bob" for Field #1, "Smith" for Field #2, and "2345" for Field #3. The third and final label would have "Jack" for Field #1, "Miller" for Field #2, and "4321" for Field #3.
* Quote Characters In this example, the first label would use "LIAR LIAR" for Field #1, and "1234" for field #2. The second label would have "Color Purple, The" for Field #1, and "2345" for field #2. The final label would have "It's a wild and crazy world" for Field #1, and "3456" for field #2.
* Ignore First Line If "Ignore First Line" is checked then the first label would use "John" for Field #1, "Doe" for Field #2, and "1234" for Field #3. Otherwise the first label would use "First Name" for Field #1, "Last Name" for Field #2, and "Customer Number" for field #3. When you are done laying out your label, your ready to print. Either select print from the file menu, or click on the printer button. You will be shown the print dialog. Here you can select an import file if you're using and advanced imported text filed. You can also select your print range, from a page range, number of labels, or "All" (all is only for use with imported files). There's also an option to print duplicate label copies. Enter a multiple range if you want more than one copy of each label. When you are ready to print, click on "Okay". Any update's to this help file will be located at www.ichiku.com In order to get this product out in a timely fashion, we were unable to include any premade label format files with this release. We will try to most popular label formats available soon at our web site www.ichiku.com. You can help us update our list by emailing us any formats you've created and saved for any of the major brand label manufacturers. Please include the brand, identification number, and small explanation of what type of label. Email them directly to johnd@ichiku.com Limited e-mail technical support is available at johnd@ichiku.com. Currently, all e-mails are responded to with 1 working day. We will add additional support as the need grows. Ichiku Software is committed to your companies success. And we will try to find a solution for any problems you might encounter. Unlicensed copies of Label Maker Pro will automatically disable several key features after 15 days. You may register your copy by visiting www.ichiku.com and following the registration link. Registration fee is $30 US. By registering, you will receive a key to unlock your copy of Label Maker Pro for unlimited use. You will also be eligible for all future upgrades for absolutely free.
Adding Text
To add a text field to your label, click on the text button in your main form (represented by a capitol "A"). Your cursor should now change to an arrow with an outline attached. Position your cursor over the label canvas and click the left mouse button.
You should now notice a blank outline. This is where your text will appear. You will also notice on the left hand side of the application, an edit box (just below simple text). You can enter your desired text here. If you wish to add a complex field (such as text imported from a file, a sequence, or a time/date stamp) you can select the Advanced Fields option. For more information, see the "Working with Advanced Fields" help.
You will notice as you enter text that the size of the outline continues to grow toward the edges of the label. This is because you have "autosize" turned on. This is the default for the text field. If you wish to constrain the size of the text field, turn off "autosize" by right clicking on the text in the label, and deselecting "autosize".
You can change the font of the text by clicking of the font bottom (located by a "F" on the left of your screen). You should see the font changes applied to your text on the label.
All fields are able to be attached to corners of a label, and or be vertically and horizontally aligned. You can do this by right clicking on a field and selecting your desired alignment.
You can rotate your barcode 90, 180, or 270 degrees clockwise. Simply left click on the text field, and select your desired rotation.
You might notice that you can see the label's grid through the gaps in the text. This is transparency. You may wish for your text to appear opaque (nothing will show through the gaps). You can turn transparency off by right clicking on the text field and deselecting transparency.
A memo field is much like a text field. However, a memo field allows word wrapping, and hard carriage returns. To memo a text field to your label, click on the memo button in your main form (represented by a page graphic). Your cursor should now change to an arrow with an outline attached. Position your cursor over the label canvas and click the left mouse button.
You should now notice a blank outline. This is where your text will appear. You will also notice on the left hand side of the application, an edit box (just below simple text). You can enter your desired text here. There is also a new button by the text edit box. This button will bring up an editor where you can enter text including hard returns. If you wish to add a complex field (such as text imported from a file, a sequence, or a time/date stamp) you can select the Advanced Fields option. For more information see the "Working with Advanced Fields" help.
