Labels, labels, labels

ORTHO BYTES The use of computers, computer programs, and other computerized equipment to assist in the orthodontic practice will be reported under this section of the AMERICANJOURNALOF ORTIIODONTICSAND DENTOFAr ORTtlOPEDICS. Manuscripts, comments, and reprint requests may be submitted to Dr. Martin N. Abelson, 14720 North Shotgun PI., Tucson, AZ 85737.

Labels, labels, labels I admit it. I hate labels. When I receive a letter with a label on it for the address, I tend to toss it into the round file. To me, a letter with a label on it smacks of mindless mass mailings. There are some very good uses for labels, however. They are useful on large envelopes and packages, for applying return addresses to envelopes and to address newsletters. A nice looking label can save time and add to your image in those situations. Not everyone shares my prejudices against using labels to address a letter or bills, so I thought I would look into different methods of producing labels. Most major word processing programs offer methods for producing labels with a variety of printers. The labels themselves come in a variety of forms and sizes. There is the full 8V2 x ll-inch sheet, individual labels, and strip labels. Strip labels come with perforations at the sides for use in tractor fed devices such as a dot matrix printer, and with perforations between the labels for specialized label printers. Frequently the specialized printers use a thermal printing system that is quick and quiet, but though the resolution is acceptable, it cannot compare to that of a label produced by a 24-pin dot matrix printer or a laser printer. Ink jet printers can also produce very nice labels. If it is necessary to produce a lot of labels which are alike, such as return address labels, a full sheet of laser printer labels in a laser printer will do the best and fastest job. This technique also works well when it is necessary to produce large number of patient address labels, such as for a mailing involving a newsletter. Although it is possible to program a system to use part of a label page, the time and effort involved are not warranted. Rather than throw away parts of a sheet, strip labels for individual addresses processed in a tractor fed dot matrix printer (preferably 24-pin for better appearance) or in o n e of the newer thermal or ink jet label printers is preferable. While these single labels are more costly, they are quick and easy to 614

use and most of the waste of unused labels is avoided. MAKING SINGLE LABELS

Thermal type label printers are dedicated to the one job, they are whisper quiet, and your regular printer is not tied up by being set up for a single function process. I did find that thermal labels were a little more expensive when compared with the ones I was accustomed to using in a typewriter. I tested a few thermal printers, like the flexible inexpensive LabelWriter II Plus by COStar (Greenwich, Conn.) and found them to be a delight to use whether I wanted one or many labels. The LabelWriter II Plus is tiny and handles a practical variety of label types, shapes, and sizes. The software was easy to install and to understand. The LabelWriter II Plus produced nice labels for packages, diskettes, name tags, VHS cassettes, return addresses, bottles, which had to be labeled for OSHA, clear labels for drawers and tray set-ups, and grudgingly, I even did small numbers of envelopes, mostly to cover errors in the address area ~ifter a stamp was affixed. LabelWriter labels can be bar coded if desired. The labels came out quickly and almost without sound because it is a thermal printer. The LabelWriter software can be loaded as a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program that can be popped up just about any time you want it. This makes it a cinch to make a quick label no matter what program you are working with on your computer. If you are a Microsoft Windows user, the LabelWriter II Plus software will also produce graphics on labels. The technical people at COStar were exceedingly helpful when I experienced a problem (which had nothing to do with the LabelWriter) and they also pointed out that I would be able to do graphics on labels with the LabelWriter on a pure DOS-based computer if I were to use the Avery LabelPro Laser software produced by the Avery International Corp. This is

