The Ideas Genie Community Forum
Ideas Genie Pro => The Labels program GA048 => Topic started by: ideasguy on April 06, 2010, 07:48:43 PM
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I set new labels up for Paul (newplantsguy) but he has a problem printing.
I'd really appreciate feedback from anyne who can have a go generating and printing on plain A4 paper
Download these:
http://www.ideasgenie.com/updates-igpro/igpro-fileset-ende.exe
and
http://www.ideasgenie.com/updates-igpro/GA048-dl.exe
When installed, start GA048 (under Labels tab)
Should indicate Version 30
You should be able to select L4778 labels from the popup.
Continue to make up a set of labels (4x12=48 per sheet) so only a max of 4 lines with 8 or 10 point text and quite short line length
(which suits Pauls application)
When you click Print, please wait. It?s a bit slow due to Rich text.
Thanking you in anticipation!
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All I get on printout is 13 random rectangles printed with nothing in the squares. Print preview is the same.
I presume it was just text to be input onto the labels.
Malcolm
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Thanks Malcolm. Paul got a blank sheet!
I'll check it over again.
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I got a blank sheet after inputing text, nothing on print preview either, thanks for any help.
Paul.
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Are you sure you had entered data for the label in GA048S08 Malcolm?
There is only one Rich text field enabled for that label.
If you right click inside the plant name field you have options for moving data into the rich text field.
Thats the data which will be printed on the labels.
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Not good here.
Got ver. 30
Copied and pasted text data into upper left area and saved.
Clicked preview and no preview in view,
nothing moved after waiting for quite a while.
Tried to close window (X), and 'Please Wait' message came up.
No motion in circle, clicked on it, circle turned, got message upper left.
Message began 'Action connot . . .'
'Retry' did no good
Clicked on 'Switch to'
Brought up 'start' panel clicked on 'shut down computer'
Computer shut down
Did not try again.
- Toby
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George
Are you sure you had entered data for the label in GA048S08 Malcolm?
I thought I did, but did it in a hurry last night as was getting late, will have another try tonight.
Re Tobys post, yes I got the Please wait box, so I did for about 5 mins until it did print the random blank boxes, this was over a network though.
Malcolm
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The important thing here is that you have to wait.
The Throbber with Please Wait and the rotating circle is new, introduced because
a) it takes Rich Text a while to process your labels before printing
and
b) there are 48 labels on one sheet
If the circle is turning slowly then you just have to wait. Do not interrupt by attempting to close. Allow it to run its course.
RE: Brought up 'start' panel clicked on 'shut down computer'
Computer shut down.
No need to do that Toby, and its the same with any software.
Instead, do Alt-Ctrl-Delete
The Windows Task Manager opens
Click the Applications Tab
Look for Ideas Genie Pro...
Click to select
At the bottom of the screen, click End Task button
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I have printed some text, I reduced the font to 6 although it does not look that small for label.
I will try adding more text and see what happens, thing is what has changed??
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I have added another line of text and printed it onto labels, the font seems to have reverted to 9, so it looks like it's working, see how it goes. It does take a few minutes to come to the print preview screen.
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Ok i got this
Downloaded first update link ok, went to download second and i got asked for a password clicked on cancel
went into labels still v29 but L4778 is their opened it up added plants went to print preview and got unrecognised label (which is probably due to the password and me canceling)
Phil
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OK I have printed another set, the key could be in the amount of characters on a line. The maximum is around 28 thats with no spaces.
It also appears that you can type more on a line it will not automatically drop down to the next line.
I do not know still though why it would not work yesterday.
Paul.
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Although you can change the font size it does not change when printed. It looks like it stays at 9.
Paul.
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I had not highlighted the text before I changed the font size, it has printed fine.
It is possible to print a few labels not all 48, you can put the label template through the printer again to print those labels you have not used.
George, is it possible to speed up the time it takes to load to print preview??
Paul.
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I'm delighted its working Paul.
Yes, you have to highlight the text before you use the formatting tools (font, font size, bold, colours etc)
Its the same as in MS Word etc.
Remember to click Save Changes and all should be fine.
I will have a look at the time to print issue.
If you are printing labels for 48 different plants then theres no quick way.
I may be able to speed it up if there are multiples of the same label on your sheet.
RE: you can put the label template through the printer again to print those labels you have not used.
Thats a big savings bonus on label stock prices, since you can print off a few labels, go back later and print some more on the same sheet.
