Summary

This article will explain how to setup the Solatech Window Covering Software to print production labels on a dot-matrix printer.

More Information

In order to use a dot-matrix label printer with the Solatech Window Covering Software (SWCS) you will need to perform the following steps:

• Create a custom paper form in Windows for your printer
• Create and configure a custom printer configuration specific to the label printer
• Modify the labels to use the new printer configuration
• Modify the layout of labels

Create a custom paper form in Windows for your printer

To prevent Windows from advancing extra labels each time it prints a label you will need to configure the printer in Windows with a custom paper size. The following instructions are for Windows XP.

To create a custom paper form

1. From the Start menu, click Printers and Faxes.
2. From the File menu, click Server Properties.
3. Check the box Create a new form.
4. Select the unit of Metric.
5. For the paper size width and height use 4 and 1.
6. For the Printer area margins use 0.
7. Enter the form name of "SWCS Label".
8. Click the Save Form button.
9. Close the Printers window.

Create and configure a custom printer configuration specific to the printer

In order for SWCS to print labels on a dot-matrix printer it needs to know some specific information about the size of the labels, the margins, etc. In SWCS, this information is stored in a Printer Configuration.

To create a printer configuration

1. From the File menu, click Printer Configurations.
2. Select the printer configuration (Production Labels-AV5162).
3. From the toolbar, click the Copy button.
4. Enter a name for the new configuration, for example "Labels on Label Printer", and click OK.

To edit the configuration for a label printer

1. From the File menu, click Printer Configurations.
2. Select the printer configuration you want to use for production labels. If you followed the steps above, select "Labels on Label Printer."
3. Assign a printer to the configuration if it does not have one already.
4. From the toolbar, click the Page Setup button.
5. On the first tab, Margins, enter the margins for the label printer. Refer to article "How to determine the margins of your printer" for information on how to find the margins.
6. On the Paper tab, select the paper size "SWCS Labels." If this is not in the drop down list, you can just enter the physical size of one label. For example 4 x 1.
7. On the Label Layout tab, enter the width and height of the label after the margins. For example, if the paper size was 4 x 1 and the left/right margins were .1 then the width would be 3.9 (4 - .1) and the height would be .9.
8. Leave the horizontal and vertical gaps at 0.
9. Change the columns per sheet to 1 and the printing direction to Across and Down.
10. Click OK.

Note: The preview window may indicate the settings are invalid. In this case the warning can be ignored.

Modify the labels to use the new printer configuration

Once the printer has been setup the labels needs to be modified to use the new printer configuration.

1. From the Tasks menu, click Manage Process Reports.
2. Select the Production Labels category.
3. Select the first label and click the Modify button on the toolbar.
4. On the Layout tab, check the box "Use a custom printer configuration for this report".
5. From the list of printer configurations, select the one you created for your label printer.
6. Click OK.
7. Repeat steps 3 - 6 for each of the labels you'll be printing in the label printer.
8. Close Reports Center.

Modify the layout of the labels

After setting up the printer configurations and assigning them to the labels the last step is to review/change the labels to make sure they are designed to fit the label printer.

1. From the Tasks menu, click Manage Process Reports.
2. Select the Production Labels category.
3. Select the first label and click the Modify button on the toolbar.
4. On the Layout tab, click the Change Label Layout button.
5. Review the fields to make sure they all fit within the gray box. The gray box defines the size of the label and anything that is outside the gray box won't print.
6. Make any required changes and click OK.
7. Click OK again to save the changes.
8. Repeat steps 3 - 7 for each of the labels you'll be printing on the label printer.
9. Close Reports Center.

APPLIES TO

• Solatech Window Covering Software 4.2