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the Avery Dennison corporation that produces all sorts of labels. T h e LabelPro Laser manual did not have an address for the Avery Company, but I was given a phone number (1-800-462-8379) for product inforifiation. The Avery LabelPro Laser software came with a small assortment of graphics which I successfully reproduced on my LabelWriter II Plus printer. The program will accept .pcx and .pcc graphics from a variety of programs so lots of graphics are available. Fig. 1 shows a label produced using just the LabelWriter software and Fig. 2, one with a graphic made by using the Avery software with the LabelWriter II Plus. Note that the thermal printer did not produce shades of grey in the graphic. The Avery software also provided some interesting additional advantages, which will be discussed later. I use both a laser and a dot martrix printer, which are attached to my two parallel ports. The LabelWriter II Plus connects to the computer through a serial port. This is a nice concept because I can connect all three printing devices and have them function at will. When I installed the LabelWriter II Plus, I encountered a few problems relating to serial ports which you should be aware of. If you read the specifications of an IBM compatible PC, you find that there are potentially four serial ports available. These are Com 1, Corn 2, Com 3, and Com 4. What is not so widely understood is that even if you install four physical serial ports, only two serialports are usable at the same thne./ T h e explanation has to do with what is called " I R Q addresses." Without getting into a technical explanation of what an interrupt is, this situation exists because Com 1 and Com 3 share the same IRQ address. The same situation exists for the second pair, Com 2 and Com 4. Attempting to use Com 1 and Com 3 at the same time results in an I R Q "conflict." I have been told that some programs are available that address this problem and can establish different IRQ addresses for four ports, but many devices that use serial ports cannot deal with the problem. Some common

devices that attach to serial ports are printers, modems, fax modems, scanners, digitizers, mice and trackballs, and bar code readers. In my case, I have an internal modem in my computer using one of the Corn ports, Corn 4. That meant I could not use Com 2. The only remaining available Com ports, were Com 1 and Com 3. If I leave the serial label printer connected to Com 1, I cannot use another serial device such as a scanner or mouse. Mice and trackballs, however, can be purchased that use a "bus" connector. This is a special board that is inserted into an expansion slot of a computer for connecting the mouse or trackball. The bus type mouse or trackball offers a simple inexpensive answer to keeping one serial port free, so if you have not added one of these devices yet, it makes sense to spend the few extra dollars needed to obtain the bus type of these devices. Dot matrix printers are well suited for strip labels as well as sheet labels, continuous paper forms and forms that require multiple copies produced by impact. Newer models of the dot machines can be drawer fed so that a form like the standard individual insurance form can be easily handled in numbers. The only problem With using dot matrix machines for strip labels is the set up and break down time to convert the machine to another purpose. Some of these dot machines can handle both tractor-fed labels or paper, and regular paper simultaneously through a bypass system, without removing the tractor-fed material. The prices of dot matrix printers have come down considerably so the only considerations for using one strictly to produce labels would be space availability or the noise level that these impact printers produce. Even the noise level can be handled by putting your printer inside a cabinet or into a closet backing up to your work area with a trap door to access the printer. LABELS BY T H E SHEET

So far, we have covered devices that are capable of, or specifically designed to produce individual

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Fig. 3. Return address labels made with Avery software and laser printer.

labels or a series of them. Labels by the sheet can be produced by all types of regular printers. I mentioned earlier that the Avery LabelPro Laser software offered some interesting additional advantages. This software makes producing an extensive variety of laser printer labels by the sheet, an absolute pleasure. The software is totally dedicated to labels and actually makes producing labels fun. The manual that comes with the software looks a bit daunting at first, but I soon discovered it was easy to use and you did not have to learn everything possible to make your first label. Avery's mechanical support (800 935-0381) was very friendly and very helpful, once you reached them. My interest at this point was in making return address labels by the sheet, using my laser printer to produce high quality labels with small fonts (type sizes). I was preparing to move to Arizona, so I decided to try making new return address labels for myself. These are made 80 at a time on one sheet. I thought that was really neat because I made a load of labels at a time, in no time fiat, and, I could make them by the sheet only as I needed them. Fig. 3 shows a section of a page of return address labels that this

effort produced. Unlike the LabelWriter II plus software, the Avery LabelPro Laser software cannot be loaded like a TSR. The LabelPro Laser software has to be accessed like any other stand alone program. This software can import and store WordPerfect secondary merge files and can also create WordPerfect secondary merge files. Because of the lack of a "go to shell" provision in the software, it is also not possible to hot key back and forth to other programs. This was a bit of a disappointment. Other data formats are also accessible such as ACSII comma delimited files and dBase files. Bar coding on labels is also available using the Avery software. The software is Windows compatible. I counted about 35 different label formats available in sheet form for this software. The Avery LaserPro Laser software made making full sheets of labels very easy. SHEET LABELS A N D C O N T I N U O U S LABELS U S I N G W O R D P E R F E C T v. 5.1 A N D v. 6.0