RE: The maximum is around 28 thats with no spaces.
It also appears that you can type more on a line it will not automatically drop down to the next line.
You have to do all your formatting and line wrapping inside the edit screen.
At print stage, word wrapping is not possible. Characters will be truncated on lines with too much text.
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RE (Phil)
went into labels still v29 but L4778...
Stop right there!
Do the GA048 download again.
You must have version 30 (or higher) before you can proceed with L4778 labels
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I have just entered a new plant and set up a new label description.
Set up for printing and printed ok. I have used the same sheet to print a few more that I needed.
I can then stick these on the pot stick label I'm using.
So far the Gremlins appear to have disappeared.
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I can now have a peaceful afternoon in the garden after all :D
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RE (Phil)
went into labels still v29 but L4778...
Stop right there!
Do the GA048 download again.
You must have version 30 (or higher) before you can proceed with L4778 labels
got it worked fine enjoy your afternoon in the garden ;)
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Enjoy your garden, the weather here at Bressingham is not for gardening today!! :(
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I did the test, even though L4778 is for Laser printers and I have an Inkjet printer, still managed to get a printout of 48 labels on a sheet of A4 paper.
I didn't get any rectangle boxes printed around each label though, as Malcolm mentioned, so is this because of the printer being used?
Otherwise, no problems.
Laurie.
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I have printed a few now, never seen the rectangle box, George thought we should see it, don't think it matters about the printer.
Paul.
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Thanks for that Paul.
The more consistent results we can all get the better it will be for George to evaluate exactly what else, if anything, is required for that feature. 8)
Laurie.
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Hip! Hip! Hooray!
Think I?ve got a successful run.
I edited all 48 labels with copy/paste of one of my cabbage friends.
It did shorten text to fit label size to 1st line.
It did not continue text copied, to 2nd line.
For 48 labels of identical data (1-line), it took 17 minutes to process.
Preview screened appeared as normally.
Did print out on US Letter size paper.
I notice that ?wheel? turned very, very slowly, but it did move.
Did not play with RichText in itself, will attempt that later.
Anything else you want to know, while fresh in my mind.
When printed out, it looks like individual label size is ¾?x1-3/4?.
48 on page.
- Toby
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Laurie
The rectangles are not there now I have used the programme in the way it was designed. :-[ Operator error ;D
Malcolm
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The rectangles are not there now I have used the programme in the way it was designed. :-[ Operator error ;D
Malcolm
Oops! ;)
Thanks for clarifying that Malcolm. It happens to the best of us. :D
Laurie.
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Thanks for all the testing guys!
Glad to see its working for everyone.
Yes, as Paul says, it doesnt matter what type of printer you use in this test, if you are printing to paper, or to preview.
Its only when you are actually using the L4778 label stick that you need to use a Laser printer, as thats what those labels are designed for.
The rectangle will appear when there is no rich text output (label text) for a label position.
It is a boundary marker for my test set up and could be removed, but since the rich text is hiding the rectangle in the output then it is not doing any harm.
RE: (Toby) For 48 labels of identical data (1-line), it took 17 minutes to process
I said you needed to wait, but I didn't expect anything like that.
On my computer, it takes about 40secs
I'd be very interested to hear the time taken from other members.
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About 3 minutes for me. And I've got a new fast PC with a 10Mb Broadband connection.
Laurie.
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Blimey!
Thanks Laurie for your quick response!
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2 minutes here at Bressingham.
Paul
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I'm working on it now to see what I can do to improve on the timing.
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i only did upto a print preview but for that little round thing i guess about 3 - 4 minutes
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Exact times would be much appreciated Phil, and thanks for your input.
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Exact times would be much appreciated Phil, and thanks for your input.
2 minutes 10 seconds 1 plant in all 48 labels ;) ;D (i timed it)
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Thanks Phil
Still racking my brains here trying to improve on that
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Some changes made in an attempt to speed things up:
Please do this download
http://www.ideasgenie.com/updates-igpro/GA048-dl.exe
Start Labels program GA048.
Must be Version 31 or higher
Summary of changes:
Note that the program has to generate each of the 48 labels when you click Print
When you click Print for a second tme, the response should be immediate
If you click Edit, the program resets and has to regenerate the labels next time you click Print.
After clicking Print, Look at the text box between Delete and Save
Note the number of seconds taken to perform the operation and post reply to see if things have improved.
Mine now takes 14 secs
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Here are my latest test results George.
