Have you ever wanted to print a set of labels but didn't want to fuss with Excel, or export CSV files? Label LIVE has a built-in table editor that lets you enter custom data. This lets you stay in one app for data and labeling.

The first step is clicking the Data Tab and choosing "New Table." If this option is missing, it's because you already have data imported. Try removing that data, or starting with a new document.

Here's where you add your first column. If you're making name tags you might want 

 or if you're making product tags you may want 

You can add as many columns as you need. Each column can be thought of as an individual piece of data. In Label LIVE we call them 

Now, simply click and start typing. You can use the <tab> key on your keyboard to move to the next piece of data. Think of each row as an individual label.

Note: You can delete rows by right clicking and delete columns by clicking on the vertical "..." on the header. 

 (upper right) to close the Table Editor. (Sorry Pluto!)

Now click on the gear icon next to PLANET and click "Add as Text." Notice how the word "Mercury" shows up on the label design. 

You can resize, rotate, and change the font as you require. Double-click the text to edit, or edit the Text object on the right side (highlighted). For this example I added "Yay" and an exclamation point to the end.

You can easily change the color of the design based on your variables. Let's add a circle to represent the planet's color.

You can do the same color "trick" for text, too. You try!

To print all of your labels click on the Print tab and move your mouse over Data Rows. Here, choose "All Rows" or type 

Download and open this file with Label LIVE: 

When you can't use Excel and all you need is a place to put temporary data so you can print it as a batch. Label LIVE to the rescue.

Dynamic Data (and color!) Using the Built-in Spreadsheet

The most common rolls of labels are vanilla single-column affairs. But sometimes you'll see fancy rolls where two labels are side-by-side. These are often referred to as 2-up or 2-across. There's nothing special about 2... a label converter (a business whose primary job is to manufacture rolls of labels) can easily make rolls with 3 or even 4 labels across. More labels in less space. Sounds awesome.

Except... side-by-side labels makes printing more complex. When dealing with this kind of roll, it's important to remember that the label printer is dumb. The printer doesn't care how many labels go across. The printer always sees one big rectangle. If you have 2x 1" labels across with a 0.1" gap, the printer expects a print job that's 2.1" wide.

The following two examples demonstrate two different ways of printing 2-up labels. The first example is when the data is the same. The second example is when you need each label to be different.

The examples use a calculation variable named COUNT that increments by 1 for each copy. This variable is used to demonstrate how unique labels are generated. Instead of a COUNT variable, you could just as easily import a spreadsheet and print labels using "rows" of Data.

If all you need is duplicates across, then the quickest and easiest way is to change the width of the Label and copy/paste your entire design. The COUNT variable will increment once per copy, and since the entire design on-screen is one copy, the number is repeated on both labels.

 to simulate the look of the label (but this has 

The result is always the same data across rows of labels.

If you need different data next to each other, then you should use Label LIVE's Multi-Label 

 feature. This option is more complex and is only available with System Printers using the manufacturer drivers. You can not yet use this option with 

Once configured, you can run a test print to see the difference. Turn on 

 to get an idea of how the label is formatted.

Whew! Printing side-by-side labels is challenging! 

 your questions and we will help you design the perfect time-saving solution.

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing labels. These examples only use a single text object, but with Label LIVE, you can include variables, barcodes, images, shapes, and excel spreadsheet functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Take advantage of side-by-side, 2-up or 2-across label rolls.

Print side-by-side or "two up" labels on a roll.

Barcoding is complicated. First things first: GTINs are 

 a kind of barcode. Names like GTIN-12, GTIN-13 and GTIN-14 are part of the 

GTIN numbers may allow conversions from one form to another. For example, a GTIN-12 can be converted to a GTIN-13 or GTIN-14 by prefixing zeros. In the case of GTIN-14 the leading (first) digit is a 

Printing a GTIN forces us to choose a barcode 

. GTINs can be represented using different kinds of barcode symbology like ITF-14, EAN-13, UPC-A. You choose the symbol based on the requirements of the supply chain.

The following examples use the item number 

 at the end of the barcode is an automatically calculated 

 that gives barcode scanners the ability to check for damage and errors.

 can be different for different uses in the supply chain. This will generate different GTIN-14s for the same product. In other words, 

. Remember, the last digit is a calculated check digit which is why it changes, too. Since the GTIN-13 begins with "0" it has an equivalent GTIN-12 

This is a point-of-sale EAN-13 barcode representing the equivalent GTIN-13:

This is a point-of-sale UPC-A barcode representing the equivalent GTIN-12:

Label LIVE variables can automatically insert the item number into different kinds of barcodes. This means imported spreadsheets only need to contain the item number.

