Many of our users get frustrated when it comes time to print labels. It’s a multi-step process which usually leads to issues each step of the way. For a majority of users, it means they have to do the following every time they need to create labels:
- The developer has to run a process to get their address information off of their database and into a spreadsheet.
(I hope most developers would create an m-Power report to do this for them!) - The developer needs to open Microsoft and configure Excel and Word for a mail-merge.
- Once the developer remembers how to setup the mail merge (after all, they don’t do this everyday), they need to configure how the label will be printed on each page.
While there is no doubt that software like Microsoft’s Word and Excel are powerful tools, it seems to me there could be a better approach to creating labels that is not only faster to implement but less prone to error.
Fortunately, now there is a better way — with the help of the Custom Label Creator Template which was just posted to the mrc Project Exchange. The Custom Label Template Creator’s flexibility is what makes the template really stand out. Any other labeling template I have seen only supports one layout design. If you wanted to go from a 2 up to a 3 up label, you’d need another template. This template, by contrast, can handle any label layout you care to throw at it. Best of all, for the developer there is no need to involve bulky client side software and all of the usual work needed to make the mail merge and create the labels.
Simply download and install the template from our Project Exchange. After you register the template to your m-Power environment, build a new application including all the fields needed for your labels. After your application is built, you can customize numerous aspects of your labels, including:
- Size of sheet
- Size of the individual label
- Number of labels per row (and down) for each sheet
- If there this is any offset (Either top or left) before the label is printed
- The overall positioning of the text inside each individual label.
Of course, end-users don’t want to key in all of this information every time they want to create labels. To handle this, I added an additional feature: “Label Presets.” These presets have been defined in the template via simple JavaScript and are easily editable by the developer. Once you know the specifications necessary for your company’s labeling needs, open the template and modify the settings.
Imagine your company’s labeling needs….You might use 3 distinct labels for various purposes. Once you have determined the specs for each of the 3 and added it to the template, any subsequent time you need to create labels, you can accomplish it by:
- Create an application with m-Power, using your Labeling template
- Run the report
- Choose the correct preset to meet your specific labeling needs.
That’s it! It will probably take you more time to find the actual labels than it will to actually make them….thanks to m-Power!
You can visit a demo of this template in action by clicking here.
Let me know how you’ve utilized the template and if you run into any problems with it!
Rick
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