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Restrictions
You are encouraged to make a reasonable number of backup copies of the Software for your
own use. You are not allowed to make unlimited copies. The Software is protected by the
copyright laws and international treatises that pertain to computer software. It is illegal to
make copies of the Software except for backup purposes. It is illegal to give copies to
another person, or to duplicate the Software by any other means, including electronic
transmission. The Software contains trade secrets, and in order to protect them you may not
decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the Software to human-
perceivable form. You may not modify, adapt, translate, rent, lease, or create derivative works
based upon the Software or any part thereof.
Warranty
MicroVision warrants that the original disks are free from defects in material and work-
manship, assuming normal use, for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of purchase.
If a defect occurs during this period, you may return your faulty disk to MicroVision, along
with a dated proof of purchase, for a free replacement.
EXCEPT FOR THE EXPRESS WARRANTY OF THE ORIGINAL DISKS SET FORTH ABOVE, MICROVISION GRANTS NO
OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE, REGARDING THE DISKS AND
RELATED MATERIALS, THEIR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE, THEIR QUALITY, THEIR MERCHANTABILITY, OR
OTHERWISE. THE LIABILITY OF MICROVISION UNDER THE WARRANTY SET FORTH ABOVE SHALL BE LIMITED
TO THE AMOUNT PAID BY THE CUSTOMER FOR THE PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROVISION BE LIABLE
FOR ANY SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY.
iii
Credits
Engineering: Robert Bushner
Jim Mayall
John H. Gaby
Patrick Wright
Contents
Introducing SureThing CD Labeler 6
About this manual 6
System requirements 6
Installing SureThing CD Labeler 7
Registration 7
Getting Help 7
Technical Support 7
You can even merge information from a • Inkjet or Laser printer recommended
database or CSV file, and print sets of
labels, or numbered series.
SURE T HING CD LABELER 7
User Guide
Technical Support
Registration If you have a question or problem with
Please take a moment to register Sure- SureThing CD Labeler that you cannot
Thing. Registering the software entitles you adequately answer or solve using the
to technical support as well notification of manual or help system, technical support is
program updates and upgrades. To register available from MicroVision Development.
the software choose MicroVision on the
Web from the Help menu, then select Online support via the web – www.mvd.com
Register SureThing to go directly to our If you have access to the Internet, this is
registration web page. If you don’t have definitely the best option. Our web site is
access to the Internet, you can register by kept current with answers to frequently
calling MicroVision at 800.998.4555, or asked questions (FAQs), program updates
760.438.7781. and patches. Visit our website at
www.mvd.com 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
8 C HAPTER 1
Introduction
You can access our web site directly from Fax or mail support
SureThing’s Help menu. Options are You can mail or fax questions to us at the
available to register the software, order label following:
supplies, and check for software updates.
Choose MicroVision on the Web from the MicroVision Development
Help menu at any time to automatically P.O. Box 130023
launch your web browser and go to our site. Carlsbad, CA 92009
Fax line: 760.438.7406
Telephone support
You can also phone us directly and speak
with a technical support representative.
Telephone support is available Monday–
Friday 9:00am–4:30pm Pacific time.
Support line: 760.438.0305
E-mail support
You can send us e-mail by visiting our
website, or send it directly to
support@mvd.com.
9
T
he SureThing environment is not tools for creating and editing elements such
too different from what you’re as label text, text effects, backgrounds,
already used to with other Windows images, borders, etc.
applications. It includes a menu bar at the
top of the screen, the tabbed label window At the bottom of the screen are buttons you
(the number of tabs depends on the brand click to cycle through the various Smart-
of label you are using), and a collection of Designs.
Command bar
Control Strip
Menu bar
Speed Tools
Variation bar
Design bar
10 C HAPTER 2
The SureThing Environment
Sample
Text effect
Label edge
Bleed area
Non-printing area
(crosshatch)
The Label Design Area is where you create choosing the Blocks command from View
and edit your label. Each label block has its menu, and then selecting Show/Hide.
own tab at the top of the design area. The
number of tabs displayed here depends on The area displayed in crosshatch indicates
the label stock you are working with the unused portions of the label. If you
(specific to each label manufacturer). The place an object, such as a text frame or logo,
example above contains blocks for the CD over the crosshatch, the portion that
label itself, a jewel case title and a jewel case overlaps the crosshatch will not be dis-
spine. By default, only the CD Label block is played on screen (nor will it be printed).
active – the others appear grayed out. You can turn off crosshatching by toggling
Clicking a tab activates the block, however, the Clip to Label command under the View
and also turns it on in the Print dialog box. menu. When Clip to Label is turned off, all
If you don’t want to edit and/or print these objects are displayed and printed regardless
blocks, you can turn them off again by of their placement on the label.
SURE T HING CD LABELER 11
User Guide
Command Bar
The buttons along the top of the design certain text or images change. The Prev and
area (New, Open, Save, etc.) perform the Next buttons move from one duplicate to
same function as choosing these com- the next. These buttons correspond to the
mands from the menu. They’re located here Designs commands under the Tools menu.
for your convenience.