To begin using variables, add a variable named 

Now you can add barcodes and insert the variable 

To test the power of this solution, switch back to the Data tab and change the ITEM value. All barcodes will update instantly.

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing barcodes. These examples only use a single barcode, but with Label LIVE, you can include variables, text, images, shapes, and excel spreadsheet functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Learn how to generate ITF-14, EAN and UPC barcodes using GTIN-14, GTIN-13, and GTIN-12 numbers.

Generate GTIN-14 logistic compatible ITF-14 barcodes and EAN and UPC for point of sale.

Thermal printers work by printing small dots. Printers can print anywhere from 200 DPI (dots per inch) up to 600 DPI. A larger number means higher perceived quality. The two most common DPIs are 200 (popular entry-level Zebra printers) and 300 (entry-level consumer models like DYMO and Brother). Printer manufacturers have settled on these two DPIs because they are generally "good enough" for the jobs most people have. At 200 DPI, most text and barcodes look good at a distance, but small text at 200 DPI can start to suffer. Increasing to 300 DPI helps with printing and reading small text, but there are tradeoffs. Higher DPI printers are generally more expensive and slightly slower.

For this example, let's assume a 200 DPI thermal printer that prints one color (black) on white label stock.

Your computer's screen has many more dots than the printer... so Label LIVE has to tell the printer exactly where to place the black dots. It does this using a technique called dithering. Label LIVE has built-in dithering for images. We recommend trying at least two: Threshold and Floyd-Steinberg.

Here's a quick fake logo I created to illustrate the differences in dithering.

Here's what the logo looks like after importing into Label LIVE using a technique called 

Not great for our logo. The green has turned into a shade of black dots. If you zoom into the COMPANY letters, you'll notice misplaced dots.

This logo has text and a few colors, so it's a great candidate for Threshold dithering. Just click the dithering menu and select Threshold.

Why would we want to use Floyd-Steinberg? Photos!

Let's look at printing a "simple" black and white photo.

Technically, the photo is grayscale... but label printers can't print gray dots, only black. Let's see how Label LIVE handles dithering for this image.

Here's what the photo looks like after importing into Label LIVE.

Not bad! (if I don't say so myself)... 😂

If we go back and try to apply Threshold dithering to this photo the results are poor.

Whenever you import an image try switching between the first two dithering options.

In this post you saw how different images can be optimized for printing to a black and white thermal printer. Here are some more ideas to further optimize your images:

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing high-quality images. This example only uses a single image, but with Label LIVE, you can include text, barcodes, shapes, and excel spreadsheet functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Tips and tricks for getting the highest quality labels from your thermal printer.

Optimize Print Quality

In this guide I will show you how to use Label LIVE to generate batch barcodes using the built-in serial number feature. When finished, you can generate labels as 

 saved to a folder on your computer. You can use your own Excel spreadsheet, but this example will use the serial number feature. Consult our 

 for examples on how to import Excel spreadsheet data.

You can move the text outside of the label outline to use as a guide.

You created a calculation variable named "SERIAL." This serial number will increment every time your print. If you print 10 copies, this number will increment 10 times, once per label. This will generate 10 unique labels.

. This is the starting number. You can change this to any number.

Click on "SERIAL" to change the increment value. If you'd like to decrement, change the value to 

If you need leading zeros, ensure the checkbox "Maintain leading zero padding" is checked. This allows sequential numbers as 0001, 0002, 0003, etc. If decrementing, Label LIVE can automatically add a zero prefix such as 1001, 1000, 0999, 0998, etc.

Need to generate barcodes with non-sequential or random data? Easy! Just import an Excel spreadsheet with your own data.

(Protip: There are other variable types to experiment with: Date parsing. Special formatting. Filesystem paths for Dynamic Images. Print job variables like 

If you choose a different barcode type (e.g. Code 128, Code 39, UPC), make sure to adhere to your barcode's requirements such as minimum length, maximum length, and alpha or numeric limitations. QRCode is convenient because it does not have these kinds of limitations and is easily scannable by your phone's camera. Try it!

Change the way labels are generated. On the Print tab, select "Print Preview" and ensure the Preview Method is set to one of these:

Label LIVE can generate a PDF where each page is a unique label. To make this easier to see, I added a small text element below the QRCode.

Label LIVE can generate a 8.5x11" PDF where each page contains a grid of unique barcode labels.

