---LoodleList, a HyperCard 2.0 stack for maintaining an online database of files labeled by LOODLE.
LOODLE™ is a shareware utility — an incredibly low priced shareware utility, we hasten to add! — for making labels for 3.5 inch Macintosh disks. It is designed to print labels on standard sized label forms such as those used by the Laserwriter and other sheet feed printers (including the IW-II and LQ). Complete instructions for use are available in HELP under the OPTIONS menu. Basically all you do is pop the disks into the slots and LOODLE™ will make up labels. If you wish, you may add graphics and other design elements. LOODLE™ also allows you to prepare a text catalog of all your disks and files. Chapter 2 of this document gives more information on the program’s operation.
New in version 5.2:
• You now have the option of listing the contents of archive files prepared with Stuffit and Compactor.
• You can also use the option key when entering comments in order to add a “background” comment that will appear on all the labels.
• You may select a fixed font size that will always be used on all disk labels in the set.
• Two New Page Formats: You may now use the 12 to a page format for European standard A4 forms, and - for ImageWriter users - the single label pin feed form.
• Also the form selection menu has been moved into the Design menu from the Options menu where it formerly was.
A note about the forms:
LOODLE‚Ñ¢ assumes that you are using standard, commercially available label forms. There are four types of forms in general use that LOODLE‚Ñ¢ is set up for: 6-label, 9-label or 12-label to a page forms for sheet feed printing, and single label pin feed labels. You may need to adjust certain Page Setup options to get them to print correctly... Imagewriter II users will need to select "Tall Adjusted" for the multiple label forms.
6 to a page forms:
The 6-to-a-page forms are available from various sources. There are two similar forms which are manufactured by two different companies. One is made made by Williams & Macias Co. and may be obtained direct from them at Williams & Macias Inc., South 3707 Godfrey Blvd., Spokane, WA 99204 (1-800-752-4400). Another is made by Laser Label Technologies, 1333 South Jefferson St., Chicago, IL 60607-5099 (1-800-882-4050)[Laser Writer Disk Label 2.75 x 2.75 (Z161)6-UP stock #ZLB5375]. Both these forms will print nicely on the Laserwriter with no special problems regarding alignment. With other devices some minor adjustments may be needed.
9 to a page forms:
The 9-to-a-page format will fit the forms sold by the Avery Co. (#5196) and are widely available at computer software outlets and office supply stores.
The Avery forms call for printing each page three labels wide at 2.75 inches each. The Apple Laserwriter II NT and NTX cannot print that wide, due to memory constraints imposed by the Postscript interpreter. Therefore your labels will be centered in each space with small margins along the sides to allow for the obligatory margin from the Laserwriter. You should use the “Page Setup…” dialog to minimize this: Choose “Options” and then check the choice that says “Larger Print Area (fewer downloadable fonts)”. This gives the smallest possible margin and the best looking labels. You may also want to print without the border to keep the label more symmetrical looking. This constraint may not be true for non-postcript equipped printers. The labels will look quite nice either way, actually, so experiment for yourself. The 9 per page Avery form must be inserted into the printer so that the labels start at the top of the page, with the little extra tab labels at the bottom.
12-to-a-page forms:
12-to-a-page format is used on European style A4 size papers, specifically A4 Laser Sheet 12 Lables,UP LPL 3.5 Disc 68x68 w/o 3120, P/N 87657 manufactured by Samuel Jones & Co. Ltd. and are available from CompuPrint Limited, Huntington Gate, East Portway Industrial Estate, Andover Hants, SP10 3SJ, England. This choice works very much like the 9-label choice, i.e. you will need to check the larger print area choice when using postscript printers.
Single label forms:
You may also use the single label forms sold as continuous sheets of pin feed labels. The single column pin feed label rolls are fed into the ImageWriter in the usual way. You should check the “No Page Breaks” option on the regular ImageWriters (not an option on the LQ).
About LOODLE‚Ñ¢ Files:
Label lists can be saved as files on disk, in keeping with the user interface guidelines. However, since it is not always likely that you will want to do this, you are given a preference setting to turn off the warnings about saving files that is issued whenever you close a file.
About LOODLE‚Ñ¢ Preferences:
The various option settings you select (1, 6, 9, or 12 page format, border pattern, typefaces and filter choices, catalog options and Page Setup Choices) will be saved when you close the program. Users on multiuser systems may find their settings changed if someone else has been using their copy of LOODLE‚Ñ¢. To keep settings from changing once you have them adjusted properly, lock the application using the lock box from the "Get Info" dialog in the Finder. For those who care about these things: the settings are saved in the data fork of the application, not in the resource fork, so there should be no conflict with virus checkers, etc. If the application is locked, you will hear a beep when you quit the application to advise you that the current settings are not being saved. You also have a preferences setting to omit the save settings warning and to automatically either discard or save settings at program shutdown.
Note: You can pass this program around freely (please do screen for viruses!) and try it out to see if it is useful to you. If you intend to keep it, then send in the $10 please. That's quite a bit cheaper than the forms themselves cost! Some people don't pay for shareware - Saddam Hussein comes immediately to mind - but you do. Like Wilfred Brimley says: "It's the right thing to do."
Please send suggestions for improvements, bug reports etc. AND THE $10 to:
Josh & Nick Franco
1117 Kagawa Street
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
Please mention which version of LOODLE‚Ñ¢ you have. And thank you so much.
P.S.: In answer to several queries... LOODLE‚Ñ¢ tries to list all the files in one column on the label in 12 point type. If the list is too long, it shrinks the type down as needed (in increments of 1 point) to a minimum size (6 points is about as small as we can comfortably read from a laserwriter, but you may choose to go as small as 4). If the list is still too long, LOODLE‚Ñ¢ splits the list into two columns, at 12 points, and shrinks the type as needed. If the list is still too long for two columns at the minimum size, it just leaves off the end of the list. There's only so much useful information you can fit on those little labels.
Thanks to all for your suggestions and feedback. Hope this new version meets your needs.
