Smart Label Printer Pro(TM) - UPDATE Smart Label Printer Pro for Windows(R) and DOS Version 2.10 - October 17, 1995 The following information was not available at the time the User Guide was printed. Please take a moment to read this BEFORE you begin, for important up-to-date information on the use of Smart Label Printer Pro for Windows and DOS. You may want to print this file and keep it with your User Guide for easy reference. QUICK INSTALLATION The following is a list of quick steps to install either SLP Pro for DOS or SLP Pro for Windows. Please consult the "Getting Started" section in your User Guide for a more detailed explanation of the installation process. Windows Installation Steps: 1. If you have a previously installed version of SLP Pro for DOS loaded memory resident, exit Windows and unload SLP Pro. 2. Save your work and close any running Windows applications. 3. From Windows Program Manager choose Run from the File Menu. 4. Type A:WINSETUP or B:WINSETUP and choose OK. DOS Installation Steps: 1. If you have SLP Pro for DOS loaded resident, unload it. 2. At the DOS command line type A: or B: and press ENTER. 3. Type SETUP and press ENTER. NOTE: If you already have a previous version of SLP Pro installed on the target system, install this version into the same directory. The SLP program and related files will be updated automatically. SMART LABEL PRINTER PRO FOR WINDOWS SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS This version of SLP Pro for Windows requires version 3.1 (or later) of Windows or Windows for Workgroups. PRODUCT COMPATIBILITY TWAIN Interface TWAIN interface functions require the use of a device which is 100% TWAIN compliant. Certain Logitech ScanMan(TM) hand scanners include a driver that is not 100% TWAIN compliant. If you experience difficulty using ScanMan or FotoMan(TM) with SLP Pro for Windows, please call the Logitech Hotline at 510/795-0801 for information on how you can obtain an updated driver. Windows Bitmap Fonts Windows bitmap fonts (such as Small Fonts, System, etc.) were intended for use on display devices and are not supported. SmartCapture(TM) and IRMA(TM) for Windows This version can not SmartCapture from D.C.A.(R) IRMA WorkStation for Windows SmartCapture and OS/2(R) Warp SmartCapture will work in OS/2 Warp only when "capturing" from other Windows applications. Printing to SLP Pro Connected to High Performance COM Port The 16550 and 16550A chips can use a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer that, when active, can cause misalignment and other problems when printing to the SLP Pro. If printing problems are experienced, try adding a COMxFIFO=0 statement in the 386 enhanced section of your SYSTEM.INI file (substitute the x with the appropriate COM port--e.g. COM2FIFO=0). For more on this option, read the SYSINI.WRI file in your Windows directory. SAMPLE CLICKART(R) FROM T/MAKER(TM) Complimentary samples of ClickArt Images for Windows are included on this disk. To use the ClickArt, simply copy any of the PCX format files to a subdirectory on your hard disk. You can then import these images by using the Picture Import from File function in SLP Pro for Windows. For information on obtaining additional T/Maker ClickArt contact: T/Maker Company, 1390 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA, Tel: 415/962-0195 Fax: 415/962-0201. NEW SMARTLABELS(TM)! This version of Smart Label Printer Pro for Windows is fully SmartCode(TM) compatible. This means that it is ready to work with all existing genuine Seiko Instruments labels, including a wide variety of newly introduced SmartLabels! PRINT IMAGE MARGIN ADJUST A "Margin Adjust" slider control has been added to SLP Pro for Window's "Printer Setup" dialog. This setting can optionally be adjusted for more precise centering when printing smaller or pre-printed label types like "35mm Slide" and "File Folder". The print image is shifted by one pixel to the left or right for each slider step from the center position. Note: When "wide" label types like "Shipping" or "Disk" are selected, this option is disallowed to prevent clipping of the right or left edge of the printed output. WINDOWS PRINTER DRIVER A driver has been provided to enable printing to the SLP Pro directly from Windows applications. The driver files are located in the "Driver" directory on your installation diskette. The driver is installed automatically during the SLP Pro for Windows installation process. Alternatively, this can be installed manually from Windows Control panel. For more on how to install printer drivers in Windows Control Panel, please consult your Windows manual. If you experience difficulty when attempting to print to the SLP Pro using the Windows driver, check the following: 1. In the Windows Control Panel be sure that the settings are set as follows... Baud Rate=9600; Data Bits=8; Parity=None; Stop Bits=1; Flow Control=NONE. 2. Be sure that the Margins in Page Setup are set appropriately for the size of the label. For best results, a margin setting of 0.16" is recommended. Selecting a smaller size may result in cropping of the printed image or text. 3. Be sure that "Fast Print Direct to Port" in the Windows Control Panel is checked. Note: The SLP Pro Windows driver is NOT required