Labels Question

[Amir Bienstock]

I am trying to print addresses on postcards, 1/4 page in size (4.25 X 5.5"). I designed it as a label, but can't print at all. I prefer to print on one pre-cut card at a time, rather than a full page of four. My printer handles this size without problem, but the label design crashes every time I try to view it(unless I change the paper size to 8.5 X 11) . I get a message that something may be wrong with my margins or page setup. I am at my wits'-end After a couple of days of playing with every possible option. Any ideas of what I'm doing wrong?

I run Alpha Five 4.5, on a Windows XP system, printing on HP LJ3200 Laser printer.

Thanks in advance,

Amir

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Labels Question

Amir,

Here are some ideas, some of which you may have already tried.

You're wrestling with a mismatch betweeen the label dimensions and the page dimensions.

You probably need to establish a custom page size, and then figure out what portions of that page are accessible to your label. Here's what I mean.

Each printer has an unprintable zone at the edges of each page. These unprintable areas differ from printer to printer. You will need to review the docs for your printer to find out what they are. In most cases a top and bottom margin of 0.6 inch and a side margin of 0.3 inch seem to work well here.

If your postcards are 4.25" tall and 5.5" wide you should set the page dimensions in your label layout to the same dimensions.

However, within the properties of the page you must set the top, bottom, and side margins to match the non-printable zones for your printer.

You are left with a printable zone on your custom page that is less than 4.25" tall and less than 5.5" wide. The exact dimensions will depend on the size of the non-print zones for your specific printer.

This 'printable zone' is the target within which your label must live. If you set the size properties of your label to 4.25" tall and 5.5" wide it won't fit when your printer driver tries to put one on your custom page. See?

So, set your label dimensions to match the dimensions of the 'printable zone' on your custom page. In practice here I actually set my label dimensions somewhat smaller than the full 'printable zone'. This seems to help, and my hope is that if someone else uses my application with a different printer I've allowed enough margin so that the labels print without bombing out.

-- tom

[Pat Bremkamp]

RE: Labels Question

Amir,
This isn't an elegant solution, but it might work:
Design your postcard as a report instead of a label and design it on 8-1/2 X 11 paper in the upper left quadrant. Then, at the bottom of your design, put the page break to cause the printer to go to a new page.

The more elegant solution is to go to the printers section of control panel and create a page size that you want. Once that is done, you can use that page size within A5.

[Amir Bienstock]

RE: Labels Question

Thank you Tom, for responding so quickly to my question. You seem to have understood my problem and your answer provided me with the complete solution. At last, I can print on my postcards.

With gratitude,

Amir

[Amir Bienstock]

RE: Labels Question

Thank you for your response, Pat. I already solved the problem. I tried avoiding creating a report because of having to design calculated fields to do with the address and postal bar codes. Label design provides it automatically. I did keep that in mind as a last resort.

Thanks again,

Amir

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Labels Question

Great! Glad you got it going. -- tom