While your entering text, this time you will notice that the size of the outline does not grow outwards. This is because the "autosize" option is turned off. This is the default for the text field. If you wish to allow the memo field to freely expand downwards, turn on "autosize" by right clicking on the text in the label, and selecting "autosize".
You can change the font of the text by clicking of the font bottom (located by a "F" on the left of your screen). You should see the font changes applied to your text on the label.
All fields are able to be attached to corners of a label, and or be vertically and horizontally aligned. You can do this by right clicking on a field and selecting your desired alignment.
Rotation is not supported in Memo fields. Sorry.
You might notice that you can see the label's grid through the gaps in the text. This is transparency. You may wish for your text to appear opaque (nothing will show through the gaps). You can turn transparency off by right clicking on the text field and deselecting transparency.
Adding Barcodes
To add a barcode to your label, click on the barcode button in your main form (represented by a miniature barcode). Your cursor should now change to an arrow with an outline attached. Position your cursor over the label canvas and click the left mouse button.
You should now notice a blank outline. This is where your barcode will appear. You will also notice on the left hand side of the application, an edit box (just below simple text). You can enter your desired barcode text here. If you wish to add a complex field (such as text imported from a file, a sequence, or a time/date stamp) you can select the Advanced Fields option. For more information see the "Working with Advanced Fields" help.
You will notice as you enter text that the size of the outline continues to grow toward the edges of the label. This is because you have "autosize" turned on. This is the default for the barcode field. If you wish to constrain the size of the text field, turn off "autosize" by right clicking on the outline in the label, and deselecting "autosize".
You can select your desired barcode format on the left side of the application screen under "Barcode Type". Currently, Label Maker Pro supports most commonly used barcode formats (Code 39, Code 39 extended, Code 93, Code 128, EAN 128, UPC A, UPC E, UPC 2 digit Extension, UPC 5 digit Extension, EAN 13, EAN 8, Interleaved 2 of 5, and Postnet). Not all barcode formats allow letters to be entered, and some formats have other constraints. To see more information about barcode formats, see the "Barcode Formats" help.
The interpretation line is the line of text that appears directly above or below the barcode. You may turn this option off and on by checking the appropriate check box on the left of your screen.
The scale property is used to determine the smallest element in producing a barcode. Barcodes have a very limited tolerance for reading. It is recommended that you leave the "Auto Scale" option on. One thing to note is that if you use "Auto Scale", the barcode on your screen might not appear as wide as the barcode on the printout. This is because the screen lacks the proper resolution to show how the barcode should truly appear. When "Auto Scale" is on, always leave extra room on both sides of the barcode. Deselect "Auto Size" if you want to manually set the barcode scale size.
All fields are able to be attached to corners of a label, and or vertically and horizontally aligned. You can do this by right clicking on a field and selecting your desired alignment.
You can rotate your text 90, 180, or 270 degrees clockwise. Simply left click on the text field, and select your desired rotation.
Transparency is not supported for barcodes. Barcodes should never have anything appear between the bar sets. This will corrupt the barcode and cause it to be unscannable.
Adding Shapes
To add a shape to your label, click on the shape button in your main form (represented by a miniature square, circle and triangle). Your cursor should now change to an arrow with an outline attached. Position your cursor over the label canvas and click the left mouse button. You should now notice an outline around a square. This is the default shape.
AutoSize is not supported since the shape automatically fills the borders of the bounding rectangle.
On the left hand side of the application, several shape buttons have appeared. Click on the button corresponding to your desired shape.
This is the width of the line that the shape is drawn with. Select a size up to 9. For a size larger than 9, you should add a rectangle shape and fill it with black.
This is the color of the line that is drawn on the outside of the shape. Press the "Select Line Color" button to change from the default color (black).
This is the fill color for the shape. You may change the fill color by pressing the "Select Fill Color" button. Also note that when you have transparency turned on, the color white is always transparent.
Use this to change the brush style used to fill your shape. This is useful for painting hatch patterns.
