T E K LY NX ® L A B E LV I E W7 VERSION Q U I C K S T A R T G U I D E ™
Note Quick Start Guide
The information in this manual is not binding and may be modified without prior notice. Supply of the software described in this manual is subject to a user license. The software may not be used, copied or reproduced on any medium whatsoever, except in accordance with this license. No portion of this manual may be copied, reproduced or transmitted by any means whatsoever, for purposes other than the personal use of the buyer, unless written permission is obtained from Braton Groupe sarl.
Table of Contents About this Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1 Welcome! . . . . . . . . . . . . System Requirements. . . . Product Components . . . . Software Security Key . . . Single User Installation . . . Network Installation . . . . . Viewing the Readme File . . Registering Your Software . Technical Support . . . . . . Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ii Adding an OLE Object . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adding a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with Placed Objects . . . . . . . . . . Moving an Object on the Label . . . . . . Sizing an Object on the Label . . . . . . For More Information on Designing Labels. Quick Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About this Manual This manual is designed to provide you with the basic information you need to install the software, set up a printer and design a label. More in-depth information on these topics and other more advanced topics can be found in the online Help. Typographical Conventions This manual uses the following conventions to distinguish between different types of information: • Terms taken from the interface itself, such as menu names, commands, and button names appear in bold.
Introduction 1 Welcome! Congratulations on your purchase of this label design software. The wide range of features in the software allows you to create virtually any label and print to any of more than 1000 printers. Text, one- and two-dimensional bar codes, graphics, shapes and other objects are easy to add through the intuitive user interface.
Chapter 1-2 Quick Start Guide Product Components Your label design software is packaged with the following components: • CD-ROM • Documentation appropriate to the version you purchased • A license agreement and registration card • Software security key Software Security Key The software includes a security key that must be installed on a PC to run the software.
Introduction Note Chapter 1-3 Without the software security key, the program will run as a Demo version and will place a demo message on all labels printed with the software. Single User Installation 1 Attach the software security key as directed in the Software Security Key section on page 1-2. 2 Insert the CD. The CD’s opening screen will appear. (If the CD does not automatically open, on the taskbar, click the Start button, and then click Run.
Chapter 1-4 Quick Start Guide To install a network/multi-user version of the label design software: 1 Select one computer on the network to act as the key server. It can be the network file server, or any of the workstations. Install the label design software and the security key on this machine to load the necessary files. This machine must be running in order for the users to access the label design software. 2 Run the LVLICENSEMANAGER.EXE application found in the program’s root directory.
Introduction Chapter 1-5 Registering Your Software Registering your software makes you eligible for technical support from your supplier and pre-release information on new products and enhancements. To register your software, fill out the registration card included in the product package and return it to the address provided. Technical Support Online support is available free of charge at www.teklynx.com under SERVICE & SUPPORT. For phone support, please contact your label design software supplier.
Getting Started 2 This chapter is designed to familiarize you with the main features of the user interface, help you configure the interface to meet your needs, and set up a printer in preparation for printing labels. Starting the Program 1 On the Windows taskbar, click the Start button, and then point to Programs. 2 Locate the label design software group in the list of available programs and point to it using your mouse. 3 Click on the label design software listing to launch it.
Chapter 2-2 Style Bar Quick Start Guide The Style Bar contains a variety of tool buttons that are used to open and save labels, print labels and control other label design display and setup properties. Many of the Style Bar functions are also available from the File menu. Button Tool Name Purpose New Create a new, blank label. Open Open an existing label design file. Save Save changes made to the currently open label. Print Print the currently open label design.
Getting Started Server Bar Chapter 2-3 The Server Bar contains tool buttons that activate several advanced data integration features available in this label design software. The Server Bar functions are also available from the Server menu. Button Drawtools Bar Tool Name Purpose DataWatch Server Monitor a linked database for additions. When it detects new records, it launches printing. DDE Server Import data from an outside source for use in your labels.