to print labels with the SLP Pro for Windows application. The application interfaces with the printer directly and is unaffected by any printer settings maintained by the driver. Attempting to print with the driver while the application is printing or vice versa will result in an error. PRINTING DIRECTLY FROM WINDOWS APPLICATIONS ON LANTASTIC(R) SYSTEMS LANtastic may prevent Windows from setting the COM port baud rates. If you're able to print from SLP Pro for Windows but NOT from the SLP Pro print driver, you may need to add a line "MODE COMx:9600,n,8,1" to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file where "x" is the COM port to which the SLP Pro is connected. LABEL LIBRARIES You may specify the default Label Library, by including the library's name on the command line. The default library is the Label Library which is active when PROW is started. If no parameter is found, SLP Pro will start with the Label Library that was most recently selected. For example, if you wish to use a library named "mylabels" as the default, the command line would be: "C:\SLPPRO\PROW.EXE MYLABELS" ". SAVING LABELS WITH LARGE PICTURES Saving numerous labels with large pictures can result in an extremely large *.sld file. This is normal because each label record includes the complete picture data in its original format and size. To help keep this in check, it is recommended that pictures are first scaled (using a drawing type application) before capturing. Meanwhile, we will be working to identify options that would help to address this concern in a future software release. (REMEMBER TO REGISTER!) PICTURE PLACEHOLDER The Picture Preferences dialog includes a "Picture Placeholder" checkbox. When selected, a rectangle representing the size and position of the picture will appear in the edit window in place of the actual picture. This option has no affect on printing. AUTO DITHERING When using multicolor or grey scale art, you will almost always get best results with the Auto Dither option on. The Auto Dither options automatically detects colors or grey scales contained in a picture and converts them to a pattern of dots which can be printed. Generally, simple monochrome art will not be dithered. In some cases, particularly with clip art that you have scanned, better results may be obtained by switching Auto Dither to OFF in the Picture Preferences dialog box. Note: SLP Pro for Windows application uses the Burkes Dither Algorithm. RETURN ADDRESS If you get a "Return Address too large" message... check to be sure that the return address label record does not contain a picture area which extends beyond half (vertically) of the label size on which you intend to include the same. Similarly, be sure that there is not more text than will fit in the same area. SLP PRO PRINTER FONTS If the SLP Pro for Windows Printer Fonts checkbox is checked in Font Options, all installed printer fonts used in SLP Pro for DOS should appear in the font list in the tool bar. If the printer fonts do not appear in this list, be sure that "Show Only TrueType Fonts in Applications" is unchecked in the Windows Control Panel. Also be sure that any entries in the WIN.INI file that start with "Fontdir=" specify the directory that contains the corresponding font files (*.FF1). If you've installed SLP Pro for DOS, specific Printer Fonts can be individually installed or removed in the DOS version SETUP.EXE program. Selection made in the DOS SETUP.EXE "Font Options", determine the listing of available printer fonts for both the DOS and Windows applications. Note: The SLP Pro Printer Fonts can be used with the SLP Pro DOS and Windows applications only. The Windows Print driver uses TrueType and other Windows fonts. ACCESSING BAR CODE FONTS FROM SLP PRO FOR WINDOWS Bar code fonts will not appear in the font selection table unless the Bar Codes checkbox is checked in the Fonts Preferences dialog. This version of SLP Pro for Windows allows you to select character attributes (such as bold, italic and underline) for all fonts, including bar code fonts. To help ensure reliable scanning, make sure that none of these attributes are applied to bar codes. SMART LABEL PRINTER PRO FOR DOS DOS LOADHIGH Smart Label Printer Pro for DOS cannot be loaded into high memory with the DOS LH parameter. To use high memory, run SETUP and set swapping to EMS or XMS. Resident Size can be set as low as 9k. UNLOADING SMART LABEL PRINTER PRO FOR DOS When the SLPPRO.EXE program is loaded resident there are two ways to unload and remove it from memory. 1. From the Main Menu select 'Options'. From the Options menu select 'Unload'. 