All fields are able to be attached to corners of a label, and or vertically and horizontally aligned. You can do this by right clicking on a field and selecting your desired alignment. Note that since shapes always conform to the size of the selection rectangle, you won't see any effects by changing the vertical and horizontal alignment (except for the vertical and horizontal lines).
Rotation is not supported for shapes.
You might notice that you can see the label's grid through the gaps in the shape. This is transparency. You may wish for your shape to appear opaque (nothing will show through the gaps). You can turn transparency off by right clicking on the shape field and deselecting transparency.
Adding Images
To add an image to your label, click on the image button in your main form (represented by a very artistic rendition of a sail boat :-). Your cursor should now change to an arrow with an outline attached. Position your cursor over the label canvas and click the left mouse button. You should now notice a blank outline. This is where your image will appear. You will also notice on the left hand side of the application, an edit box with a button on the right side. Use this to load a graphic image.
After you have loaded an image you may notice that it does not entirely fill the selection rectangle. This is because "Maintain Aspect Ratio" is checked. By keeping this checked, your image will never scale out of proportions (the height and width will always be an exact ratio of the original image's height and width). Deselect this to option to allow the image to stretch to fill the entire selection rectangle.
This option is not supported for images. Images are automatically stretched or reduced to fit the bounding rectangle.
All fields are able to be attached to corners of a label, and or vertically and horizontally aligned. You can do this by right clicking on a field and selecting your desired alignment.
Rotation is not supported for images. Most image editors can accomplish this for you, and since they are designed for image manipulation, they can perform this action with much more accuracy than what is built in to this application.
Transparency is handled differently for images than all the other fields. When you add a new image, transparency is defaulted to off. You can turn it on by right clicking on the image and selecting transparent. Instead of white being the default transparent color, the color of the very bottom left pixel is used.
Z Order
Also take note that this is the same order that is sent to the printer. Thus if one object is overlaying another object, it will also appear that way on the printout.
Working With Advanced Fields
When you add a text, memo, or barcode to your label you may allow any of these objects to use advanced fields instead of simple text. Select the advanced fields option on the left of the application screen. By pressing the "Edit" button next to advanced fields, the advanced field editor will appear. To add an advanced field, first select your desired field, and press the button with a single arrow to the right. The list box on the right will show the field you've just added. You can remove a single field by selecting the field, and pressing the button with a single arrow to the left. You can remove all fields by pressing the button with 2 arrows to the left.
Advanced fields are added together from top to bottom to produce the final text that is printed. You can reorganize the fields in the list box by click and dragging a field in the list box to a new placement.
This option is for adding a simple text field.
Use this option to add text from a file. Label Magic Pro supports standard ASCII text files, such as those produced by the simple text application. See the "Importing Files" help for a more detailed description of these files.
Select the field number (the field number depends on it's position in the imported file). The field number 1 is the very first field from a file.
You can set the minimum size for the imported text. If the imported text is smaller than the minimum size, then extra pad characters are appended onto the end of the text field until it is equal to the minimum size.
You can also select what character to use for padding. A space is the standard default character.
Sequences are numbers that increase with each label printed. Select the starting value for a sequence, then the minimum and maximum values. When a sequence reaches the maximum value, restart at the minimum value.
You can also specify a minimum size for the sequence. Zeros are placed in front of the sequence number until the minimum size is reached. Thus, if your sequence's current value is 10 and the minimum size is set to 6, then the sequence will be printed as "000010".
The date time stamp uses your system time and displays it using the selected format specifiers. You may press the "?" button for a quick refresh of the available format specifiers. Listed below are the availble date/time format specifiers.
Specifier Displays
-------------------
"d" Displays the day as a number without a leading
zero (1-31).
"dd" Displays the day as a number with a leading
zero (01-31).
"ddd" Displays the day as an abbreviation (Sun-Sat).
"dddd" Displays the day as a full name (Sunday-Saturday).
"m" Displays the month as a number without a leading
zero (1-12).