(Note: The Duplicate command is not the
The Duplicate button makes a copy of the method you use to print multiple copies of
current design. You can then edit the copy, a label – use the Print command and enter
changing background, text, and layout, for the number of copies you want to print for
example, leaving the original intact. The that – but rather a means to create different
Duplicate feature provides an easy way to layouts, backgrounds, text, etc., within the
produce a series of labels where only same file.)
Variation Bar
The Variation Bar lets you cycle through your label. The third button contains font
the various SmartDesigns available to a and size variations appropriate for each
particular label stock. The first button, layout. Click the arrows to the left or right
Background, lets you choose from various of a button to move back and forth
backgrounds for your label design. The between the variations, or click in the
second button controls the overall layout of center of the button for a pop-up menu.
SURE T HING CD LABELER 13
User Guide
Control Strip
Zoom In
Text mode Zoom Out
Object mode Fit Page in Window
Rotate tool
Transparency tool
Font menu
Font Size menu
I Starting SureThing
n this chapter, you’ll learn how to create
a new SureThing label design, as well as
the basics of editing, saving and Double-click the SureThing icon on the
printing labels. The information is often desktop, or launch it from the Start menu
presented in a step-by-step format intended (look under Programs > MicroVision
to give you a good overview of SureThing’s Applications > SureThing CD Labeler).
features and capabilities. For more infor- If this is the first time you’ve started
mation about a specific command or SureThing, the “SureThing New CD
feature, please refer to the Online Help. Wizard” appears. If this is not the first time
Topic Page
you’ve started SureThing, depending on
how you’ve configured your startup
Starting SureThing 17 options (choose the Options command
Creating a New Label 17 under the Tools menu), you may or may
SmartDesign Basics 19 not see this wizard. If it doesn’t appear
Working with Text 20 automatically, choose the New command
Editing Text Frames 20 from the File menu.
Adding a New Text Frame 21
Changing the Size and Position of a Text Frame 22
Inserting Merge Fields in Text Frames 22 Creating a New Label
Formatting Text in a Text Frame 23
The New Label wizard steps you through
Editing Text Effects 24
the process of selecting a label stock and
Selecting different types of Text Effects 25
vendor, and specifying a background
Adding a New Text Effect 25
image.
Working with Logos and Clipart 26
Editing a Logo 27
Adding Clipart to Your Label 27
Working with Backgrounds 28
Using Your Own Backgrounds 29
Using a Background Color 29
Acquiring Images 30
Changing the Label Stock 30
Duplicating a Design 30
Saving Your Label 31
Calibrating Your Printer 32
Printing 33
Select a label stock
18 C HAPTER 3
Working with the Software
design assistant. They provide a variety of And of course, you can override or modify
layout choices, sample text, and font and the SmartDesigns at any time; you’re not
point size suggestions. locked in to any designs.
The sample text included in a SmartDesign SmartDesigns are manipulated using the
is designed to give you ideas about the type Variation Bar at the bottom of the window.
of information you might use in your The Variation Bar consists of menus for
design. You can, of course, enter anything Background, Layout and Font variations.
you like in each field. Several of the
SmartDesign layouts also include sample To use SmartDesigns:
images to use as placeholders until you • Click the left or right arrows on one of the
insert your own graphics, logos, etc. three Variation menus. You can also click in
the middle of a Variation menu to display a
pop-up list of choices.
SmartDesign Basics
SmartDesigns are interactive templates built The first Variation menu controls the
into SureThing. Unlike traditional tem- various backgrounds you can choose from;
plates that simply place a few objects on a the second menu contains several pre-
page and leave the rest up to you, SmartDe- designed layouts appropriate for each of the
signs allow you to modify many aspects of backgrounds included with SureThing; the
the design with a few mouse clicks. We call third menu lists font and size variations for
them ‘smart’ because they’re designed for each of the layouts from the second menu.
specific label stocks by people with a good When you’re satisfied with a background
eye for graphic design. SmartDesigns let and layout, you’re ready to move on to
you put together attractive label designs editing the various objects and text fields in
without actually having to do anything the label.
more than click the mouse.
Working with Text Moving between text frames with the Tab
key only works in text frames that were
Text can take a couple of different forms in created with SmartDesigns. For new text
SureThing: text frames and text effects. Text frames you create yourself, you must click
in text frames behaves much like it would into the frame with the mouse. Pressing the
in a word processing program, for instance Tab key in a manually-created text frame
– with characters, paragraphs, tabs, indents, inserts a tab (like Ctrl-Tab).
etc. Text effects, on the other hand, behave
more like graphic objects – you can bend, The fields are sometimes logically grouped
warp, and twist the text, add drop shadows together. For example, an address may
and fill patterns, etc. You’ll need to know consist of a street address, city, state and
how to work with both types while zipcode fields. So that they can be moved as
designing your labels. a unit, they are grouped together. When
you select one with the Object Tool, you
select the entire group.
