CHAPTER SIX: Labeling disks

DiskTracker has a built in disk labeling system that allows the user to produce fully customizable, high quality disk labels.  Any disks can be selected to be labeled, each with a different label template, if desired.  The labeling system even knows which disks have never been labeled or need to be relabeled.  The built in MacDraw style label template editor (described in chapter six) makes designing custom labels a snap.

There are several steps to printing labels, each of which are covered in depth below:
  
• For each disk, choose a label template to use.  When the disk is scanned, the default label template, is assigned to every disk.

  • Add the disks to the to-be-labeled list.  There are several automatic methods of doing this, if so desired.

  • Select a label sheet layout, which contains the dimensions and format of the sheet that the labels will be printed on.

  • Choose the label on the sheet where printing should start.  This helps you conserve label sheets.
  
• Preview the labels to make sure that everything looks okay.

  • Print them!

  • Stick ‘em to the disks (try not to get too much gunk from the old labels under your fingernails!).

Choosing a label template
Each disk can be assigned its own label template, so you do not need to have all of your disks with the same label.  

• To assign a label template to a disk or a set of disks:

1.) Select the disk or disks in the catalog window which you would like to assign a template to.

2.) Select a label template from the “Assign Label Template” submenu within the Label menu.  By default, when a disk is scanned, the default label template (more on this below) is assigned to the disk.

Assigning disks to be labeled
DiskTracker maintains, for each catalog file, a list of disks that you would like to have labeled.  Each of the disks on this list has a label produced for it when the “Print Labels” command is issued.  

• To add a disk (or several disks) to the label list:

1.) Select the disk or disks in the catalog window which you would like to add to the label list.

2.) Select “Add to Label List” from the Label menu.

Removing disks from the label list
To remove a disk from the label list, you must utilize the disks to be labeled window (described in depth in Chapter 7).

• To remove a disk from the list:

1.) Select “Show Label List” from the Label menu.

2.) Select the disk or disks that you would like to remove from the list.  (command-click selects more than one item and shift-clicking selects a range)

3.) Select “Remove from Label List” from the Label menu.

Finding disks which need to be labeled
DiskTracker can automatically find disks which need to be labeled—either because they have obsolete labels or because they have never been labeled.

• To select disks which have never been labeled:

1.) Choose “Select Unlabeled Disks” from the Label menu.  You can then use “Add to Label List” to mark these disks to be labeled.

• To select disks with obsolete labels:

1.) Choose “Select Obsolete Labels” from the Label menu.  You can then use “Add to Label List” to mark these disks to be labeled.

Selecting a label sheet layout
Label sheet layouts contain information about the sheet of labels that printing will occur on.  They contain such information as the size of the page, number of labels on the page, margins, and spacing.  

• To select a label sheet layout to print onto: 

1.) Select the desired layout from the “Use Label Sheet Layout” submenu within the Label menu.

Creating and editing label sheet layouts
You can edit a label sheet layout so that it is more to your liking.  Or, if you get special disk labels to feed through your printer, you will want to create a label sheet layout for this type of page, so that printing to it is a snap.

• To create a new label sheet layout:

1.) Select “New…” from the “Use Label Sheet Layout” submenu within the Label menu.

2.) Enter a name for the new label sheet layout and click “OK” to save or “Cancel” to abort.

3.) You will be presented with the label sheet layout editor dialog (described below).  Click “OK” to save the new layout or “Cancel” to abort.

• To edit a label sheet layout:

1.) Make sure that the layout to be edited is selected in the “Use Label Sheet Layout” submenu within the Label menu.

2.) Select “Edit Label Sheet Layout…” from the Label menu.

3.) You will be presented with the label sheet layout editor dialog (described below).  Click “OK” to save the new settings or “Cancel” to abort.

• To delete a label sheet layout:

1.) In the Finder, find the DiskTracker folder and open the “Label Sheet Layouts” folder within it.  Drag the appropriate layout to the trash.

The label sheet editor
The label sheet editor is where you set the dimensions of a label sheet.  There are several fields, each identified by a letter, into which you enter a value.

These include: number of labels horizontally and vertically, left, right, top, and bottom margins, horizontal and vertical spacing between labels, and the label size.

These measurements can be edited in either inches or centimeters, as set by the radio buttons in the dialog.  On the right side of the dialog is a diagram that shows each dimension, as identified by its letter.

Choosing which label to start printing on
To conserve sheets of disk labels (which I realize are quite expensive), DiskTracker will allow printing to start on any label on the label sheet.

• To choose the label to start printing on:

1.) Select “Start Printing From…” from the Label menu.  You will be presented with the Start Printing From dialog:

2.) Click on the label position that you would like label printing to start from.

3.) Click “OK” to lock in the new setting or “Cancel” to abort.

Previewing labels
It is a wise idea to preview the labels before printing them, just to make sure that what you get is what you are expecting.

• To preview the labels:

1.) Choose “Preview Labels…” from the Label menu.  The label preview window has a scroll bar across the bottom which allows you to choose which label you would like to preview.  The page indicator on the right side of the window shows the position on the page of the label that you are previewing.

Printing labels
When everything looks all set, it is time to print the labels.

• To print some labels:

1.) Make sure that the Page Setup options are set correctly (choose “Page Setup…” from the File menu).

2.) Select “Print Labels…” from the Label menu.

3.) Select the number of copies, the print range, the print quality, etc., from the print dialog box.

4.) Make sure that the label sheets (or whatever media you are printing onto) are in the printer correctly.

5.) Click “Print” to start printing or “Cancel” to abort.

Label preferences
There are two items in the “Preferences…” dialog box which pertain to the label system, the default label template and the default label sheet setup.  The default label template is the template that is assigned to disks when they are scanned and is used when a disk’s template cannot be found.  The default label sheet setup is the sheet setup that is selected when DiskTracker starts up. 

• To adjust the default label template or label sheet layout:

1.) Select “Preferences…” from the File menu (or press âŒ˜;).

2.) Select the new default label template and sheet layout from the pop up menus.

3.) Click “OK” to lock in the new defaults or “Cancel” to abort.