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Avery label templates for Macintosh computers
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Bulk Mailer ($125/IBM, $149/Mac). Satori Software, (206) 443-0765. 384K IBM compatible, 512K Macintosh.
LabelPro ($100 each/three versions: PC Laser, PC Dot-Matrix, Macintosh). A very Software, (818) 915-3851. 512K IBM compatible, 1MB Macintosh.
Label Unlimited ($80). Poser Up! Software, (415) 345-5900, (800) 851-2917. 512K IBM compatible.
MacEnvelope Plus ($90). Synex, Inc., (718) 499-6293. IMB Macintosh.
MyAdvancedLabelMaker, ($50). MySoftware Co., (415) 325-9372. 512K Macintosh.
MyLabelMaker ($2073.25 inch, $25/3.5-inch). MySoftware Co., (415) 325-9372. 256K IBM compatible.
PC-File ($150). Button Ware, (206) 454-0479. 512K IBM compatible.
Smart Label Printer/SLP 1000 ($250). Seiko Instruments, (408) 922-5900. IBM compatible, Macintosh. How Do You Do Labels? Whether you are young or old, female or male, Mac or PC user, if you own a business, you do labels. If you don't, you should. Bills, proposals, bids, and other correspondence all require a mailing address, and this usually means producing a mailing label or an addressed envelope.
YOUR OPTIONS
When it comes to making labels, your choices are varied. Among software-based solutions, you can:
1. Print labels directly from a database;
2. Use label-printing software;
3. Create labels with dedicated mail-management software;
4. Print labels from a word processor; or
5. Design labels with a desktop-publishing program and print them from an imported mailing list.
Sure, you could continue to use a type-writer or a ballpoint pen, but both methods are inefficient.
Another label consideration is the type of printer you use. Aside from the improved output quality, laser and ink-jet printers are generally much easier to set up and use for printing labels than dot-matrix printers. Feeding in labels is as simple as filling up the paper cassette, while tractor-fed dot-matrix printers jam more easily. On the other hand, dot-matrix printers are so inexpensive compared with laser and ink-jet printers that one could be used for printing labels and nothing else--especially when you typically print one at a time.
There are, in fact, as many ways to do labels as there are people who do them.
DATABASE LABELS
Judi Wunderlich was recently upt to her knees in labels. She was keying in the names of 3,000 potential clients from the Chicago yellow pages for use in a direct-mail campaign for her business, Wunderlich Graphics. For his job she was using PC-File, a flat-file database program from Buttom Ware.
"Each record in this database lists the company, my contact in the company, when I've sent them a direct-mail advertisement, and which ad I sent," she says. "It shows whether they responded to one of my mailings or whether they found me in the phone book, what kind of operation they have that relates to the graphic arts, what prices I quoted them over the phone, and any other comments I care to make."
If you need to have this much information available on subjects and also need to contact them by mail, you need some kind of database program for your mailing labels. When it comes time to do a mailing, names and addresses can be extracted and printed. Wunderlich notes that Buttom Ware makes the job easy by providing a separate program on the PC-File disk, appropriately called PC-Label; most database software has similar label-printing features.
"With PC-File, I can customize the printing of my labels," Wunderlich says. "For example, I use one [label format] for the laser printer, another for the dot-matrix printer, plus some special clear labels."
SPECIAL LABEL SOFTWARE
Stan Wong, owner of MicroMime, a West Coast software developer, uses the PC laser version of LabellPro. He chose LabellPro because his current labeling needs are specialized: disk labels (including serial numbers), identification labels for products such as MicroMime's integrated circuit chips, and return address labels. As software dedicated for designing and printing labels, LabellPro is ideally suited to this sort of work. (You should use labels dedicated for laser printers too, or you risk damaging the printer.)
"I particularly like the program bacause it lets me import graphics and incorporate them into my labels design," says Wong.
The beauty of LabellPro is that it use templates based on labels available from the label people themselves, A very. Faithful adherence to A very's specs is guaranteed which makes doing labels a simple follow-the-numbers operation.
LabellPro, which also comes in PC dot-matrix and Macintosh versions, provides a palette of tools for designing a label within the framework of the template you have chosen. These template include all the popular Avery styles, and they are displayed full-size on your screen. (See review of Mac version in this month's Software Reviews.)
MAIL-LIST SOFTWARE
Peggy Taylor operates a Macintosh-based word-processing and computer-services business out of her California home.
"I have other label programs but find Bulk Mailer the easiest, fastest, and quickest. I now use it exclusively," she says. "It has the best manual I've ever seen for new-comers to the computer world. It also has great pictures to follow along with the writen explanations."
Bulk Mailer--which also available for IBM compatibles--illustrates the dedicated-mail-management-software approach to doing labels. Entries are made in 10 fields, including country, phone, carrier route, and search codes in addition to name and address fields. Entries can be sorted by name and zip code (including Zip + 4) and also by three- and five-digit zip codes containing a defined number of pieces--essential in qualifying for certain discount mailings.
If you have heavy mailing-label or envelope chores, programs like Bulk Mailer that adhere to United States Postal Service requirements will save you hours as well as dollars. While not as fully featured, the MacEnvelope Plus desk-accessory program will also help you with official requirements: It prints U.S. Postal Service bar codes for bulk-mail discounts.
With either program, lists can be stored as well as imported to and exported from the software. Another Bulk Mailer feature that saves time and money: Duplicate entries can be tracked down and eliminated.
ONE LABEL AT A TIME
I've always found printing single labels a true pain. Because I use a laser printer exclusively, I either have to print from a full sheet of labels or find a partially used sheet and print from that. However, dot-matrix printers make single label printing a lot easier, as a couple of labels can be quickly rolled in and printed out. In fact, an inexpensive dot-matrix printer can be dedicated to labels, making the job even easier. Still, I haven't found a program that lets me specify exactly which label on a laser-printer sheet I want to print to. Judi Wunderlich shares my irritation, although she has come up with a useful workaround. For people with whom she corresponds frequently, she prints out a full sheet of their individual labels.
Another solution to the single-label problem is a stand-alone label printer like the Seiko Smart Label Printer. The SLP 1000 consists of a device no larger than a Rolodex file that attaches to your computer like any other printer. At the head of the sleek little machine is a roll of 130 self-adhesive 1 1/8-by-3 1/2-inch labels. A pop-up program on an MS-DOS computer or a desk accessory on a Mac controls the printer; how much you fit on the label depends on the font size and style you choose. An address can be captured from memory or typed into the Label Editor and stored along with 149 others for later use. Its best use is for low-volume output, particularly those niggling single labels. For than $250, print quality is equal to that of a letter-quality printer.
WHICH WAY FOR YOU?
If you wish to extract label data from a larger pool of information--for instance, invoices and contact data--a database is probably the way to go. Full-fledged databases, such as PC-File, have specialy features for producing labels while letting you use the data in lots of other ways. If your database's label-printing capabilities are inadequate or frustrating to get at. though, you might want to export the data files to a word processor or desktop-publishing program.
But if the task before you is names and addresses not necessarily linked to other data, or perhaps specialized labels, then a dedicated label program such as LabellPro might be the simplest route. If your mailing list is large, you'll want to consider dedicated mail-management software, like Bulk Mailer. And if you print only a small number of labels but don't want to be bothered with feeding labels into your printer, the SLP 1000 is worth a look.
COPYRIGHT 1991 Freedom Technology Media Group
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
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