This feature will save you a ton of time. Instead of generating PDFs, use Label LIVE to generate a folder full of PNG images. You can name the image files using the same SERIAL data variable. This allows you to locate a precise barcode file with ease.

Now you can ship these PNG files off to your factory or manufacturer. Super easy!

This output option works best when using Excel spreadsheet data

If you have any questions feel free to contact us. We can help you design the perfect time-saving solution.

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing barcodes. This example only uses a single barcode, but with Label LIVE, you can include text, images, shapes, and excel spreadsheet functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Use Label LIVE to generate unique bulk barcodes and save as individual PNG image files or as pages within a single PDF.

Bulk Barcode PNG/PDF Generator

If you already have a vCard (.vcf) file, then you can skip to the next step. If not, exporting your contacts into vCard is straightforward. This example uses Apple's Contacts.app to generate vCard (.vcf) files.

There are multiple ways to export a vCard from Apple's Contacts.app:

Choose one of these techniques and create the vCard (.vcf) file.

Next you will add a Text object. This is where the address information will load. You do this using "variables." Variables are just a special way to insert the spreadsheet columns into your label.

{FULL_NAME}
{ADDRESS_HOME_STREET}
{ADDRESS_HOME_CITY}, {ADDRESS_HOME_STATE} {ADDRESS_HOME_ZIP}

From here, you can create label PDFs or print directly to different printers. Check out the blog post at 

 for more examples on how to generate address Sheets or batch images.

Label LIVE can export imported vCards as CSV. Just click the button representing the file you have open (e.g. Contacts.vcf) and click "Export..."

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing address labels. This example only uses a single text field, but with Label LIVE, you can include barcodes, images, shapes, and serial number functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Use your address book to export vCard files and then import contact addresses into Label LIVE for easy label printing.

Print Address Labels Using vCard (.vcf) Files

The first step in this example is to create variable.

There is nothing special about the word CODE. You can use whatever name makes sense to you.

With barcode labels, it's often valuable to have the scanned value printed as text. That way, humans and computers can both read the label's contents.

Now it's time to format the text to your liking. You can change the font, size, etc. You might consider centering the text on the label, as well as centering the text object's anchor. This means that longer/larger CODE values will cause the text object to fill the label appropriately.

In this example we're using Code 128 because it's a high-density barcode that encodes text and numbers. You can use whatever barcode type that fits your needs.

Now set the Barcode Value to be CODE variable. Click the Value dropdown menu and choose CODE. Note the new barcode value.

Each barcode can be customized to look and behave as you expect. Here, I've adjusted the Size, Height and unchecked "Show value."

It's super easy to add a barcode prefix. Click inside the "Value" box and type your prefix. It's that simple.

Click the Data tab and modify the CODE. Try scanning your barcode. It should scan as "KTEST."

Congratulations, you've now setup a barcode with a prefix. Of course, this same technique works for adding text to the end of your CODE value.

Label LIVE supports multiple variables inside the barcode. For example, let's say you have multiple CODES. You could have a barcode with the Value:

If you want to simulate a user pressing enter, you can add "\n" (newline) characters between the variables.

Download this barcode prefix design by clicking below:

Label LIVE is a great tool for generating and printing barcodes. This example only uses a single barcode and text, but with Label LIVE, you can include spreadsheet data, images, shapes, and serial number functionality. These features are just a few clicks away.

Add additional text or numbers to the start or end of barcode data.

How To Add A Barcode Prefix

Mail merge can be incredibly frustrating. It's an ancient computing term that no one understands. You could sit and watch hours of videos on how to setup mail merge with Word and Excel, but you'll still be shaking your head at how clumsy it feels. Often, you'll get it half working, only to realize the labels you're printing don't print correctly.

Lucky for you, Label LIVE makes mail merge very easy. Let's use a basic spreadsheet of addresses.

Next, you're going to add a Text object. This is where the address information will load. You do this using "variables." Variables are just a special way to insert the spreadsheet columns into your label.

{FIRST_NAME} {LAST_NAME}
{ADDRESS}
{CITY}, {STATE} {ZIP}

Label LIVE can make labels in many different formats.

Here's an example of a PDF where each label is a "page" in the PDF.

Here's another example of a PDF where a sheet contains multiple labels (Avery 5160).

With Label LIVE, you can easily configure your own sheets by measuring the page dimensions.

Label LIVE is a great tool for modern mail merge. This example only uses text, but with Label LIVE, you can include images, barcodes, shapes, and serial number functionality. These features are just a few clicks away. Call me crazy, but Label LIVE makes mail merge ... fun!

Mail merge with Label LIVE and use spreadsheet data from Excel or CSV. Print labels with just a few clicks.