"mm" Displays the month as a number with a leading
zero (01-12).
"mmm" Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec).
"mmmm" Displays the month as a full name (January-
December)
"yy" Displays the year as a two-digit number (00-99).
"yyyy" Displays the year as a four-digit number (0000-
9999).
"h" Displays the hour without a leading zero (0-23).
"hh" Displays the hour with a leading zero (00-23).
"n" Displays the minute without a leading zero (0-59).
"nn" Displays the minute with a leading zero (00-59).
"s" Displays the second without a leading zero (0-59).
"ss" Displays the second with a leading zero (00-59).
"am"/"pm" Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh
specifier.
"a"/"p" Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh
specifier.
"ampm" Displays the 12-hour clock specifier am or pm.
"/" Displays the date separator character.
":" Displays the time separator character.
Importing Files
Rows are read sequentially, and 1 label is produced for each row.
Columns in the file can either be delimited, or fixed width. Delimiters can be commas, tabs, or any character specified by the user. The first column read before a delimiter is represented as Field #1, the next column as Field #2, and so on. Below is an example of 2 rows of a comma delimited file.
John,Doe,1234
Bob,Smith,2345
Jack,Miller,4321
Fixed length columns are always the same size between rows. You will need to specify the number and size of each column in this mode. Do this by right clicking on the wizard's grid and selecting insert/delete column. Because columns are padded with extra spaces, you are given the option to trim extra spaces before and or after the field. Below is an example of a fixed length file.
1 2
12345678901234567890
John Doe 1234
Bob Smith 2345
Jack Miller 4321
|_____||_____|___|
| | |
| | Column 3
| Column 2
Column 1
Sometimes you may have text that includes a delimiter. In those cases you want to use a quote character. Quote characters surround literal strings, and cause any delimiter between the quotes to be treated as normal text. If you wish for a quote character to be included in the text, use two quote characters immediately next to each other. Below is an example of a comma delimited file using a quote character of "'".
'Liar Liar','1234'
'Color Purple, The','2345'
'It''s a wild and crazy world','3456'
Most applications (like excel) automatically add the column names to the first line of a file. You may not wish to produce a label containing the column names for fields. You can chose not to ignore the first line by unchecking the "Ignore First Line" check box. Below is an example of an exported file containing column names as the first line.
"First Name","Last Name","Customer Number"
"John","Doe","1234"
"Bob","Smith","2345"
"Jack","Miller","4321"
Printing
Barcode Formats
* UPC A (numeric only)
Regular version of UPC, encodes 12 digits of data.
The first digit is the industry code.
The next five digits are the manufacturer's code (assigned by the Uniform Code Council).
The next five digits are your product identification number (self assigned).
The last digit is a check digit (automatically generated)
* UPC E (numeric only)
Zero suppressed version, is a six digit code used for marking small packages.
The first digit is industry code (always 0)
The next six digits are based on the following :
If a manufacturer's number ends in 000 or 100 or 200, he has available to him 1,000 item numbers between 00000 and 00999. The six characters are obtained from the first two characters of the manufacturer's number followed by the last three characters of the item number, followed by the third character of the manufacturer's number.
If a manufacturer's number ends in 300,400,500,600, 700,800, or 900, he has available to him 100 item numbers between 00000 and 00099. The six characters are obtained from the first three characters of the manufacturer's number followed by the last two characters of the item number, followed by "3."
If a manufacturer's number ends in 10,20,30,40,50,60, 70,80, or 90, he has available to him 10 item numbers between 00000 and 00009. The six characters are obtained from the first four characters of the manufacturer's number followed by the last character of the item number, followed by "4."
If a manufacturer's number does not end in zero, then five item numbers between 00005 and 00009 are available. The six characters are obtained from all five of the manufacturer identification number followed by the last character of the item number.
The last character is a check digit (automatically generated)
* EAN 13/JAN (numeric only)
EAN barcodes are used to encode 13 digits of data.