Editing Text Frames
Text in SureThing is displayed in boxes
called text frames that function much like
fields in a database. The sample text frames
you see are a bit different from the ones you
create yourself—the sample text is linked to
the underlying SmartDesign to allow
SureThing to automatically generate new
layouts and font variations.
If the “Show Field Codes” option is on 1 Select the text you want to format with
under the View menu, the field appears as a the text (I-beam) tool.
code, with the field name enclosed in
brackets. If this option is off, you will see 2 Choose the Character command from
the actual data (except for fields from an the Format menu. You are presented with
external database, which will always show several options for formatting your text,
the record you specify using the Set Merge including font, size, color, style, underlin-
Record command under View Options) ing, and spacing options. Many of these
options can also be changed directly from
the Control Strip.
The same field viewed with Field Codes off (left), and Field Codes on
(right). Field Codes are turned on and off under the View menu.
An example of a Serial Number field viewed with Field Codes off (left),
and Field Codes on (right).
4 Select a variation on the type you chose Preview button to view your edits in the
in step 3, then click Next. wizard. Click the Finish button when you
are ready to create the effect.
The effect is created on your label. The next
thing you’ll need to do is adjust its size and
position.
For SmartDesigns that don’t include 2 Select an image from the list, or choose a
placeholders, you can easily import different directory and select an image of
graphics and clipart yourself using the your own.
picture tool (under the Tools menu), or by
selecting a file from the Clipart menu on 3 Click OK. The image you just selected
the Design Bar. replaces the placeholder image.
• You can also click the left- and right- Using a Background Color
pointing arrows on either side of the If you decide not to use a background
variation bar to cycle through the back- image, you can specify a background color.
ground images one at a time. You can even create interesting fill patterns,
shades, and gradients (blends).
Using Your Own Backgrounds
To change the background color:
The background images supplied with
SureThing have been sized correctly to fit 1 If you are currently using a background
the CD label area. Before using your own image, you must first clear it. Click the
backgrounds, you should make sure that “Backgrounds” icon on the design bar, then
they have been sized properly in an image choose Clear Background Image from the
editor such as Photoshop or Paint Shop menu.
Pro. In other words the aspect ratio, i.e., the 2 Click the “Backgrounds” icon on the
ratio of height to width, should be roughly design bar, then choose Set Background
equal. Images should be no larger in file Color from the menu. A dialog box appears.
size than 4 megabytes (and even that would
be whopping big). The images we supply
are generally no larger than half a megabyte
and they look great when printed.
Acquiring Images
2 Select the stock you want to use from the
SureThing supports TWAIN, an interface New Stock list.
that lets you create images using a device
such as a scanner or digital camera 3 Click OK.
attached to your computer and import the
You have the option to apply the stock only
images without leaving SureThing. Your
to selected blocks. For example, you could
device must support TWAIN in order for
apply the Avery stock to the CD label face,
you to take advantage of this feature.
but keep the spine and jewel case blocks set
You can acquire images for use as regular to a stock from a different label manufac-
graphics or as backgrounds. turer. In the Blocks to apply list, click a block
to deselect it; click it again to re-select it.
Your printer will now be offset by these 3 Make sure that the correct printer is
values to accommodate for any errors in selected, and that the printer is setup
precision. properly.
Before calibrating, be sure that you are 4 Enter the number of copies you want to
printing the correct template for the paper print in the Print field. You can specify the
you are using. Select About Template from number of designs to print either by the
the Help menu if you’re not sure. number of labels needed or by the number
of total pages. Whether you choose Copies
or Pages, SureThing tells you how many
Printing sheets of label stock you will need (listed
Printing your label designs is simple. below the Sample window).
SureThing manages the actual layout of the
5 Under the Settings tab, choose All to
designs on the page, and sequences them as
print all of the designs (i.e., any designs
they print. All you need to do is tell it how
you’ve created using the Duplicate com-
many copies to print, and on which label to
mand); choose Current to print only the
start.
current design; choose Range and identify
the beginning and ending design to be
To print a label design:
printed if you want to print more than one,
1 Put the correct paper in the paper tray of but not all of the duplicated designs, or to
your printer. Use plain paper if you are print one design which is not the current
doing a test-print; use your label stock if design.
you are printing final output.
6 In the Sample window, click the label
2 Choose Print from the File menu, or position where you want printing to begin.
click the Print button on the Command Normally this would be the first label on
bar. The Print dialog box appears. the page, but if you’ve already printed a
label in the first position, you’ll want to
click a different position. The beginning
position is indicated in blue. Also, only the
active blocks appear in blue (use the Blocks
> Show/Hide command under the View
menu to turn blocks on or off prior to
printing).
7 If you are not going to print from the
default paper tray, you can specify which
bin the paper should come from. This is
useful if you have more than one bin or
34 C HAPTER 3
Working with the Software