The initial click of the Print button to generate all the 48 labels took 1 minute 35 secs.
Clicking Print for the second time the box you mentioned showed 78 seconds.
Just for the record I'm now using a recently new printer - Epson Stylus SX115 Inkjet - (incidentally, the same one I used for my tests yesterday.)
Laurie.
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Thanks for the quick response Laurie.
Did you click Edit between first click and second click of Print?
If no, it should be pretty much instantaneous response, certainly not 78 seconds.
If yes, then its a regeneration, so time indicated will be longer
The box indicates the times from click Print to display Labels
Thus, the time you take to view labels (in Preview) is not calculated
When you close the preview window, the true generation time is indicated in the text box.
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To print all 48 labels quickest is 46 seconds, longest is 56 seconds.
If you hit reprint it takes 5 seconds.
I have noticed that the border now appears round the edge of the labels, when you peel the label off only the bottom line appears on the actual label, first time I have seen that.
Anyhow well done George this is very usefull for me.
Paul. :)
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first click of the Print button for all the 48 labels took 39 seconds,
Clicking Print for the second time after an edit took 37 seconds,
edit
Clicking print again after closing down the preview i get retry in the time box
edit
where it says please wait whilst the thingy goes round i am only seeing Please Wa is any one else seeing the same
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Thats much better! Thanks Paul and Phil
Try it for second time without editing.
I'll remove that rectangle Paul. It was only for test purposes.
Now you see it, how does it line up on the label stock?
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Thats much better! Thanks Paul and Phil
Try it for second time without editing.
Clicking print again after closing down the preview i get retry in the time box
but the preview is instant to appear
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Version 31:
Major improvement in time.
New test:
New data; 1 plant, 1-line text, 48 labels.
Took approximately 6 minutes.
Box between Delete and Save = Retry
Print-out accomplished quickly.
- Toby
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Thanks for the quick response Laurie.
Did you click Edit between first click and second click of Print?
If no, it should be pretty much instantaneous response, certainly not 78 seconds.
If yes, then its a regeneration, so time indicated will be longer
Didn't click the Edit button between Print actions.
Seems like my Print times are slower than most others at the moment. Fault could be at my end then :-\
I'll try a few more tests later and report the results. (Taking Kathy out to a 'girls night out' right now. ::) )
Laurie.
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The rectangle lines up quite well, when you pull a label off the bottom line can still be seen on the label the rest is left behind on the sheet.
Paul
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Thats good about the rectangle lining up Paul.
I can now remove it.
Toby (and all)
Retry means 0 seconds.
It was meant to capture an event when Start and End were before and after midnight, but I forgot about 0.
Now changed.
Was 6 minutes as displayed (in seconds) by the time text box Toby?
That is a massive processing time. Looks almost like some other task is running on your computer (e.g. Live update hogs the computer)
Try again at various times and see if there is any improvement.
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Okay, results of a further test.
Clicking the Print button immediately after entering flower data, consisting of just one line of text (and not doing any editing), the response time was 1 minute 20 seconds. This is consistent with my first test.
However, clicking the Print button the second time the time shown in the little box at the bottom stated 79 seconds, but the actual time for the printing to start was 20 seconds. A big discrepancy there, but a realistic printing time of 20 seconds is much better. Not certain about the first print function though of 1 minute 20 seconds.
Nothing running in the background to slow the process down though. :-\
Anyway, don't worry about my results as everyone else seems to be getting fast response times, so be guided by that. Obviously something else at my end. ::)
Laurie.
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George:
I think you probably have the right answer in that I have two programs that start doing their thing on
my computer just after booting up. I think I am going to give them time to get their job done, because
it does effect the speed on other programs.
I'm trying to follow as the rest of the Members are testing. Does it make a difference if I am using an
older printer, it is an HP inkjet which I use for rought drafts (just black ink)? If so I have newer Epson inkjets
to use. But, I have no Laser.
No, the 6 minutes was from my timer. I don't think anything was in the box, until I noticed 'retry'.
I think we will be ok, and soon as I get the whole thing into my head.
- Toby
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have been playing some more and have come across a problem previously i have been copy and paste from label data GAO48SO5 to GAO48S08 to get the plant data for the label, but i have tried in screen GAO48SO8 to use the provided butons to get the plant label info onto the label
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s19/roiphil/IG%20Pro/george.jpg)
when i click on label data i get screen GAO48SO5 i click on use this label data and i get this error box
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s19/roiphil/IG%20Pro/george1.jpg)
1, click on ignore closes error box
2, click on cancel shuts down igpro
3, click on help and nothing happens error box stays
i have gone through the same actions on firts 5 of the provided buttons in the first pic but i always get the same results, am i doing something wrong or am i missing something
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Phil
You have to click into the top edit box before you use those buttons.
