Barcode labels for your own stock

The Inventory tab prints numbered labels with a barcode for stock you code yourself. It has nothing to do with a show, and it never touches a show’s list of sales.

The idea: a structure

A structure is the shape of a label’s text: a prefix, a number padded to so many digits, and a suffix. For example AS-0042-B. Each structure remembers its next number, so every batch carries on from the last one.

Make a structure

1. Open the Inventory tab and click + Add structure.

2. Fill in the fields.

   Field	What it does
   Name	Your name for it, such as Shelf A.
   Barcode	QR (the default), Data Matrix, or Code 128, which suits narrow stock.
   Prefix and Suffix	Up to 20 characters each. Letters, digits, spaces and - _ . / # : + ( ) are allowed. Anything else is dropped.
   Digits (zero padding, 0–12)	4 turns 42 into 0042.
   Step (how numbers progress)	How much each label’s number goes up, 1 to 1000.
   Start number	Where the numbering begins.
   Next number to print	The number the next batch starts from.
   The barcode carries	The whole text (prefix, number, suffix), or The number only.

3. Click Save. You can keep up to 20 structures.

The preview follows what you type.

Print a batch

1. Pick the structure and, if you have more than one printer, the printer that prints these labels.
2. Check the preview. It shows the next label in the printer’s true label shape. Size, margins and language come from Setup.
3. Enter How many labels (1 to 100) and click Print 1 label (the button shows your count).

The batch prints from the next number and moves the next number on. If a label fails, nothing more is sent and the numbers that did not print go back to the structure.

The Printed list

Printed lists which numbers went out and when, newest first. It is a log of its own, kept on your computer. To print an old number again, set Next number to print back, or click Start over at the start number in the structure (it asks first), and print again.

Remove this structure deletes it. The numbers already printed stay in the Printed list.

The label

The 2D code sits on the left, as big a square as the label allows, with the text beside it in the biggest face that fits. A Code 128 barcode runs across the top with the text under it. Stock taller than it is wide stacks the code over the text.

Note

Data Matrix has not yet been confirmed with a phone or a handheld scanner. Print one test label and scan it before you print a roll. ZPL printers have not yet been tested on real hardware either.

If something looks different

• A warning appears under the preview. It says what does not fit, for example text too long for the label. Shorten the prefix or suffix, or pick a larger label size.
• The barcode does not print on an older printer. Some older TSC printers do not take the QR options Label Station sends. Tell us which printer through Get in touch.

Where to next

• Reading a code back
• Label size, margins and test labels
• The Setup tab