Mail Merge With Spreadsheet And Labels

Check out this post's YouTube 📹 demo: 

How To Print Labels From An Excel Spreadsheet To A Dymo, Zebra, Rollo Or Brother Thermal Printer

Label LIVE can import label data from Microsoft Excel and CSV (comma separated value) files.

For best results, ensure that the spreadsheet has short and simple header values. The text in the first row (header) will be referenced later as a variable. Label LIVE will remove any punctuation or spaces and will change all of the letters to upper-case.

The column header "DATE:SELL_BY" tells Label LIVE to automatically create an "SELL_BY" variable and format it as a DATE.

Once you feel good about the spreadsheet data you are ready to import.

Try Label LIVE right now by downloading in the Mac App Store or Microsoft Windows Store. Both apps include a 14 Day Free Trial. You can also watch the YouTube video demo at 

Label LIVE makes the easy things easy, and the hard things possible.

First, let's add the product name as a text object. From the Data tab:

Test how the text changes by selecting a different row on the Data tab. 💯

The green ➕ button offers shortcuts for utilizing variables created from spreadsheet imports. To create new variables by hand you just create text and barcodes in the Design tab and add your own formatted {VARIABLE} text.

Now you can easily change all of the label's text from the Data tab.

Ok, back to our label. Adding the sell by date is almost identical to adding the product name.

To make a label easy to scan you can add a barcode that uses your imported spreadsheet data.

Each time you select a row the barcode will update from the spreadsheet data.

Let's get printing! We made Label LIVE easy to navigate and easy to print. To search for a product just click the ROWS dropdown menu and start typing. Select a product by pressing the ENTER key on your keyboard. If you press ENTER once more, a single label will print. You can immediately start typing again to begin another search. You hands never have to leave the keyboard.

If you need to make a quick adjustment to the imported data you can hover over the filename and click "Edit."

This same data can be exported, too. That way, your newly edited data isn't trapped in a label design document.

 that, by themselves, are simple and easy to use. When you begin to learn the different features, you can start to fit them together to build powerful label designs with ease.

The point of this post isn't to sell you labels, or a certain kind of printer. You get to choose what labels you need. Small? Big? Your choice.

We believe that most printers on the market are truly great machines. Be sure to check out our 

. And remember, if your printer isn't listed – just drop us a message and we'll try our best to add support.

Thank you for learning how to create product labels from spreadsheet data using Label LIVE. We trust our software is going to save your business time, and let you and your staff do what's most important: running your business.

You can easily import a spreadsheet of your label data. This data can be printed on your Mac or Windows PC using using inkjet, laser or common label printers from DYMO, Brother, Zebra, ROLLO and more.

How to Print Labels From an Excel Spreadsheet

Most foods perish at different rates, and some foods have multiple dates that need to be considered. This poses a challenge for both humans and computers.

Keep the spreadsheet as simple as possible.

With Label LIVE, you can easily import a spreadsheet of your food items along with relative expiration dates using natural language. This data can be printed on your Mac or Windows PC using using common label printers from DYMO, Brother, Zebra, ROLLO and more.

Let's design a custom food rotation label. Using Label LIVE, we want to import data using Microsoft Excel or CSV (comma separated value) document.

For best results, ensure that the spreadsheet has short and simple header values. The text in the first row will be referenced later as a variable. Label LIVE will remove any punctuation or spaces and will change all of the letters to upper-case.

The column header "DATE:EXPIRES" tells Label LIVE to automatically create an "EXPIRES" variable and format it as a DATE.

Try Label LIVE right now by downloading in the Mac App Store or Microsoft Windows Store.

First, let's add the item as a text object from the Data tab.

Now you can easily change all of the label's dynamic text from the Data tab.

Adding the expiration date is almost identical to adding the item name.

Some labels require multiple dates. One common date is the pack date. You can set this easily by using "now" as the variable input.

The label at the top of this page took me about 5 minutes to design. Here are a few tips and tricks to add a bit of style to your labels.

Most thermal label solutions offer only two colors:

With that in mind, you can add a black square and then change the {ITEM} text's "Color" from "Black" to "Label Color."

However, since the square was added after the text, it will be "above" the text object.

To fix this, click on the {ITEM} text object and repeatedly click the up arrow until it is on top.

Alternatively, you could move the square down until it was at the bottom. The resulting label would be the same.

Some shapes offer additional configuration. The square object allows you to change the curve of the corners.

Let's get printing! We made Label LIVE easy to navigate and easy to print. To search for an item just click the ROWS dropdown menu and start typing.

