All new, vastly improved - still only ten 1990's dollars!
NOTE: This program is shareware....
If you use it please send $10.00 to
      Nick & Josh Franco
      1117 Kagawa Street
      Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
••• Loodle™ is a utility program which automatically prepares labels for Macintosh 3.5 inch floppy disks. It will catalog all the files on a disk, according to your specifications, and then format a label to be printed on standard disk label forms. You may also add icons and graphics to the labels. Loodle™ sets up the labels to be printed on commercially available forms which assume 1, 6, 9, or 12 labels to a page. Loodle™ also allows you to create permanent, editable catalogs of all your disks and files.
••• How to use Loodle™ •••
Simply put your disk into the drive slot...
               ...Loodle™ does everything else!
Loodle‚Ñ¢ creates a list of all the disks you insert, with all the formatting details you specify. When you issue the print command, the entire list in memory is then sent to the printer. You may also save the list as a special file for later reprinting or editing.
Under the LABEL menu you may check “Label Inserted Disks.” With this checked, every disk you insert is added to the printing list. This is the usual method of using Loodle™. If this option is not checked, then a label will be prepared for the disk, but it won’t be saved and printed unless you then click on “Add To List” in the LABEL menu. If you have added a disk to the list that you do not want to print a label for, you can click on “Delete from List” to remove it.
A label will consist of a Title — the name you have already given to the disk — and, optionally, a list of all the files on the disk. Loodle will try to fit all the names of all the files and folders in as large a type size as possible in a single column, failing that it tries two columns, and tries smaller type sizes. In some cases, it may not be possible to list all the files in the available space, and Loodle™ will notify you of this.
••• Modifying the Label Format •••
• Changing the File Listing
Select “Filters” under the FORMAT menu. The dialog presents several options for what Loodle™ should list on the labels. You may include the names of Files, of Folders, of both or of neither, and you may select “Root Level Only”, so that Loodle™ will list only the files and/or Folders that are on the first level of the disk, i.e.: the ones you see when the disk is opened on the desktop before any its folders are opened. If neither Files nor Folders is selected, nothing will be listed on the label except the name of the disk itself and any graphics, etc. that you add.
You may also filter out system files, invisible files, and desktop files, or include them, as you wish.
Finally you can choose to display the contents of archive files prepared by Stuffit or Compactor. If selected, then all the files and folders within the SIT and CPT files on the disk will be cataloged as well, otherwise just the name of the archive itself will be shown.
• Changing the design of the label.
Select “Design” in the FORMAT menu. The dialog will allow you to modify the way the information appears on the label. You may select the pattern for the border (to help give groups of disks a uniform look that distinguishes them from others — since not many of us have color laser printers, yet), or you can select to have no border drawn. You may select different fonts to be used in the title and in the files listing. Finally you may select a minimum font size that Loodle™ will use to try to fit all the names of the files onto the label. Alternatively, you can specify a fixed type size. Loodle™ will use that type size only and if the file name list is too long you to fit on the label at that size will be notified.
The design you specify with this dialog will be used on all subsequently inserted disks. You may also make the changes retroactive to all the disks already on the list.
• Changing the name on the label.
Select “Rename Label” in the FORMAT menu. You will be given a dialog to change the name that appears on the label. Please note that you are only changing the label, not the actual name of the disk itself. (Loodle™ never makes any modifications to your disks).
• Adding graphic design elements.
You may add graphics and icons to your labels.
Graphics are added by cutting and pasting from the clipboard in the usual way using the standard EDIT menu. The graphic will be centered on the label near the top (just under the name) and will be cropped to fit. Only PICT type graphics are used (pictures from MacPaint, MacDraw, Canvas, SuperPaint, HyperCard, etc.)
Icons are added by using “Icon —> Choose Icon” under the FORMAT menu. You will see a standard file selection dialog. Choose any file from any disk (you may want to reinsert a disk that has been ejected already) and if it has icons associated with it, you will then see a list of all the icons (and ICN#’s) in that file. Click on one to select it. Next a dialog will ask which of six locations you want to place that icon on the label. (You can change the position later using “Icon —> Icon Position” in the same menu). Loodle™ will draw the icon where you want it, and rearrange the file listing to fit around it neatly.
