This tab allows you to design the actual label itself. A label
can have static text, pictures or data fields on it.
The window is divided into two sections. On the right is the
layout of the label (the ticket layout). On the left are the
details of the objects on the label. As you click on an object in
the layout, the details on the left side will change to show the
details of that object.
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Ticket Layout
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The Ticket Layout section is where you
actually design the label. The white rectangular area is the size
of your label. You can use the scroll bars on the right and bottom
of the layout area to move around the label. The layout area has a
grid overlay with lines every one centimetre to help you
place your label objects accurately. The various label
objects, that is text, pictures, and so on, which you have placed
on the label will be displayed just as they will be printed. You
can modify a specific label object by clicking on it. A light gray
rectangle will be placed around the object to show the full area it
will take up on the label. Around the edge of this rectangle are
eight small black squares, called resize
handles. To change the area which this object will use,
click down on a resize handle, drag it to the required space and
let the mouse button go. The rectangle will change to show the area
the label object will now use. To move an object, simply click on
it (not on a resize handle) and drag it to the required spot.
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Zoom Factor
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Drop down list has text indicating whether the zoom is in (that
is increasing the size displayed) or out (reducing it).
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Label Object
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This section allows you to select the type of object you want to
place on your ticket. Each button represents a type of object as
listed below. When you click on the button you are telling the
system you want to place this type of object on the label. You then
move your mouse cursor over to the Ticket Layout area and click
where you want the object to be placed. The system will
automatically draw an object on the label.
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Click this button to return to pointing mode. This is useful if
you have clicked one of the other objects and you decide that you
actually don't want to use it.
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This is a Text object. It is a piece of text which will be the
same on all labels that you print, for example 'Big Savings'.
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This is a Data object which represents a specific piece of
information from the system, for example item description or sell
price. As you print a label, the system will check the item, or
customer, you are printing this label for and replace this object
with the appropriate value. When this type of object is placed on a
label, the system will show a representation of the data, for
example 99/99/99 or XXXXXXXXX. The system will show the maximum
length of the field. Don't worry if this extends past the edge of a
label. Consider the information you have and size the object
appropriately. For example, the full item description can be one
hundred characters in length because it is made up from the item's
brand, description, variety and size. However, it is unlikely that
you have any item that will use this full length. If the full
description for your items average about forty characters in total,
then size the object so that is all that it will print.
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This is a Picture object which allows you to place a picture on
the label. It can be a static picture, for example a starburst,
which will be the same on all labels, or it can be a ticket clip
(defined on the Customer
Details menu option in Items) which means that as you print a
label for a specific item, the system will replace it with the
appropriate picture.
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Object Placement
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These buttons are used to control how overlapping objects are
placed on the label. For example, if you have a starburst Picture
object and a Text object which says 'Save!', you would want the
Text object to be on top of the Picture object. However, if you
placed the Picture object on the label after the Text object, the
Picture object would be on top. You can use these buttons to change
this overlap order. Simply click on the object which you want to
change and press the appropriate button.
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Click this button to bring the selected object to the front of
the label.
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Click this button to send the selected object to the back of the
label.
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Label Properties
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This section shows the details for a specific label object. The
details will vary depending on whether the object is a Text, Data
or Picture object. These details are displayed when you drop an
object on the label, or if you click an object already on the
label.
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Text Object Properties
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The main property for a Text Object is the Label which is the
specific text to be printed on the label.
Towards the bottom of the window are the Text Properties. These
details allow you to control the appearance of text displayed by
both the Text and Data objects. You can set the fontname and size
for the specific object. A series of buttons allow you to control
other aspects of the text.
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Font Style
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Allows you to control whether the font will be displayed in
bold, italic and/or underline. If the button is in a down position
(as bold is in the above example) the font will have that style.
You can have more than one of these buttons down if you wish.
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Justification
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Allows you to control how the text will be displayed in the area
you give it. It can be left justified, right justified or centred.
Whichever button is down will be the justification used. Only one
button can be down at a time. Examples:
This is left justified
This is right
justified
And lastly, this is centred
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Foreground/Background Colours
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Allow you to control the colour of the text (foreground) and the
colour of the area underneath the text (background). To change the
colour, click on the appropriate square (the black box on top is
the foreground colour and the yellow box underneath is the
background colour) and a colour box will be displayed to you.
