Barcode and item labels

The Labels / Barcodes screen prints labels for your items: barcode and price labels for the shelf, swing tags, small price stickers, carton labels. It is a label designer rather than a fixed template. You say what is loaded in the printer, arrange the fields you want on the label, choose the items and how many of each, preview the result and print.

It works with ordinary printers on label sheets (A4 or Letter) and with roll label printers, and in SeroBooks on a desktop it can send labels straight to your label printer at exact size.

Open the Labels screen

• Inventory ▸ Barcode Labels, or
• File ▸ Print Labels…, or
• the Labels / Barcodes tab of the Inventory module in the left navigation, or
• Print labels on a bill, which opens the screen with the bill's items already added (see Labels for a bill).

How the screen is laid out

Five steps run across the top: 1. Stock, 2. Design, 3. Items, 4. Preview and 5. Print. Select any step to jump to it, or work through them with Back and Next at the bottom. The bar at the bottom also says what the current step hands on, for example 24 label(s) queued.

At the top right you always see the label size (for example 38.1 × 21.2 mm · 65/sheet, or · roll) and the total number of labels queued.

Esc goes back one step at a time (on Design, it first lets go of the selected field) before it leaves the screen.

SeroBooks remembers the stock and design you last used on this computer, so the next time you open the screen you can go straight to Items.

Step 1: Stock

What is loaded in the printer? Pick the stock first; the label size decides everything about the design.

SHEETS (normal printer)

ROLLS (label printer)

The right side shows the first page (or the first label or row of a roll) at scale, with your queued labels on it. If the layout is bigger than the page, a red message says This layout is bigger than the page — reduce the size, columns or margins.

Create a custom size

Under CUSTOM, select Create a custom size…. Choose Sheet or Roll, then measure one label and the gaps between labels. All measurements are in millimetres.

Select Use this size. The stock is listed as Custom · width × height mm. A roll prints one row of labels per page, which is what makes a thermal printer feed and cut correctly.

Step 2: Design

The label is shown at its true proportions with every field drawn as it will print, using a sample item. A thin inner line marks the safe margin (1.5 mm) so you do not design into the cut edge.

• Add a field (left): select a field type to add it to the label.
• Drag a field to move it. Tap a field to select it and edit its settings. Drag the dot at its bottom-right corner to resize it.
• START FROM: replace the design with a ready-made one: Retail price label (name, variation, barcode, price), Small label (barcode + price), or Apparel swing tag (brand, name, variation, barcode, price).

The fields you can add

A field with nothing to print for an item is simply left empty on that label.

Field settings

With no field selected, the right panel shows Field settings and one label-wide switch: Print the outline draws the edge of every label, which helps when aligning new stock. Turn it off for production.

With a field selected, the panel shows its name, a delete button to remove it from the label, and:

Some barcode types accept only numbers of a set length. SeroBooks says so under the type, for example EAN-13 needs exactly 12 digits. Anything else prints as Code 128 and is listed after printing. A number that already includes its check digit (13 digits for EAN-13, 12 for UPC-A, 8 for EAN-8 and UPC-E, 14 for ITF-14) is accepted as well. Code 128 accepts any letters and numbers; Code 39 prints letters in capitals.

Saved designs

Under SAVED DESIGNS:

• Save this design… asks for a name and saves the current stock and layout together. Saving with an existing name updates that design (Design "…" updated.).
• Select a saved design's name to use it and its label stock (Using "…" — stock name.).
• The cross beside a design deletes it after you confirm. Labels already printed with it are not affected.

Saved designs belong to the company, so every computer signed in to it sees the same list.

Step 3: Items

1. Scan an item's barcode into Scan a barcode, or search by product name or SKU…, or type at least two characters. The search matches item names, variations, SKUs, categories and brands.
2. Select a match to add it, or press Enter to add the first match (which is what a scanner does).
3. To add a whole group, such as every item in a category or brand, search for it, type how many labels you want of each in Each, and select Add all N.