Chapter 2-4 Quick Start Guide (Table continued from previous page) Button Tool Name Add 2D Bar Code Add Picture Purpose Add a 2D bar code field. Add a picture field. Add OLE Object Create a new OLE object or select an existing file to place in the label. Add Box Add a box or rectangle. Add Line Add a line. Add Shape Select from several categories of shapes, signs and symbols commonly used on label designs.
Getting Started Float Bar Chapter 2-5 The Float Bar, if enabled, appears when you select an object or objects on the current label. The Float Bar tool buttons are used to position objects on the label in relation to each other. The Float Bar functions are also available from the View menu. Button Tool Name Purpose Align Left Align selected objects with the left edge of the leftmost object selected. Align Right Align selected objects with the right edge of the rightmost object selected.
Chapter 2-6 Quick Start Guide Status Bar The Status Bar is located at the bottom of the design screen. The left side of the Status Bar serves as a message area that gives instructions and information as to what you are expected to do next. Other informational status indicators displayed from left to right include the name of the selected printer, the communication port to which it is connected, and the coordinates of the current cursor position.
Getting Started Chapter 2-7 Printer Setup This program supports hundreds of specialized thermal and thermal transfer label printers and any printer with a valid Windows driver supplied by the manufacturer. Printer drivers included with this label design software are installed to the program’s Drivers directory when the program is installed. For optimum results when designing and printing labels in this label design software, use one of the high speed printer drivers installed with the program.
Chapter 2-8 Quick Start Guide The printer models appearing in the list depend on the check box settings below it. Depending on the printer you are using, there may be several driver choices available in the software. You may want to try all of the drivers available for your particular printer model and determine which one works best for your label printing needs.
Getting Started Selecting a Printer Chapter 2-9 1 On the File menu, click Select Printer. 2 Click the Printer drop-down arrow to display a list of installed printers. If you previously installed a thermal/thermal transfer printer driver for use with this label design program, your printer should appear in the list of installed printers. 3 Note Removing a Printer Select the appropriate printer and click OK.
Designing Labels 3 Creating a New Label 1 Do one of the following: • On the File menu, click New. • Click New on the Style Bar. The Label Setup tabs appear.
Chapter 3-2 Quick Start Guide 2 On the Label Setup tab, set the label width, height, margins, and other general label settings. 3 Click the Options tab and set up printer options for the label. Note The printer settings on the Options tab control the physical properties of the printer that you are using. Not all options are available for all printers. 4 If you want to set up security for the label, click the Password tab and set the appropriate password protection settings.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-3 2 Click the preview check box if you want to view a preview of each label file as you click on it. If a preview does not appear for a label file, click Build Missing Preview Files to generate new label previews for all files in the current directory. 3 Locate the desired label file and double-click on it to open it in the label design software.
Chapter 3-4 Quick Start Guide 2 On the Text tab, click the Font drop-down list and do one of the following: • Select a printer-resident font from the list. Printerresident fonts are resident on your thermal printer; that is, they are stored in your printer’s memory. • Select the TrueType Fonts option. TrueType fonts are supplied by Windows and are resident on your PC; and may or may not be resident on your printer. If your printer does not support TrueType fonts, they will be processed as graphics.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-5 Rotation: Controls the orientation of the text object. The options are Normal, Sideways Up, Sideways Down, and Upside Down. 5 Click the Data Source drop-down list and select the source from which the text object will get its value. The default data source is Fixed (never changing). See the Data Sources chapter for more information. 6 If adding text with a Fixed data source, in the Text String box, type the text to be printed on the label.
Chapter 3-6 Quick Start Guide Figure 3-4 Paragraph Properties Tabs 2 On the Paragraphs tab, click the Font drop-down list and select either a printer-resident font or select the TrueType Font option. 3 Set the font properties as appropriate for this paragraph object. See the Adding Text section on page 3-3 for descriptions of the printer-resident font and TrueType font properties. Note The settings available on the Paragraphs tab depend if you are using a printer-resident font or a TrueType font.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-7 paragraph may have. Text that exceeds this maximum will not appear on the label. Line Spacing: The amount of space between each line in the paragraph. This value must be specified as a number of dots (the smallest unit of measurement on the printer). A value of 0 may cause printed text to be difficult to read. A value of 2 or 3 is generally acceptable. Word Wrap: Automatically wraps to the next line if the last word exceeds the number of characters allowed in a line.
