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Design a label template

Templates are laid out visually: a canvas the size of your labels, with elements placed on it.

Under Labels in your settings.

Editing changes the future only​

Before you edit anything in use.

Labels are rendered fresh at print time, so editing a template changes what prints from now on — and cannot change labels already printed and stuck on shelves.

There is also no version history. No rolling back, and no record of what a previous version produced. If a template is in daily use, work on a copy and switch the default over when you are happy.

Steps​

  1. Go to Labels in your settings.
  2. Create a template and choose its subject — product, location or licence plate.
  3. Set the canvas to your label size.
  4. Add elements and position them on the canvas.
  5. Select an element to set its properties.
  6. Save, and set it active.
  7. Make it the default for its subject if it should be the one print buttons use.

Choose the subject first​

It decides what data you can place. A location label cannot show a price, because a location has none.

Getting this wrong means rebuilding — see label template subject types.

Elements and their properties​

Text, barcodes, images, boxes and lines. Selecting one shows its properties in the inspector, and they differ by kind:

Text — alignment, and what happens when it is too long for its box: shrink it, cut it off, or wrap it.

Barcodes — which symbology to encode.

Images — how they are converted for a thermal printer, which prints in plain black and white rather than shades.

The layers panel controls what sits in front of what.

Set the size accurately​

The canvas should match your physical labels. A layout built at the wrong size prints misaligned, and it is easier to fix now than after a roll.

Text that will not always be short​

Design with the longest realistic value, not the one in front of you. A product name that fits today will not fit for every product, and the overflow setting decides whether it shrinks, cuts off or wraps.

The default​

One template per subject can be the default — what a print button uses when nobody chooses. Changing it takes effect immediately for anything printed afterwards.

Test before committing​

Print one on the printer that will produce them. Barcodes especially: scan the printed label, since a barcode that renders well on screen can still be unreadable at label size.