Each item on the list shows its name and variation, its SKU (or no barcode) and its price, with controls for how many labels to print:

• Was price and Batch / lot boxes, only when your design has an MRP / was price or Batch / lot field. What you type prints on that item's labels.
• − and + change the count by one; or type the count (0 to 9999) in the box.
• A count of 0 keeps the item on the list but prints nothing for it.
• The red cross removes the item.

Adding an item that is already on the list adds to its count. Items come from the item list on this computer; an item created moments ago elsewhere appears once your data has synced.

Next: Preview is available once at least one item is on the list (the button reads Add an item to continue until then).

Step 4: Preview

The first page exactly as it will print, drawn with the same layout and the same barcodes as the PDF: Page 1 of N for sheets, First label for a roll.

For sheet stock, SKIP USED lets you start part-way down a sheet you have already used some labels from. Drag the slider to the first free position; the preview shows the skipped positions blank and reads Starts at position N of N.

Step 5: Print

Before printing reminds you how to print this stock:

• Sheet stock: print at 100% scale. Fit to page shrinks everything by a few percent and every label drifts out of alignment.
• Roll stock: one label (or one row of labels) per page; choose your label printer and set scaling to 100%.

On a desktop, SeroBooks can print labels directly. Print on lists your computer's printers (the default is marked) and Open as a PDF to print. Choosing a printer here also makes it the label printer for next time. When a printer is chosen, labels go straight to it at 100% with the page set to the label size.

TOTAL shows the number of labels and pages. The first page is previewed on the right.

Then choose:

• Print labels: sends the labels to the chosen printer (N label(s) sent to printer), or opens them as a PDF (N label(s) ready — press Ctrl+P and print at 100% scale.).
• Download PDF: saves the PDF to your Downloads folder.

Barcode warnings after printing

Barcode problems are never hidden. If any label could not print the barcode you chose, a dialog titled N label(s) printed — N to check lists each one:

The labels print either way; fix the item numbers in the item list and reprint only those.

Labels for a bill

When stock arrives, you can label exactly what came in. On a bill in Enter Bills, or when viewing a saved bill, select Print labels. The Labels screen opens over the bill at the Items step, with each item on the bill at the quantity on the bill (rounded up to whole labels). When the bill records a lot for an item, its Batch / lot starts with it (an item that came in on two different lots starts blank, so you can type the right one). Change any count, or set it to 0 to skip that line, then preview and print. Back returns you to the bill.

If a bill has no items, you see This document has no items to label. If some items are not yet on this computer, SeroBooks says how many and asks you to sync and add them by search.

Set up a label printer

Choose your label printer in File ▸ Printer Setup…, in the Barcode label printer section: Barcode and price labels print here directly, at exact size — Zebra, Rollo, DYMO, TSC or any label printer. Use Print test label to check it. See Printer Setup.

Permissions

Printing needs the Print Labels action on the Labels tab (see Roles and permissions). Without it, Print labels and Download PDF are refused with an explanation. You can still set up stock and designs.

Tips

• Print one sheet with Print the outline turned on, on plain paper, and hold it against your label stock to check alignment before using real labels.
• Code 128 scans any SKU. Choose EAN or UPC only when your items carry real EAN or UPC numbers.
• Keep Show the number on for barcodes: when a label will not scan, the number can still be typed.
• Save a design for each kind of label you print (shelf, swing tag, carton) so anyone can print it the same way.

Common problems

• "Add at least one product first, with a count above 0." Add items on the Items step, or raise a count from 0.
• "That label layout does not fit the page — check the size, columns and margins." The custom size is larger than the page. Reduce the label size, columns, rows, gaps or margins.
• Labels drift out of alignment down the sheet. The PDF was printed with Fit to page. Print at 100% (actual size).
• The barcode will not scan. Check the warnings after printing, make sure the barcode field is large enough for the stock, and try Code 128.
• A price is wrong. Labels print the item's current selling price including tax. Change the price on the item (see Change Item Prices) and reprint.

Related articles

• The Item List
• Add or edit an item
• Enter Bills
• Printer Setup
• Warehouse and bin locations