You may also decide to use a single icon or PICT graphic on all your labels. In this case proceed as above except hold down the option key when choosing from the menu. The menu will indicate that this is a “background” icon or graphic, and the operation you choose will apply to all the labels on the current list. (NB: If any single label in the list has its own individual icon or graphic, that will appear instead of the background graphic).
• Adding comments.
Choose “Comment” from the FORMAT menu. You will be able to enter one or two lines of comments to a label. These will appear near the bottom of the label surrounded by a rounded rectangle box. Hold down the option key while selecting from the menu to make a background comment that will appear on all labels.
••• Setting up for printing
• Choosing forms.
Loodle™ is set up to print on one of four types of commercially available forms. Choose the one you want to use from the “Forms Layout” choice in the FORMAT menu. Depending on your printer and the type of forms used, different printer specifications must be set. The types of forms specified are:
Single: These are pin feed forms with a single column of labels on a roll or in a fanfold stack for use with the ImageWriter family (IW, IW II and IW LQ). NOTE: You should specify “No Gap Between Pages” in the Page Setup dialog for all these printers. For the IW I and II you should also specify “Tall Adjusted.”
6 to a Page: These are sheet feed labels designed for the LaserWriter and similar printers (Deskwriter, LaserJet, etc.) They are produced by both the Williams & Macias Company and Laser Label Technologies. . There are six precut labels centered on the sheet. No special modifications are needed to use these forms on most high resolution printers. (On the IW’s specify “Tall Adjusted”).
9 to a Page: Sheet feed labels produced by Avery, Co. There are 9 labels set towards the top part of the page. These labels require that the printing go all the way to the end of the page on both sides. Since few printers are capable of this, Loodle™ will determine how close to the edge your machine can print, and will leave a small margin around each label to account for this. For PostScript equipped devices such as the Apple LaserWriter, there is a fairly large margin. To minimize this you will be remined to set the “Larger Print Area (Fewer Downloadable Fonts)” choice in the Page Setup dialog under Options. Some users prefer to omit the border pattern to make this margin less evident. (On the IW’s specify “Tall Adjusted”).
12 to a Page: Sheet feed labels produced in Europe by Samuel Jones & Co., Ltd. These require that the paper size be set to A4. The page size limitations are the same as for 9 to a page so you should set the “Larger Print Area” choice on those printers that offer it. (On the IW’s specify “Tall Adjusted”).
••• Options
• Positioning:
You can fine tune the position of labels on your printer using the “Print Position —> Page Position” choice in the OPTIONS menu. Specify a distance to move the entire page image either up or to the left. The units moved are pixels (1/72nd of an inch, i.e. 9 pixels = 1/8th inch). To move down or right use negative numbers.
With the “Print Position —> Label Position” you can specify at which position on the first page to begin printing the list. So if you have a page with three labels already used you can start in the fourth position to avoid wasting valuable forms. Subsequent pages will all start at the first position.
• Settings:
Loodle‚Ñ¢ remembers all the design, filter, etc. settings you are using. You can save the settings currently in use at any time. You can also set Loodle‚Ñ¢ to warn you about saving changes to settings and/or files, or to ignore changes.
••• Cataloging Files:
Using the “Save Catalog” choice in the FILE Menu you can save a text file listing of your disks. You can choose a listing sorted by filename, with the disk name listed after each filename, or by disk, with the files and folders sorted under the disk name. These will be plain vanilla text files with tabs between names. You can select to have them set to be click-opened by MS WORD (MSWD), MacWrite (MACA) or TeachText (ttxt). Using a word processor you can print the file for a hard copy to refer to. You can import subsequent listing to keep a running listing. You may also use the disk-sorted text file to be imported into LoodleList, the HyperCard stack distributed with Loodle to maintain an up-to-date online file and disk catalog that can be quickly searched for any files.
••• We hope you find Loodle™ helpful. Please send suggestions for improvements, bug reports, etc. (and the ten bucks!) to us at the above address. Please indicate that you have version 5.2. Include EMail address for reply on CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, AoL or Connect.
