The Label Designer module is meant for creating or editing completely custom designs, using text, images, or barcodes. These items can be placed and modified with the menus, and can be moved around your label by dragging them on the design area.
The toolbar across the top of the screen shows some common controls and options for the Label Designer.
Lock/Unlock: Lock any element (image, textbox, barcode, etc.) of the label/sign, relating to the size and location of the element.
When you open Label Designer, or choose the New Label option in the Hamburger Menu, the New Label window will open.
The New Label Options include the length and width of your design. On the Kodiak or Toro Max systems, you can also choose ?Reset to Tape Size? to set your label dimensions to the default size for your loaded label stock. If your label stock uses pre-printed elements, check the Show Supply Background checkbox to show those preprinted elements on the screen.
The New Label Template section of the window lets you choose a premade template to apply to your new design, such as an ANSI-style warning template or a basic barcode template. By default, you will start with a blank label. To use a prepared template instead, choose a Template Category from the drop-down menu and choose a template from the previews that appear. LabelForge PRO will automatically adjust the template to fit your label?s dimensions.
Once you have made your selections, click Finish to start designing your label.
Each object on your label, such as a text box or an image, is added to your label through the Insert Menu.
Click on the desired item type to add it to the center of your label; when an object has been added to the design, the new object will automatically be selected for editing. To select a different object, simply click on it in the design area; to select multiple objects, hold the Control key and click on each item.
When an object is selected, use this menu to precisely control an object’s size, position, or rotation. You can also quickly move the object by dragging it across the design area, or resize it by selecting it and dragging the control boxes at its corners. Note that the “aspect ratio” check box only applies to the width and height changed through this menu, not to the size change done using grips. (For grips, maintaining aspect ratio is done by holding the shift key.)
When an object is selected, use this menu to adjust the object’s arrangement relative to other objects or the label as a whole. You can center objects on the label, or align multiple selected objects to each other. You can also control whether an object covers up another, or is covered instead.
When an object is selected, use this menu to adjust the unique options available for that type of object. For example, for text objects, you can change the font and size, while for barcode objects, you can choose the barcode format and options for human-readable text (HRT).
When an object is selected, use this menu to choose the colors for that object. You can select a wide variety of colors, even if the appropriate supplies are not currently loaded, but only colors that match your loaded supplies can be printed accurately. Fill options include patterns and gradients.
Connect your label design to a spreadsheet or database, and automatically generate a series of matching labels, or add automatically generated content to your existing label design.
To use this function, start by pressing the “Open Datasource Connector” button from the Data Source menu. You must have some content on your label before being able to connect the label to a “source of data”.
The Data Source Connector has two panes: the left pane allows interaction with data sources, while the right pane shows a simplified view of the design area, and allows interaction with data-aware items (the modifiable items, that can be connected to data sources).
The first step in adding a data source is to press the “+” orange button. It will open the first page of a data source adding wizard.
The data sources available are:
For the ArcFlash, CSV, GHS, ImageFolder, NFPA, or XLSX Data Source types, the necessary file or files will need to be available on the system where you are using LabelForge PRO, which includes any USB drives. If at a later date, either the label or the sources are moved, you will need to edit the data sources and update their paths.
To edit the path of a data source, press the down-arrow on the data sources drop-down, and select the preferences icon.
To change the name of a data source, press the down-arrow on the data sources drop-down, and select the pencil icon.
After adding the data source(s) you want to use, the left pane will contain a list of fields that are available to be connect to the data-aware objects, from the right pane. To create a connection, use the dragging icon from the fields to pull desired field item onto the desired object. The drop area will highlight in orange, for each canvas item that can be connected.
The canvas items that are either read-only, “user-background”, or the items that do not support connections, will be filled in with orange and a solid black boarder on the background of the object on the right pane, and will not highlight when a data item is dragged onto them.
Each object can only accept one connection. However, it is possible to have multiple objects assigned to different data items within a single design area. If a data item is used more than once, within the design area, it can be easily identified by their color swatch.
The following is a GHS template, with connections:
Pressing the X on either a data or a object will disconnect them. Selecting one data source in the drop-down will filter the list on the left for the items pertaining to only that data source (while still showing all connections on the canvas). Searching for keywords, in fields or data source names, is also available.
It is recommended to use symbol or svg (image) item types for fields containing svg content.
Once all desired connections have been created, press OK. All the objects on the canvas will be automatically updated to reflect the contents of the connected fields for the current record in the Data Sources.
The Navigation section at the bottom of the Data Source menu shows the current record and the total number of records in the current Data Source. You can also cycle through the records or jump to a specific record.
Choose basic label design options, such as the size of the label you are creating (or a dynamic size, which extends or shrinks to match your content) and the supplies you plan to use when printing your label.
Selecting the “multiple labels per page” option will allow you to design one label on a portion of the page width; the design will be replicated during print.
Adjust printing options, such as the common printing preferences. You can also choose which labels to print from an automatically generated set of labels, if you are using a Data Source.
The supply information will be populated automatically. Printing on a network printer, supply information is not available, so you will need to select the loaded supply.
When you are ready to print your label, click the Print button in the Print Settings menu.
If you have any questions about using LabelForge PRO label design software, get help from Duralabel? world-class support team by calling 800-788-5572 or visiting Duralabel.com. We?re here to help with all your labeling needs!