Try again and let me know.
Toby:
I dont think your type of printer will make a difference.
When you click Print, all the "generation action" takes place before the program looks for a printer.
In your case, do it to preview since you have US sized paper for the test.
Matter of interest, try printing onto a US sized sheet and let us know what happens.
Footie on TV! Back later
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Phil
You have to click into the top edit box before you use those buttons.
Try again and let me know.
DOH ::) :-[ off to watch extreme logging whilst i think to ones self what a plonker ::)
ps it worked by the way ;) ;D
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Its not your fault Phil.
Its obviously a hole I havent plugged (commonly known as a bug) so another little tweak required.
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Ver 31 is much quicker, 67 seconds here, but may not be a level playing field as the computer I am trying this on, is not directly connected to the printer. Data is being sent across a network to another computer to which the printer is connected.
Malcolm
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Thanks for the feedback Malcolm. The biggest factor is the time to do the generation of the labels, before it gets to Print stage (preview or hard copy) so your figures are probably OK fr comparison.
I'm at a loss to explain why it takes 15 secs on my computer and all sorts of times on other computers.
The good thing is it works, and since the user can pick fonts, font sizes, bold etc, I hope its wortwhile.
I can provide a standard text output alternative, but it will be fixed font, font sizes etc.
Hopefully we wont have any label stock with more than 48 labels per sheet!
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George:
US Avery #5267. 80 labels per US 8-1/2"x11" sheet. 1/2"x1-3/4".
I suppose I'm asking too much, if I ask you to rush it?
(I just couldn't pass up the opportunity!)
- Toby
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George:
On second attempt today to get a faster time between starting of the ?Throbber?
and getting ?Print Review? still remained at approximately 6 minutes, the
timer between Delete and Save gave 365 seconds.
As far as I could determine, no other software programs were running on my computer
during that time.
Did print-out on US 8-1/2?x11? (2x10=20) label stock 1?x4? (25mm x 102 mm)
it registered OK with center at 4-1/4?. To register correctly otherwise the actual label
would probably measure ¾?x 1-3/4?, I searched via internet, US Avery,
but could not find any label to fit that layout.
Data on L4778 test print-out is spaced evenly as one would expect, 4 across and 12 up
= 48 labels per sheet.
- Toby
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RE: (Toby)
US Avery #5267. 80 labels per US 8-1/2"x11" sheet. 1/2"x1-3/4".
Those could be done with a design for plain text, Toby
Do you think I should do a design for that one? Would you use it?
I meant for you to print onto your standard plain paper, not label stock Toby.
As you know, each label stock requires a label design, and that is always specific to paper sizes.
The times on your computer seem to be alarmingly slow compared to others.
6 mins on yours, 15 secs on mine, others around 1 minute. Needs investigation.
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George:
No, don?t make up layout for Avery #5267.
I was teasing you when you stated that you hoped you
?wouldn?t have to do labels with more than the 48? as in L4778.
#5267 is pretty small, but a nursery I had contacted about
labels a year or two ago, was using a clear 1-line label in the same size,
printed with laser, adhered to potstics, to mark their sale stock.
It was the first plant label sample I had collected for label research.
When I did printer test on L4778, I used both plain stock and
some excess label stock I had on hand. Wanted to see how
it registered on center of 8-1/2? width. It registered OK.
I think what I will do is wait and see how the time is on my computer
when you?re able to put RichText with some of the existing US layouts.
I don?t know if there will be any problem with speed with them,
but we will check it out. It must be in the RichText process itself,
because I don?t have any trouble in using the present US layouts.
Otherwise, I think my computer responds quite rapidly. It keeps up with me.
We?ll see . . . .
- Toby
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I will do the 80 labels option at some stage, Toby.
I can see it being useful and I'd prefer to make the program work for it.
The L4778 has a fair amount of white space at the bottom. so thats probably why it worked on your US sheet size.
You wont have to use that, of course. We'll continue the project and have properly designed solutions for your US label stock.
You didn't report any delays when we tested Rich text on labels before.
In my analysis of the problem I concluded that the time taken is a direct multiple of the number of labels, and completely independent of the printer.