

                   ÒLASER DISK LABELS:  A Template for MacDrawÓ

                 Make Professional Quality Disk Labels on Your Mac



                                              Compiled By

                                             BILL SANTOS

                                          76625,3513  (CIS)
                                           B.SANTOS (GEnie)
                                        BILLSANTOS (Delphi)










*******ATTENTION:*******
***SHAREWARE NOTICE***


THIS IS NOT FREE. IT IS SHAREWARE. YOU MAY TRY THIS TEMPLATE OUT FOR 45 DAYS FOR FREE. IF YOU DECIDE ITÕS SOMETHING YOU CAN USE, THEN PLEASE SEND ME $10 TO BECOME A REGISTERED USER. IF YOU DECIDE THAT YOU CANÕT USE THE TEMPLATE, THEN PLEASE DESTROY YOUR COPY, OR BETTER YET, GIVE IT TO A FRIEND.

YOU ARE HEREBY GRANTED THE RIGHT DISTRIBUTE THIS FREELY, PROVIDED YOU INCLUDE BOTH THE DOCUMENTATION AND THE TEMPLATE.

UPON RECEIPT OF YOUR $10 I WILL SEND YOU THREE OTHER USEFUL MACDRAW TEMPLATES AND A PHONE NUMBER ON WHICH I CAN BE REACHED FOR SUPPORT. ALSO, I AM PLANNING SEVERAL OTHER MACINTOSH PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE, OF WHICH ALL REGISTERED USERS WILL RECEIVE FREE OF CHARGE FOR THEIR GOOD FAITH AT THIS POINT. KEEP THE SPIRIT OF SHAREWARE ALIVE!

SEND SHAREWARE FEE TO:

                                        Bill Santos
                                        3999 N. Chestnut
                                        Suite 327
                                        Fresno, CA  93726

*******************************************



REQUIRED MATERIALS: 

               LASER DISK LABELS template
               Panatone paper
               3M 465 double coated transfer tape
               Clear Mat Spray or Fixative


     The document LASER DISK LABELS, as reported in the May 1987 issue of MacUser (ÒTip SheetÓ p. 154), was supposed to be posted on CompuServe, GEnie and Delphi. After an extensive search of the data libraries of all three services (using every obvious and obscure keyword imaginable) I found several disk label templates. None, however, matched the description in the MacUser article. In addition, most of the label templates were for MacPaint (bit mapped images with low resolution) and none offered the high resolution obtainable from the MacDraw 50% reduction mode.

     Why MacUser claimed the templates were on the information services is beyond me, but having wasted some money myself looking for them, I decided to create a template to their specifications myself. That way those of you who are still looking for a good disk label template can get one without all the hassle and frustration I had to go through.

     For those who donÕt have access to a copy of the above mentioned article, IÕve included a condensed version of the MacUser instructions. This will explain how you can customize the template to include your own icons and titles.



1.  OBTAINING ICONS - Open the disk that contains the desired icons and make a screen dump of the window that the icon is found in. (This is done by pressing Command-Shift-3 simultaneously.) Open the screen dump document in MacPaint (or similar paint program) and copy each icon you want individually and paste it in the scrapbook. (Use the lasso tool to do the copying so you donÕt get any of the white background.)


2.  THE TEMPLATE - Quit MacPaint and open the LASER DISK LABELS template in MacDraw. Immediately use the SAVE AS... command in the FILE menu to rename the document to your liking. That way youÕll always have a good copy of the template. YouÕll probably notice that everything looks big. This has to do with the high resolution I talked earlier about. Providing that MacDraw is in the 50% reduction mode (more on this later), it will shrink the label down to normal size when printed on the LaserWriter. I know that sounds like electronic redundancy, but it has the effect of retaining all of the details of your big template. HereÕs to the amazing feats of the LaserWriter!


3.  CHANGING THE TEXT - There are four places on the template where the disk name is found, and two of them are upside down. (That way you can see them normally when the label is placed on the disk.) In order to edit upside down text, select it with the arrow, and rotate it till itÕs right side up. Adjust the textÕs position to your liking. After changing the names to your disks name, rotate the two upside down items back to their proper orientation. The gray area of the label holds text of a short description of the disk contents. Change it as appropriate.


4.  CHANGING THE ICONS - Remove the icons from the center of the label. Open the scrapbook and cut and paste the icons you want to put on your label. After your finished cutting and pasting, resize and align the icons on the label. Keep in mind that you want to make them as large as possible, since their size will be reduced 50%.


5.  PRINTING THE LABELS - With the LaserWriter set up for printing, with the panatone paper loaded, check the PAGE SETUP... command and make sure it is set for 50% Reduction. (You may want to print a few sample labels on plain paper to check for corrections.) Choose PRINT and watch the magic!

MONEY SAVING HINT: After you get the hang of things, you may want to include several labels to the sheet, due to the high cost of panatone paper.


6.  FINAL TOUCHES - Cut the label and spray it with a clear fixative to give it a professional shine. KEEP THE SPRAY FAR AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER! After drying, attach the double coated adhesive tape to the back and apply the label to the disk.


VIOLA, you have produced a beautiful disk label, that looks better than most commercial disks.




If you have comments, questions or suggestions, leave me EMAIL at the services mentioned previously, or drop a note to:

BILL SANTOS, 3999 N. Chestnut, Suite 327, Fresno, CA  93726