Chapter 3-8 Quick Start Guide Adding a Bar Code 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Bar Code. • Click Add Bar Code on the Drawtools Bar. The Bar Code properties tabs appear. Figure 3-5 Bar Code Properties Tabs 2 Select the desired bar code type from the Bar Code Type drop-down list of choices. Note The default values and properties appearing on the Bar Code tab will differ depending on the type of bar code that you select.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-9 Multiplier: While the relative thickness of the bars is defined by the bar-width ratio, the overall thickness of the bars can be changed using the bar width multiplier. Use this value to adjust the overall width of the bar code. Height: The height of the bars in the code; does not affect the height of the human readable characters. Bar Code Value: This setting appears only if the source of data is Fixed. The actual value for the bar code should be entered here.
Chapter 3-10 Adding a 2D Bar Code Quick Start Guide 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click 2D Bar Code. • Click Add 2D Bar Code on the Drawtools Bar. The 2D Symbology properties tabs appear. Figure 3-6 2D Symbology Properties Tabs 2 Select the desired 2D bar code type from the 2D Symbology drop-down list of choices. (Note: Not all bar code types are available for all printers.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-11 of the 2D bar code. The default ECC level setting is Auto. If an Auto ECC level is used then an ECC percent may also be chosen for fine adjustment of the Error Control. Dot Width/Height: The Dot Width and Height settings determine the width and height of the 2D bar code (similar to the Bar Width Ratio setting in a linear bar code). The unit of measurement is mils, where 1mil=1/1000”.
Chapter 3-12 Quick Start Guide Figure 3-7 Picture Properties Tabs 2 On the Pictures tab, set the following picture properties as appropriate for this field: Rotation: Controls the orientation of the picture object. The options are Normal, Sideways Up, Sideways Down, and Upside Down. Ratio: Determines if and how the image can be resized. • Fixed Ratio means both the height and width will remain proportional as the size changes.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-13 fied for picture files in the Options > Directories dialog box.) 5 If you are adding a color picture, click on the Options tab to access additional color settings. 6 Click OK and then click on the label in the position where you want to place the picture. Adding an OLE Object 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click OLE Object. • Click Add OLE Object on the Drawtools Bar. The Insert Object dialog box appears.
Chapter 3-14 Quick Start Guide 3 Click OK and then click on the label in the position where you want to place the object. Adding a Box 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Box. • Click Add Box on the Drawtools Bar. The Box properties appear. Figure 3-9 Box Properties 2 Specify the thickness and color of the horizontal and vertical sides of the box. If you have a single-color printer, however, the box will print only in that color.
Designing Labels Chapter 3-15 Once you have drawn the line on the label, you can click and drag one of the line's handles to change the line's thickness or length. Adding a Shape 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Shape. • Click Add Shape on the Drawtools Bar. The Shape properties tabs appear. Figure 3-10 Shape Properties Tabs 2 On the Shape tab, in the Shape Category drop-down list, select the category that contains the shape you want.
Chapter 3-16 Quick Start Guide 4 In the Rotation box, select the orientation of the shape. The options are Normal, Sideways Up, Sideways Down, and Upside Down. 5 In the Ratio box, select one of the following options for resizing the shape: 6 • Fixed Ratio means both the height and width will remain proportional as you change the size. • Stretchable means you have full control over the height and width of the image.
Data Sources 4 This chapter provides an overview of the types of data sources available in the label design software. Only a brief explanation is given here; additional information can be found in the online Help. What is a Data Source? A data source identifies the source of the data to populate a field. You must select a data source for every text, paragraph, bar code, 2D bar code, or picture field that you place on the label. A data source can be constant or variable.