Select an item by pressing the ENTER key on your keyboard. If you press it once more, a single label will print. You can immediately start typing again to begin another search. You hands never have to leave the keyboard!

 that, by themselves, are nice and simple and easy to use. When you begin to learn the different features, you can start to fit them together to build powerful label designs with ease.

Label LIVE supports many different kinds of barcodes. You could, for instance, encode all of the expiration information in a QRCode. Doing this would make it easy to quickly audit your food inventory. Perhaps the scanner application could do a special beep when it encountered an expired item. Sky's the limit!

This QRCode contains all of the information on this label: "CVL prepped Tomato on Sat 1/26 expires In 3 days on Tue 1/29" - Try scanning it with your phone's camera app.

Thank you for learning how to create food rotation and expiration labels with automatic relative dates using Label LIVE. We trust our software is going to save your business time, and let you and your staff do what's most important: cooking great food!

The global food service industry spends thousands of dollars each week creating date labels for 'first in first out' food bins. With Label LIVE, you can create a complete food rotation labeling solution that satisfies your business' exact food labeling needs.

Create Food Rotation Labels With Automatic Relative Dates

A user wrote us an email asking if their UPC barcode could be printed with the 

First, create a text object with the text: {CODE}. The word CODE is just an example. You can use any word you'd like, perhaps {SKU} or {PRODUCT}.

All upper-case text wrapped in curly braces "{" and "}" is automatically converted to a variable that can be used on the Data tab.

Adding the text {CODE} will create a variable named CODE on the Data tab. Click Data and type in the UPC number.

You can delete the check digit from the variable and the label updates automatically. Keep in mind that the check digit is still included in the barcode itself.

Now you have full control over the text's look and feel. Heads up: When the barcode is scanned it will always include the check digit.

You have full control over how you create barcodes. It's easy to hide the standard barcode text and create your own custom format.

How to Create Barcodes Without Printed Check Digit

My name is Caylan, and I operate a software development company named 

. Our main business is writing software for industrial clients to interface with hardware. Often it's mobile app development using Bluetooth Low Energy. Other times its Linux consulting with USB and serial devices.

This is a technical article describing the technology powering Label LIVE, a cross-platform desktop application that prints labels to USB-connected thermal label printers.

Back in 2013, Semireg wrote a small Mac app named 

 on how it works. A virtual label "window" floats on the screen and whatever is behind it gets converted (rasterized) to a label. It is compatible with 

 thermal label printers. I published version 1.0 and it worked well enough (and had a small enough audience) that I didn't get any bug reports or feature requests.

Fast-forward 5 years and the label printing software landscape hasn't changed much. There is still 

 solutions that are almost all Windows' exclusives.

What's changed, though, is the software development landscape. I fully understand that among 

, many of life's problems. I've been hesitant to jump on the React Native bandwagon (mobile) for 

. But we're talking desktop apps in this post, label printers specifically, and it's about to get interesting.

, which allows software developers to "Build cross platform desktop apps with JavaScript (JS), HTML, and CSS." I'm an experienced Obj-C, Swift, Kotlin developer - but I was no JS guru. I shook my head at the 

. This pre-built project allowed me to quickly learn the basics of React, Electron, Webpack, Flow, Babel, and every turtle all the way down. It afforded me the confidence to learn 

, among other countless libraries. Without this stack and pre-made tooling, the job of creating Label LIVE would have been nearly impossible for a solo developer. In fact, many times I told myself that if I failed, the cost of the React/JS education was absolutely worth the time investment. I've learned so much in the process and have come to respect the trajectory of modern JS development. If you're not using Flow (or TypeScript) you're doing it wrong.

What started as a simple proof-of-concept, this app quickly evolved into a passion-project, outpacing my original idea of what a "minimal viable product" could be. The Label LIVE vision is simple: Labels. Any platform. Any printer.

The intricacies of label printing peeled back

Guides to using Label LIVE and common label printing issues

Dynamic Data (and color!) Using the Built-in Spreadsheet

Print side-by-side or "two up" labels on a roll.

Generate GTIN-14 logistic compatible ITF-14 barcodes and EAN and UPC for point of sale.

Optimize Print Quality

Bulk Barcode PNG/PDF Generator

Print Address Labels Using vCard (.vcf) Files

How To Add A Barcode Prefix

Mail Merge With Spreadsheet And Labels

How to Print Labels From an Excel Spreadsheet

Create Food Rotation Labels With Automatic Relative Dates

How to Create Barcodes Without Printed Check Digit

Introducing Label LIVE for Mac and Windows

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