WordPerfect version 5.1 contains a label macro for creating label formats to be used with a dot matrix printe.r or a laser printer. The name of the

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Fig. 4. WordPerfect label with graphic by laser printer. macro is Labels.wpm, and it is activated in the usual way, Alt F10, then type "labels." A very extensive menu of preconfigured label formats for either laser or dot matrix printers is provided. Just about every Avery and 3M label can be found on the list. By using Labels.wpm t.o set up t ~ make a particular label, all you have to do is to highlight the specific label size or manufacturer's number. The program automatically formats the selected label for you. Next, you are asked to select whether you wish to make 1 Continuous feed labels, 2 Bin number, or 3 Manual feed labels (which a r e probably the safest approach for a laser printer because of the straight paper path). After your choice has been made, the selected label type is automatically formatted for you and the new definition is added to your list of paper definitions. Creating a label definition was a breeze. The macro eliminates all of the hassles you encounter when trying to format a label design for yourself. No more trial and error, no more testing. The label formats that the "labels" macro creates work like a charm. To use a label format stored in your paper definitions, it is necesary to create a primary merge file that contains the label definition and the merge codes for the texL The primary file is then merged with your secondary file containing the patient codes.9As part of the creation of your primary file, Use Format and Document (Shft-F8, 3 DocumenO and 2 hzitial codes to select your label definition and your font. This approach assures that each of your labels will be uniform. I should mention that it is possible t ~ create a label in WordPerfect 5.1 with a graphic on one side of the label. The process proved to be quite a task, although the resultant graphics were. much nicer than those provided by the Avery program. Fig. 4 shows part of a page of return address labels produced b y a laser printer using a WordPerfect graphic. Labels produced by a laser printer have a more professional appearance because of the higher point resolution. Labels produced by thermal and dot matrix printers are not as crisp and sharp on close examination. It is for this reason that small labels, such as those used for a return address, will have a superior appearance if produced with a laser printer. I do not recommend trying to create a label

with a graphic in WordPerfect 5.1 because of the complex procedures involved. For the time being you will be best served by one of the special programs previously mentioned that incorporate graphics. WordPerfect version 6.0 greatly simplifies the process needed to create labels and to incorporate graphics. To Create a version 6.0 label, use Format (Shift F 8 ) a n d select 3 Page, and 5 Labels. At this point, you select a predefined label size and type. Next, you can use the pull down menus to select and size a graphic if you wish to include one. Finally, type your text. ! f you wish to make a repeated label such as for return address labels, Special merge codes are required. The necessary codes for WordPerfect 5.1 will be found Under Merge Codes (Shft-F9) and 6 More, [(Shft-F9, 1 if needed, and Shft F9 for version 6.0]. This first code set should be entered immediately after your label definition. In WordPerfect 5.!, select the FOR code, {FOR}Var-start--stop--step--, then enter 1 for each of the variables except for stop, which should contain the number of duplicates you require. For WordPerfect 6.0, substitute for FORNEXT command for the {FOR} command. The completed statement for either version of WordPerfect should look like this: {FOR}I- 1 N n--1--. The n represents the number of duplications required. After you complete your label text and merge codes of the label, it is also necessary to put in a hard page break (Ctrl-Enter) after your text, then an {END FOR} statement after the hard page break code. The {END FOR} is necessary to turn off the {FOR} statement. This file is then saved to be used as your primary merge file. To create a sheet of labels, merge the primary file you have saved using a keyboard (ENTER) as the secondary merge file. The keystrokes are, (CtrlF9), 1 for Merge, then type in the name of your label file for the primary file name, [Formfil e in WordPcrfect V 6.0] and (ENTER) for the secondary merge file [DataFile in WordPerfect V 6.0]. To all of my colleagues and friends who have struggled to create labels in the past, I wish the best of computing. I hope the solutions I have presented will ease the pain" of creating labels from now on.