Creating a label sheet

You can use the label editor to configure the sheet on which the labels will be printed. You can set its size as well as the size of each individual label, decide how many labels are printed per sheet, choose the orientation, set the margins, and so on.

To create a sheet of labels:

1. Go to the "Layout" page.
2. Set the orientation and the label order for your sheet by clicking the corresponding icons.
   The orientation of the sheet is independent from that of the page. If you want to change the page orientation, click on the Print Setup button. The Print Setup dialog box for your operating system appears where you can change the page orientation directly. If necessary, the Label Preview area changes to reflect your selection.
3. If appropriate, choose the type of label paper you are using from the Standard Code drop-down list.
   The remaining entry areas on the page change to reflect the selected label paper’s characteristics. For more information about this, refer to Standard code. If necessary, you can modify these specifications. Otherwise, you can go directly to step 9.
4. Enter the number of labels in each row of your label sheet in the Labels Across box and the number of labels in each column in the Labels Down box.
   You can enter a number directly or use the arrow buttons next to the entry area. To validate your choice, click on another area or hit the Tab key or the Carriage return key.
   When you choose the Automatic resizing option, changing the number of labels affects the size of the labels that can "fit" in each row or column. The Label Preview area adjusts to display the appearance of the labels on a printed page.
5. If desired, choose a unit of measurement from the Unit drop-down list to use for entering margin sizes.
   When you change this parameter, all the values that measure distance are converted into the new unit. 
6. Enter values to reflect the margins on your label paper in the "Top Margin", "Left Margin", "Vertical Gap" and "Horizontal Gap" parameters.
   The margins you set apply to the label sheet itself. The gaps are inserted between each label on the sheet.
7. Click on the Page Size radio button in order to set a Bottom Margin and a Right Margin.
   These margins are symbolized by blue lines in the preview area.
8. Click on the Label Size radio button in order to set a Label Width and a Label Height.
   You can also let the program calculate the label size automatically. This option is described in Automatic resizing.  
9. If you want to print more than one copy of each label, use the Labels per Record drop-down list to choose the number of copies to print.
   The copies are printed consecutively on the label paper. 4D does not duplicate the entire label page.
10. If the first sheet of label paper is partially used, click on the first blank label in the Label Preview area. 4D will begin printing labels on the label you indicated. Only the first sheet is affected by this.
11. If you want to run a method when the labels are printed, choose the method from the Method to Apply drop-down list.
    This option is covered in  Associating a method with the labels.  
    The label sheet is completed. You can click on the "Label" tab to check whether the contents of the label fit into the size you have defined.

This option lets you specify the label, page dimensions, and margins by choosing a standard commercial label paper from the drop-down list. 

If any standard sheets are installed in 4D, they will appear in the Standard Code drop-down list. When you select an option from this menu, all the values specifying the size of the sheet are automatically set and the sheet is ready to be printed. However, you can still set the number of labels to be printed per record as well as the method to be applied.

You can set the width and height of your labels manually or you can let the Label editor calculate them according to the other parameters set. In this case, 4D optimizes the use of space to print as many labels per sheet as possible.

When you check the Automatic resizing option, the label size is calculated according to the following parameters:

• Number of labels per row and per column,
• Top and left margin,
• Horizontal and vertical gap.

Note: If you have entered a right margin or a bottom margin, they are not taken into account.

If you modify one of these parameters while the Automatic resizing option is checked, the labels are automatically resized in the preview area.

You can associate a project method with your labels which will be executed when they are printed. You can choose whether it will be executed when each label is printed or when each record is printed.

To associate the method with a sheet of labels, you must select it in the "Method to apply" menu. This menu contains the names of all the project methods created in the database. If there are none, the menu is empty.

Note: The menu does not display component methods or project methods that are declared invisible. 

After you choose the method, you then need to set when it is executed by clicking on one of the "Apply once" radio buttons: per Label or per Record. This option is not useful if the "Labels per record" parameter is set to 1.