2. From the DOS prompt type 'UNLOAD'. Note: In either case the SLPPRO.EXE will not unload if a program has been loaded after the SLPPRO.EXE. RUNNING SLP PRO FOR DOS FROM WITHIN A DOS SESSION UNDER WINDOWS When running the SLPPRO.EXE resident from Microsoft Windows 3.x enhanced mode, either from the Program Manager's 'File/Run...' or from the DOS prompt it is important to unload the SLPPRO.EXE from memory before terminating the DOS session. If the SLPPRO.EXE is not unloaded and the DOS session is terminated by typing 'exit' at the DOS prompt, or in the case where SLPPRO /R was run from the Program Manager's 'File/Run...', pressing CTRL-C could result in one of the following anomalies. a) The system will eventually run out of FILES b) Sharing violations will occur if share is installed. Other solution: A Windows VxD (virtual device driver) has been provided to automatically unload the SLPPRO.EXE from memory when a DOS session ends. The following line should be placed in the [386Enh] section of the Windows SYSTEM.INI file. DEVICE=[drive]:[path]\SLPTERM.386 e.g. If SLPPRO.EXE is installed in the directory C:\SLPPRO the line would look like this, DEVICE=C:\SLPPRO\SLPTERM.386 SMART LABEL PRINTER PRO FOR WINDOWS AND DOS LABEL DATA COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN SLP PRO FOR DOS AND SLP PRO FOR WINDOWS The DOS and Windows versions are able to share label data, there are some key differences in how the two versions use the same data. The following rules apply: Return Addresses saved in DOS cannot be accessed by Windows and vice versa. Although the DOS version can open labels saved with Windows fonts, these labels are converted to printer fonts when opened in DOS. If they are then saved in DOS, the original font values will be overwritten with whatever printer fonts appeared in the DOS label edit window. Labels saved with a picture in the Windows version will open in DOS as TEXT ONLY. This label can be re-edited in the DOS version and then saved without affecting the picture part of the label saved by the Windows version. If however, the label is saved with a different name while in the DOS version, the resulting saved label will not include any picture data. Text frame position and size is ignored by the DOS version. All labels are treated as if they are TEXT ONLY and as if the text frame is scaled to the full size of the label. In this version, it is possible that there may be some discrepancy between the DOS and Windows software with respect to the number of lines of a given font/size that will fit on the label. This is normal. Although the Underline character attribute can be applied to printer fonts in the Windows version, the current DOS version does not support underlining. Labels saved with underlined characters will not appear or print as underlined when recalled in the DOS version. PRINTING LISTS Care should be taken not to power off the printer when changing label rolls during the printing of a list. Shutting off the SLP Pro clears the printer's buffer and may result in lost labels. Also, please note that when changing labels, it is possible that the last label on a roll may need to be re-printed. PRINTING LABELS WITH BAR CODES This version automatically calculates and adds start and stop bars to bar codes at print time. This requires that some allowance for such characters are made when you edit your label. Before creating a large volume of labels which include a bar code, it is recommended that you test scan a few labels with your scanning equipment to ensure readability. Scanners which use visible light technology are ideal for reading labels printed with your Smart Label Printer Pro. Note: Infra-red scanners generally will not read bar codes printed on thermal paper. SMART LABEL PRINTER PRO LABEL REFILLS We recommend using only Seiko Instruments SmartLabels. These labels have been exhaustively tested to give you the best possible performance from your SLP Pro. THIRD PARTY DEVELOPER'S KIT Requests should be submitted by facsimile to the attention of SLP Development Group at 408/922-5840. USER GUIDE ERRATA The following errors and/or omissions have been identified in the User Guide. Page 15 - Step 4 of "Installing SLP Pro Software for DOS", "Choose an option.", does not apply as any earlier version of software is upgraded automatically. This step should be disregarded. Pages 19,99 - Both refer to SLP Pro icon in the Accessories program group. Your SLP Pro for Windows icon is actually installed in its own program group called "Smart Label Printer". You can, of course, copy or move the icon to the program group of your choice after installation. For instructions on how to do this, please consult your Windows manual. Page 99 - Frame Adjust Button call-outs in the illustration are reversed. The button labeled Resize/Move Picture should be Resize/Move Text and vice versa. (See page 130.) Page 106 - The illustration shows a checkbox titled "Enable Auto-copy" (also referenced by the first bullet under Item 4 on the same page). This checkbox is actually titled "Enable SmartCopy". Page 157 - Item 4 - "TWAIN device to the LP Pro Edit window." should be "TWAIN device to the SLP Pro Edit window" Page 184 - Technical Support hours are: M-F 6:00am-8:00pm Pacific Standard Time. The toll-free number is 1-800-757- 1011 Page 200 - First and Third bullets at bottom of page: "RM3 6S" should be "RM3 6SH". "KT9 1S" should be "KT9 1ST". REGISTRATION Please be sure to mail in your Warranty/Registration card at your earliest convenience. By registering, you will help us to keep you informed of any software updates, new product features, bug fixes and special promotions. Finally, congratulations on the purchase of your new Smart Label Printer Pro... and... THANK YOU FROM EVERYONE AT SEIKO INSTRUMENTS USA INC. NOTICE: ALL PRODUCTS LISTED ABOVE ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE HOLDERS.