Chapter 4-2 Quick Start Guide Figure 4-1 Data Source Setting for a Text Field Types of Data Sources The following table describes the data sources from which you can select. Not all data sources are available for all types of fields. Data Source Description Fixed The value is entered when the field is created, and does not change. When Printed The operator is prompted to enter the value at print time.
Data Sources Chapter 4-3 (Table continued from previous page) Data Source Description ODBC The value is retrieved from an ODBC database. The operator can be prompted to enter the key field data at print time, initiating a lookup in the database to retrieve the data that you want to print. To use the ODBC data source you must first install the ODBC drivers on your PC. You then need to set up ODBC within the label design software (Options menu > Directories > Data Source button).
Creating Your First Label 5 Introduction This chapter walks you through the process of creating two different sample label designs. The steps covered in this chapter introduce some of the most frequently used features and functions of the label design software. e • Designing a Product Label (Basic) provides step-by-step instructions for selecting a printer, completing your label setup, and adding several different types of fields including text, bar code, and picture fields.
Chapter 5-2 Quick Start Guide Figure 5-1 Product Label Note Selecting a Printer This type of label would typically be printed using a thermal or thermal transfer label printer; even if you do not have this type of printer or label stock size available, you can still go through the basic label design steps covered in this tutorial. The first step to designing a label is to select the printer you will use for printing.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-3 Figure 5-2 Select Printer 3 4 Label Setup Do one of the following: • If you previously installed a thermal/thermal transfer printer driver for use with this label design program, click the Printer drop-down arrow and select your printer from the list of installed printers.
Chapter 5-4 Quick Start Guide Figure 5-3 Label Setup Tabs Note The settings appearing on the Label Setup tab will vary depending on the type of printer selected for this label design. 2 On the Label Setup tab, set the following label properties: Width: 4.0 Height: 2.5 Left Margin: 0 Labels Across: 1 Adding Text 3 Leave the other label setup settings at their defaults. 4 Click OK. 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Text. • Click Add Text on the Drawtools Bar.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-5 Figure 5-4 Text Properties Tabs Note The settings available on the Text tab will vary depending on whether you are using a printer-resident font or a TrueType font. 2 In the Font box, click TrueType Fonts.
Chapter 5-6 Quick Start Guide 7 Use the mouse to position the text field near the top edge of the label and click once to place the text (you do not need to worry about precise field positioning at this time). 8 On the File menu, click Save As and save the label file to the program’s Samples folder as basic.lbl. Adding a Line 1 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Line. • Click Add Line on the Drawtools Bar. Your cursor appears as a crosshair in the design window.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-7 Figure 5-5 Picture Properties Tabs 2 On the Pictures tab, set the following properties for this picture field: Rotation: Normal Ratio: Fixed Ratio Data Source: Fixed Pictures: coffee.jpg 3 Select the preview check box to display the selected picture. 4 Click OK and then click in the lower left corner of the label to place the picture.
Chapter 5-8 Quick Start Guide Figure 5-6 Unfinished Label 6 On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. Adding a Pick List A pick list file contains values from which you can select at Field print time. We will create a pick list file that contains three different coffee flavors. At print time, you can then simply click the drop-list and select the appropriate flavor to print on the label. To create a pick list file: 1 On the Options menu, click Picklist Setup.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-9 Figure 5-7 New Picklist File 3 Click New, type Dark Roast, and click OK. The value is added to the pick list. 4 Add the Espresso and Colombian values to the pick list. 5 Click Dark Roast, and then click As Default. 6 Click Sort. 7 Click the Force data to come from list check box, and click OK. The File Name dialog box appears. 8 Type flavors.pkl, click OK, and then click Exit to return to the design window.
Chapter 5-10 Quick Start Guide Point Size: 14 Style: Normal Rotation: Normal 3 In the Data Source box, click Pick List. 4 In the Pick List box, click flavors.pkl. 5 In the Prompt box, type Flavor. Figure 5-8 Pick List Data Source 6 Click the Options tab. 7 In the Required box, click Yes to prevent users from printing without entering a value for this field. 8 In the Clear After Print box, click Yes to restore the field to its default after printing.
