Creating and editing label templates

Labeling is an add-on feature within Operandio. If you want to add labeling features to your account, please get in touch.

Label templates allow you to reuse layouts across several different labels so you get a consistent look across in all your prints. You'll need at least one label template before you can start making individual labels.

Creating a new label template

Navigate to the Labels section in the main navigation and click the Create button. From the dropdown, select Create a new label template which will display a form with the following:

Template name: The name of the label template. This won't be printed anywhere on your labels
Label size: The size of the label template (refer to Sizes below).
Locations: Which locations in your business this label template will be available at.

Sizes

You can select from a set of predefined label sizes for your template or manually set the size using the Custom Size option. Operandio works with non-continuous label media, which are labels with defined sizes.

Width: This is the width of the label measured horizontally across the label roll in millimeters (mm).
Height: This is the height of the label measured vertically along the label roll in millimeters (mm).
Padding: Padding is used to create space around the label content. Padding is the same on all sides along the label and is measured in in millimeters (mm).

Add a new field with the "Add a field" button. Reposition the field on the template by clicking and dragging it, and resize it by dragging any of the field's edges. To change the field type and set other options, click the field.

Field types

Once you click a field to edit it, you'll see a number of available options- the first of these is the Field type. There are several different types of field that can be added to a label.

Name: This will display the name of the label. You'll set this value when you create the label later.
User: This will display the name of the currently logged-in user who is printing the label. You can select a variety of formats to display this in.
Location: This will display the name of the location where the label is printed. This is based on the active user's current location.
Current Date & Time: This will display the current date and time when the label is printed. This value can't be changed when the label is printed, so it's ideal for timestamping.
Preparation Date & Time: This will display the date and time that the label item was prepared. You can select a variety of formats to display this in. Refer to the Preparation, Ready & Discard Times section below for more information.
Ready Date & Time: This will display the date and time when the label item is considered to be ready. You can select a variety of formats to display this in. Refer to the Preparation, Ready & Discard Times section below for more information.
Discard Date & Time: This will display the date and time when the label item must be discarded. You can select a variety of formats to display this in. Refer to the Preparation, Ready & Discard Times section below for more information.
Dynamic Text (On Label): This field will appear on all labels using the template, and you can edit it when you create a label. Refer to the Dynamic Fields section below for more information.
Dynamic Text (On Print): This field will display text that can be entered on a label at the moment it is printed. Refer to the Dynamic Fields section below for more information.
Static Text: This will display plain text that will be visible on all labels that use this template.

If you try to edit an existing template with active labels, you'll notice that the field types are locked. This is to prevent any issues with labels already being printed.

Preparation, Ready & Discard Times for food labels

Operandio uses a simple set of timeframes to determine the times that should be printed on a label that are based on three dates in the lifecycle of a food item. The terms Prepared, Ready and Discard are used generally here - you might use different terms (such as "Out of Fridge" or "Toss") to refer to these points in time on your labels.

These fields are optional when you create a template.

Preparation: This is the time that the food item was prepared, such as the time something was removed from a freezer, or finished cooking or baking. This defaults to the time that the label is printed, however you can change this when you print your label.
Ready: The time that the food item is ready to be served or used. For example, if the item needs to defrost or rest, then this can be accounted for here.
Discard: This is the time that the food item should be discarded or thrown away.

Both Ready and Discard times are calculated from the Preparation time. When you add one of these fields to a template, you don't set the duration (e.g. "12 hours") on the template. This is done later on when you create the label.

For a simple example, let's use a frozen cut of meat. The meat is removed from the freezer and placed into the fridge to thaw - this is the time that the meat is Prepared. After 2 hours, the meat is ready to be cooked and served - this is the Ready time. The meat must be consumed within 12 hours or thrown away if not used - this is the Discard time.

Dynamic Fields

Dynamic fields are useful for doing customization for individual labels but still maintaining the shared fields of a template.

Dynamic Text (On Label):

This is text that you can customize on a per-label basis. If you want several labels to share the same template but you still want to make some customizations for each of them, this is the field to use.

The Field name here is for reference when you're creating or editing the label, and the Default text is what will be printed if no value is supplied on the label.

For example, you might want to use the text "Use by" on some labels and "Best before" on others. You can create this field as a Dynamic Text (On Label) field and then customize it on each label.

Dynamic Text (On Print):

This is text that can be entered on a label when it's printed. This dynamic text doesn't get saved so it's best used for temporary, unique text that is only printed once.

When setting Dynamic Text (On Print) you can set placeholder text to prompt users to fill it in when printing. However, these fields are never required - the label can still be printed if they are left blank.

For example, you might use Dynamic Text (On Print) if you want to add a "Notes" or "Comments" section to a label that can be filled in before it's printed, or if you wanted to enter a customer name on a label before printing.

Formatting

When editing a field in the template builder, the popover will display the current field type and any relevant fields like the text content or format. Below this are a selection of formatting options you can apply to the field.

Text Size:

This will set the size of the text in the field. Note that the maximum text size will change depending on the dimensions of the field in the template builder. If the maximum text size is too small, you may need to resize the field.

Text wrapping:

This will control how text behaves with long sentences. By default, text will resize to fit the width of the field. You can select the wrap icon to break text onto new lines instead.

Alignment:

This will set how the text is aligned within the field, either left, center or right.

Case:

Select from either standard or uppercase variations for the text.

Build out and save your label template

Once you've created and positioned all the different fields you want to use in your template, click Save template. Now, it's time to get started with creating your individual labels.