The first two characters are the country of origin (49 for Japanese JAN)
The next 5 characters are the manufacturer's identification (assigned by the EAN council)
The next 5 characters are the product's id (company assigned)
The last character is a check digit (automatically generated)
* EAN 8 (numeric only)
The 8 digit version is used for marking small packages.
The first two characters are the country of origin.
The next 5 characters are all data characters.
The last character is a check digit (automatically generated)
* UPC 2,5 Digit Supplementals (numeric only)
Used to encode either 2 or 5 characters of supplemental data. (Like the EAN, UPC 5 ext. combination commonly found on books)
* Interleaved 2 of 5 (numeric only)
A high density code used that can be as long as desired. The "interleaved" part comes from the fact that the first digit is encoded in bars, and the second is encoded in spaces. Since two digits are required to produce the bar-space pattern, all Interleaved 2 of 5 codes have an even number of characters. If an odd number is desired, the first character of '0' will be added to the code.
* Code 39 (Alpha Numeric)
Code 39 can encode 26 uppercase characters, 10 numeric digits, and 7 special characters ( '-' , '.' , ' ' , '*' , '$' , '/' , '+' , '%'). It can be as long as required.
* Code 93/Code 39 extended (Alpha Numeric)
Code 93 & Code 39 extended can represent the full 128 ASCII character set. Code 39 extended uses either 1 or 2 standard Code 39 characters to represent a character. Code 93 is similar to Code 39 extended, however it includes 2 check digits, and all characters are encoded in 9 bar/space modules instead of 13, making code 93 able to produce shorter barcodes than code 39 extended. Both sets can be as long as required.
* Code 128/EAN-128 (Alpha Numeric)
Code 128 uses the full 128 ASCII character set, can encode as many characters as desired, and is designed to be ultra-high density. Code 128 is capable of displaying 2 digits with one set of bars (known as double density, or Subset C). All Ichiku SW barcodes tools will automatically use the most efficient subset of Code 128 as possible. Code 128 also includes a check digit (automatically generated). UCC/EAN-128 is a standard methodology for labeling a package with more than just the product code. UCC/EAN-128 uses standard Code 128 symbols, an always includes the special "FNC 1" character.
* Postnet 5,9,11 (Numeric)
Postnet supports 5, 9, and 11 digits of data. The data being encoded is either the destination zip code (5), destination zip code + 4 digit extension (9), destination zip code + 4 digit extension + last 2 digits of street address (11). Documentation exists on placement, bar sizes, from the United States postal service on our links page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q) Part of my label does not print on the label's edge
A) This is because your printer has an unprintable margin surrounding the page. Most printers are unable to print up to the very edges of the page. This is not a limitation of Label Maker Pro, but a limitation of your printer. If the label sheet your attempting to print to has margins smaller than your printer limitation, your likely to see some of your label cut off. Most label manufacturers are diligent about trying to create labels that will print within most printer's limitations. If you run into a case where your labels are getting cut off, the only solutions are to try and use only the center portion of your label, selecting a different label stock with more acceptable margins, or switching to a printer with little or no page margin limitations.
Q) How do I import an Excel File
A) You will need to convert it into a text file (such as a ".csv" comma delimited file). Simple save your table as some sort of text file (".txt", ".csv", ".prn").
Q) How do I import an Access table
A) You will need to convert it into a text file (such as a ".csv" comma delimited file). Simple save your table as some sort of text file (".txt", ".csv", ".prn").
Q) How do I get a UPC code for my product.
A) Visit the Uniform Code Coucil's (UCC) web page at www.uc-council.org
Q) How do I get a EAN code for my product.
A) Visit the European EAN Code Council's web page at www.ean.be
Q) Why shareware?
A) Through the shareware concept, we can maximize distribution, yet keep our cost low. Ichiku Software is committed to providing easy to use, and low cost business solutions. We can't succeed without your company succeeding. We feel we offer the best value for your money, and we're confident that you will feel the same after trying our software. Shareware allows you to try before you buy. That way you can make sure this product works for you, before you invest any money. Please support the shareware concept by registering your copy.
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