Creating Your First Label Adding a Bar Code 1 Chapter 5-11 Do one of the following: • On the Draw menu, click Bar Code. • Click Add Bar Code on the Drawtools Bar. The Bar Code properties tabs appear. Figure 5-9 Bar Code Properties Tabs Note The default values and properties appearing on the Bar Code tab will differ depending on the type of bar code that you select.
Chapter 5-12 Adding a Date Stamp Quick Start Guide 9 On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. 1 On the Draw menu, click Text. The Text properties tabs appear. 2 Select these font properties: Font: TrueType Fonts TrueType Font: Arial Point Size: 9 Style: Normal Rotation: Normal 3 In the Data Source box, click Date stamp. 4 In the Date Format box, click mmm dd, yyy. 5 In the Date Offset box, type 6. 6 In the Offset Unit box, click Months.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-13 12 Click the Color tab, and select the same color you chose previously for the date stamp. 13 Click OK, and place the field to the left of the date stamp field. 14 Hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on the Sell By: text and on the date stamp field, and then click the Align Top button on the Float Bar. 15 On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. Printing the Label 1 On the File menu, click Print. The Quick Printing dialog box appears.
Chapter 5-14 Quick Start Guide Designing an Inventory Label (Advanced) Many of the features used in this tutorial are available only in the mid-range and high-end editions of the label design software. In this section we will create a slightly more advanced parts inventory label. The label is intended to be used as a shelf label, and includes information such as the part description, part number, and picture, as well as a bar coded stocking number.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-15 To set up the label: 1 2 Close any open label design files. Right-click on the blank label design area and select Label Setup. The Label Setup tabs appear. 3 On the Label Setup tab, set the following label properties: Width: 3.0 Height: 1.5 Left Margin: 0.0 Labels Across: 1 Horizontal Gap: 0.0 4 Leave the other label setup settings at their defaults. 5 Click OK.
Chapter 5-16 Quick Start Guide To add a field that uses a .dbf database: 1 On the Draw menu, click Text. The Text properties tabs appear. Note You can use the dBase data source for text, paragraphs, bar codes, 2D bar codes, and pictures. 2 Select these font properties: Font: TrueType Fonts TrueType Font: Arial Black Point Size: 10 Style: Normal Rotation: Normal 3 In the Data Source box, click dBase. Figure 5-12 dBase Data Source 4 In the Database box, click fittings.dbf. Fittings.
Creating Your First Label 6 Chapter 5-17 In the Print field box, click DESC1. The print field is the database field that contains the data you want to print on the label. It can be the same as the key field, or another field in the database. 7 In the Keyfield Data box, click Prompted. The keyfield data defines the source of the key field (either prompted at print time or linked to another field on the label). 8 9 In the Prompt box, type Part Number.
Chapter 5-18 Adding a Hidden Field Quick Start Guide The second dBase field we will add to the label will be set up as a hidden field. This means that it will be available to use to create other linked fields, but it will not print on the label. Later in this section we will add a field that links to this hidden field. To add a hidden text field: 1 On the Draw menu, click Text. The Text properties tabs appear. 2 In the Data Source box, click dBase. 3 In the Database box, click fittings.dbf.
Creating Your First Label Adding Lines Chapter 5-19 In the following steps we will add a horizontal line and a vertical line, as shown in the following figure. Figure 5-13 Horizontal and Vertical Lines 1 On the Draw menu, click Line. Your cursor appears as a crosshair in the design window. 2 Click on the left side of the label below the two dBase text fields, and draw a horizontal line across the entire label as shown in the figure above. 3 Right-click the line, and click Edit.