Simply select the required colour and click OK.
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Transparent
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This setting is used to control whether or not you can see
things through the text. For example, if you placed a starburst
image on the label, and then you placed a Text object on top of it,
you would want to see the starburst through the text. In this case,
you want the text to be transparent. If you didn't want to see the
starburst through the text, you would want the text to NOT be
transparent. To make the text transparent, click this button to the
down position. Note, if text is transparent, you don't have to set
its background colour because it will never be seen.
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Data Object Properties
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These properties are displayed for Data objects only. The Data
combo-box allows you to specify the piece of information that is to
be taken from the system. Labels can be designed for items
(tickets, shelf talkers, and so on) or customers (loyalty cards).
The item data fields are grouped together at the top of the combo
box while the customer data fields are grouped together at the end.
Once the Data type is selected the remaining properties will change
based on the type of data.
If you select a money Data type, such as Normal Sell 1, you will
get two properties:
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Dollar/Cents Ratio
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Allows you to control the look of the money amount by specifying
the height of the cents portion compared to the dollar portion. By
specifying the correct ratio, you get a much more professional
looking result.
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100% Ratio
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70% Ratio
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Multiply Price By
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The Multiply Price By option can be used to adjust the sell
price by a set amount. For example, if you give a 10% discount on a
dozen bottles of wine, you can display the adjusted price by
selecting the sell price field and setting this option to 0.9. By
default, this option is 1.0 which means no adjustment of the amount
will be made.
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For some other Data types, you will get a Scale Font To Fit
option.
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Scale Font To Fit
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When you place a Data object on the ticket, you can resize it to
fill whichever area of the form you wish. You can also set its font
type and size. However, if you assign a large area to the Data
object and you only end printing a couple of words, the resulting
label may look a little odd. If this option is checked on, the
system will increase the font size to the maximum size so that the
words will still print in the area you assigned it. This option is
designed to be used with data which might change significantly in
size, for example full item description, and is ideal for A4 shelf
talkers. On small shelf labels and for data which is approximately
the same size, for example order code, it is not recommended as the
resulting labels will look messy.
This option can be used to allow barcodes to be resized. If
checked then the size of the printed barcode will be scaled to the
size of the field defined on the design compared to a 'standard'
EAN-13 barcode which is approximately 1cm high by 3cm wide, for
example if the field width is reduced to 1.5cm on the design then
the barcode will print at 50% of the standard width. The resultant
barcode will need to be tested that it can actually be read by the
scanners.
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Barcodes
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One set of special Data objects to note are the Barcodes. There are various pieces of
information that the system can represent with a barcode such as
EAN, item number and customer card number. When you place one of
these objects on the label, the system will display text like
'[3BC4FC=,.()]. This is an internal representation of the barcode.
When the ticket is actually printed, the system will determine the
appropriate barcode format to use.
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The same text properties which control the font name and size
for Text Objects are also available for Data Objects.
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Picture Object Properties
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These properties are displayed for Picture objects only. There
is a set of six options (File, Ticket Clip1, and so on) which
indicate the content of the picture. You need to set the
Media Content field in the System
Settings Directories
tab to the folder where the image is located.
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File
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If you click the File option, you are telling the system you
want it to print the same picture on every label. In this case you
must set the FileName property to be the name of the picture file
you want to print, for example starburst.bmp. The picture can be a
BMP or JPG file.
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Ticket Clip
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If you click one of the Ticket Clip options, you are telling the
system that you want to print a picture specific to the item that
the ticket is being printed for. As the item changes, so will the
picture. Each item can have five tickets clips associated it with
it, hence the five ticket clip options. (Set on the Customer Details tab of Items).
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Stretch
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The Stretch option is used to make sure that the picture fits
the full area you have specified. For example, you have designed
the Picture object to be 2cm by 2cm. If you have an image that is
only 1cm by 1.5cm, that is how it will be printed, which leaves a
lot of empty space. If you check the Stretch option on, the image
will be stretched so that it fits into the 2cm by 2cm area.
Note: If
the height to width ratio (called the aspect ratio) is not the same
for the designed area and the actual images size, you will get
image distortion.
In our example, the design area has a ratio of 1:1 while the
actual image is 1:1.5. This means that the image will be stretched
so that looks wider than original.
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Originally 1x1.5
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Stretched to 2x2
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