In this tutorial, you will create a basic label and learn the general parameters of the label and printer. This knowledge will help you prepare templates and place elements correctly in the template.
We won’t focus on any specific components, just use a simple text element that is created as an example element with each new label. For more detailed information on components, see other tutorials.
When you create new template, you will se the Template options section on the right side of the editor. You can collapse this panel after configuring the basic parameters of the label. But first, let’s discuss its parameters one by one.
Create new template
Click Create new template on the Templates tab. Name the template Test label and give it description Test label description. Then click Create.
Each template must have a unique name to identify it from a whole list of other templates. The name should be meaningful and may contain special characters such as spaces, brackets, exclamation marks, and more.
The template name is used when filtering labels in the template list.
Change the name
Change the template name to any name you want.
This is a descriptive field to help you define the purpose of the template. This does not affect the search, it is for informational and descriptive purposes only.
Change the description
Set the template description to any description you want.
Printer quality expressed in dpi is an important parameter that determines the position and size of elements in the template. For your convenience, when choosing the dpi resolution, we have also included information on how to convert the position expressed in points into a distance in millimeters.
Note the information expressed in dpmm. All elements in the template have x and y location parameters. These are the coordinates of a given point or object, expressed in distance points from the upper left corner of the template (x=0, y=0). The dpmm value tells you how many points you need to move the object to move it by 1 mm.
Example
For the resolution of 203 dpi, where one millimeter distance corresponds to 8 points (8 dpmm), to place the element in distance of 10 mm from the left edge of the template, you should set the parameter value x = 80, because 10mm x 8dpmm = 80. If you would set it for example x = 84, you will be placing it in distance of 10.5 mm.
The printer resolutions available in the program are:
Change printer quality
Set the printer quality to 203 dpi (8 dpmm).
Please notice the label preview scalling when you switch the quality. If you have changed the printer’s resolution from the default 300 dpi to 203 dpi, you have surely noticed that the background of the label in the preview has visually decreased compared to the sample text. This is because the text size is also expressed in resolution points, so according to the new settings, the text should be larger than before. We will deal with this in the next steps.
You can change the unit and set any label size that suits your needs. The units in which you can set the label size are:
Change template size
At the moment, the label has a default size of 1×1 in inches. For this example, let’s change the unit to millimeters and set the label size to 100 x 100 mm
You can set Label home position / Offset of the label content relative to its starting poit (top left corner, x=0, y=0). This is a useful option when, for example, you want to set printing margins or when it turns out that the entire content of the label should be moved lower than you planned in the template.
Change template offset
Try setting an offset of 10mm from the left and 20mm from the top. Notice the visualization of the offset in the template editor. You can leave your values, but it’s not needed in our example, set them back to 0x0
You can rotate your template by 180 degrees if needed.
Invert template
Try to click the invert checkbox and see the effect on the preview
This option allows you to print labels in the form of a ribbon of various lengths. You should not use it when printing standard labels as it affects the printer settings.
Information
Checking this option doesn’t take any visual effect on the preview. It only takes effect on printer request. Do not use it unless you have a reason.
Once you set the values in this section it is no longer needed. You can collapse it, clicking the collapse arrow on the upper right of the panel.
Collapse settings panel
Collapse the Label & Printer options panel using arrow button on the upper right of the panel
With the knowledge you acquired in this tutorial, you should fully understand label size, resolution and elements positioning matters. Please click on the example text element on the label preview area and notice its options visible.
Practice new skills
x and y changing5 cm from the left and 5 cm from the top – which should be the center of our 100mm x 100mm label. Convert 5 cm to coordinates using formula: 50mm * 8dpmm = 400, so that new coordinates should be set as x=400, y=400 – notice that position of an element is the position of top left corner of itPrinter quality to 300 dpi. Notice how the position changed due to the formula change, now we should multiply number of milimeters by 12dpmm. Correct the text element position to center it with new printer resolution. I hope you have calculated the new coordinates as x=600, y=600.Printer quality set to 600 dpi – multiply number of milimeters by 24 dpmm.Did you notice how text becomes smaller and smaller after each increase of dpi? It is caused by the way size settings work. It takes resolution points into account. With larger dpi, you should increase size proportionally. In element parameters, initial Font size was 30. With 8 dpmm it was 30/8 = 3.75 mm. If you want to set the font size back to 3.75 mm for 600 dpi (24 dpmm), you should consider how much did you increase your dpmm. From starting 8dpmm, you have increased it 3x up to 24dpmm.
Font size to achieve font height 3.75 mm. As we noticed before, now dpmm is 3x larger than initial, so you should increase the font size from 30 to 30 x 3 = 90.