Chapter 5-20 Quick Start Guide The Line dialog box appears. 9 In the Width box, enter .02. 10 In the Height (thickness) box, enter 1.0. 11 Click OK. 12 On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. Adding a Serial Number To set up an incrementing serial number you must specify Serial file as the data source and link the field to a serial file. The serial file allows the program to track the last serial number printed and start the next print job with the next number in the series.
Creating Your First Label Chapter 5-21 To add a serial number (link to the serial file): 1 On the Draw menu, click Bar Code. The Bar Code properties tabs appear. 2 Select these bar code properties: Bar Code Type: Interleaved 2 of 5 Rotation: Normal Multiplier: 2 (10 mils) Bar-width Ratio: 2:1 Height: 0.50 3 In the Data Source box, click Serial file. 4 In the Serial file box, click stockno.srl. 5 Click the Human Readable tab and click No for the Human Readable setting.
Chapter 5-22 Quick Start Guide 2 Select these font properties: Font: TrueType Fonts TrueType Font: Arial Point Size: 8 Style: Normal Rotation: Normal 3 In the Data Source box, click Linked. 4 In the Linked Fields box, type the following: “PART: “ + PartNo Figure 5-15 Linked Field 5 Click the Options tab, and in the Field Name box, type LinkedPartNo. 6 Leave the other Options tab settings at their defaults.
Creating Your First Label 2 Chapter 5-23 Select these font properties: Font: TrueType Fonts TrueType Font: Arial Point Size: 8 Style: Normal Rotation: Normal 3 In the Data Source box, click Linked. 4 In the Linked Fields box, type the following: “STOCK #: “ + StockNo 5 Click the Options tab, and in the Field Name box, type LinkedStockNo. 6 7 Leave the other Options tab settings at their defaults. Click OK, and place the field on the right side of the label, above the bar code field.
Chapter 5-24 Quick Start Guide 4 On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. Your label design should now look similar to the label below. Figure 5-16 Label with Picture Field Positioning Objects on the Label We will now use the Float Bar tool buttons to position objects on the label in relation to each other. 1 Click the View menu and ensure that a checkmark appears next to the Float Bar toolbar option.
Creating Your First Label 5 Chapter 5-25 Hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on the Linked PartNo and LinkedStockNo fields, and then click the Align Top 6 button. On the File menu, click Save to save your changes. Printing the Label Labels that contain fields populated by a database can require user input at print time if the Key Field Data property is set to Prompted. If set to Prompted, then a button appears at print time for displaying the database records in a grid.
Chapter 5-26 Quick Start Guide Figure 5-18 Database Grid 3 Hold down the CTRL key while you click on the Cap Nut Connector, Hex Nut, Bronze Faucet, and Clamp records (rows) to select them, and then click Select. 4 Click OK to close the database grid and return to the Quick Printing dialog box. 5 Click Print. Labels are printed for each of the selected records according to the print quantities you selected. Verify that the stock number increments by 1 with each label printed (i.e.
Index I Numerics 2D bar codes 3-10 adding 3-10 properties 3-10 A accumulator files 4-3 adding 2D bar codes 3-10 bar codes 3-8 boxes 3-14 lines 3-14 OLE objects 3-13 paragraph 3-5 pictures 3-11 shapes 3-15 text 3-3 aligning objects 2-5 B bar codes 3-8 adding 3-8 properties 3-8 boxes 3-14 adding 3-14 properties 3-14 C command files 2-3 CommWatch 4-3 coordinates 2-6 create new label 3-1 cursor position 2-6 D data dictionary 4-3 data source definition 4-1 types 4-2 DataWatch Server 2-3 date 4-3 dBase 4-2
I-2 Quick Start Guide I inches 2-6 installation 1-3 installing a printer 2-7 installing the software 1-3 interface 2-1 introduction 1-1 K key 1-2 L Label Select 2-3 label setup 3-1, 5-3 language selection 2-6 License Manager 1-3 lines 3-14 linked data source 4-2 LVLICENSEMANAGER.
Index I-3 V Value mode 2-2 view modes 2-2 W when printed data source 4-2 workstations 1-4 X XXX mode 2-2
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