The orientation

The layout orientation allows to turn the label entirely on the screen, in order to have better working comfort in cablabel S3. This orientation is only visual and does not change the printout.

Notice: cab printers are configured by default in portrait orientation.

Thus, when you need for example to place most of the objects perpendicular to the width, it makes more sense to change the layout orientation, than to rotate each object individually.

In this case you need:

• Either to click on the or icon in the ruler of designer.
• Or to define the layout orientation to landscape in the page setup of label.

As seen in the 1^st part, the size of a label is independent of its orientation. Thereby, cablabel S3 permits to define a layout in portrait orientation, which is wider than high. While it is not always as easy and sometimes even impossible with other software.

Moreover, there is also the possibility to really turn the printout. The setting provided for this purpose is located in the “Image output” tab of the device settings.

Depending on the selected angle, the position and the rotation of each object of the label will be automatically recalculated in the Jscript code. This allows especially:

• To rotate the label, in order to adapt it to the printing width of the printer or to the ribbon width.
• To choose the unwinding direction of the labels, when they are rewound after printing.
• To orient the printed label for labeling with an applicator, depending on the integration of the printer or the passage of the product.
• To optimize the “printing + barcode verification” cycle, by orienting the label so that the barcode is printed and verified earlier.

Good to know: the “180° rotation” option in the “Printing” tab corresponds to the “O R” JScript command. This option is checked by default, so that the not rotated texts in portrait orientation, are printed in the reading direction.

First create a text object, by filling in the data on one line. When you need to add a line break, do not use the “Enter” key on the keyboard, but instead insert the special character “Carriage Return”, using the character map of cablabel S3 Pro.

Then disable the interpretation of Unicode syntax, to display the text as it is in the software. And if you do not want to print this source text, just make it invisible for printing.

Then create a new text object, having as datasource the text object created previously.
Since the interpretation of Unicode syntax is by default enabled, the text is then displayed over multiple lines, because the carriage return is automatically interpreted by the software.

And of course, this multi line text is printed as shown on the screen (What You See Is What You Get).

Notice: since the content of the multi line text is dynamic, this object is sent to the printer as a picture.

Finally create the barcode, having also as datasource the text object created at first.
In this way, when you need to update the data, only modify the source text. The changes are then automatically propagated to linked objects, in this case the multi line text and the barcode.

Good to know: the carriage return is encoded as well and can possibly be interpreted when reading the barcode. This will depend on used reading device and its configuration.

In order to check the contents of a barcode, you can use an app with the smartphone, but not all show the special characters. Another method is to simply connect a barcode reader to the computer, then to create a new text file with Notepad++ and to show all characters.

Finally, this DataMatrix can then be used to automatically fill in the input fields of another label, for example in cablabel S3 Print or even in standalone mode. Thus the operator will perform only one action, that is reading the barcode, instead of having to fill in and validate individually each prompt field.

Attention: in this case, it is strongly recommended to first configure the barcode reader, in order to add a delay after the validation of a prompt field. Because depending on the response time of the computer or the printer, the read information may arrive too fast to be processed correctly.

Download example files for cablabel S3 Pro:

• DataMatrix to read (STC, 150 KB)
• Label to fill (STC, 130 KB)

First, to better understand the vocabulary from this environment, here is a correspondence of the main terms used in Excel and a database:

With cablabel S3 Pro, it is possible to define a connection to an Excel and Access file or any other database, allowing to create new data sources that can be used dynamically by the label objects.

Of course, the choice of the database depends particularly on, the advantages and disadvantages of each solution, the hardware and software budget, the knowledge of each, etc.

Good to know: it is not mandatory to install Excel or Access on all computers with cablabel S3 Pro or Print, because the OLE DB provider “Access Database Engine” from Microsoft is sufficient to connect to the data files.

Thereby, the Excel workbook is often favoured for creating and managing a data source, since it has the advantage of being relatively simple and convenient to use. But in order to be fully exploitable with cablabel S3, there are nevertheless some precautions to take:

• Do not use spaces or other special characters in the name of the sheets.
• Do not add empty rows, titles or other texts at the beginning of the sheet.
• The first row of a sheet must imperatively contain, either the field names or the first record.
• Raw data in text form should be preferred, by avoiding applying to the cells a format or a formatting specific to Excel.
• Detection of the column type and the data length is only done on a limited number or rows (8 by default and up to 16 by modifying the Windows registry).

Without forgetting that the Excel spreadsheet does not have all features of a database, and that some disadvantages are also to be taken into account:

• Depending on the versions, it is possible to have only one access per file. The same data source can therefore not be used simultaneously by Excel and the cablabel S3 software.
• There is no optimization, like that brought by indexing data. Queries on large tables are therefore longer.
• The field type “BLOB” does not exist. It is therefore for example impossible to save the label in the database.

More information on this subject is also available on the Microsoft website:

• Using Access or Excel to manage your data

In summary, a properly structured Excel workbook, is very suitable for creating a small data source with a dedicated use for cablabel S3.
However, as soon as you have a need for simultaneous access or better performance, it is then better to opt for Access or another database, knowing that the data can be transferred quite easily.

When designing a label in cablabel S3, the different properties of a text (bold, italic…) are applied to the entire content of the object.

With the Pro and Print version, the keywords plugin allows to highlight automatically specific words in a sentence or text, as for example for the allergens.

Since the version 1.2.0.1 of the software, you can now use text tags.
Based on the principle of HTML language, this new feature provides the ability to change manually the formatting of a text part.

Moreover, you can also insert these tags in other editable fields, such as the prefix or the suffix of a text, the operations of a formula, or even directly into your database.
The software will then interpret them and display the result of the formatting on the screen, as it will later be printed on the label.

The whole list of the text tags is available in the Operator’s manual of software (PDF, 5 MB).

Download example file for cablabel S3 Lite and Pro:

• Text tags (STC file, 100 KB)

Yes of course, but only according to the case and under certain conditions.
Here is a summary of different situations needing the activation of the software and how to proceed.

In order to benefit from the latest features provided by the addition of plugins, as the keywords, the variable information or the compound prompts, sometimes a reactivation of the software is required after its update.

In this example, some plugins are not correctly loaded. Then you mostly just have to redo an activation procedure through the wizard, reachable from the “About” button in the General tab.

If you need to reinstall the software, for example due to change of computer or operating system, there is the possibility to perform a request for reactivation, by filling in the form available on our website:

• Request for reactivation of cablabel S3 Pro / cablabel S3 Print

Once your request has been considered, you will then receive the necessary instructions by email at the address indicated.

On the other hand, when you wish to use the software on an additional workstation, you first have to purchase either an additional license or a new license.

For more information about this subject or to know all the modalities, you can contact directly your usual reseller.

When designing my label, I created a counter and set a starting value.
But how can I change this value dynamically, without having to edit each time the properties of my counter?

In order to perform this easily in standalone mode, you need:

1. To create a prompt field asking the start value.
2. To insert a basic counter of numeric type.
3. Then to add together both values with a formula.

And to go further, here is a more complex design in formular mode with:

• a decremental counter.
• a dynamic formatting in relation to the number of digits entered.
• an automatic reset of the counter, when the current value reaches 1.

Attention: if an operation of the “Math” category is calculated directly on the printer (for example using operands from a datasource), the result is printed by default with 2 digits after the comma.
To change this behaviour, you have as in these cases, to add a “Formatting” operation.

Download example files for cablabel S3 Pro:

• Counter with a dynamic start value (STC, 130 KB)
• Decremental counter (STC, 155 KB)

You want to create your labels with cablabel S3, but you don’t know which version to choose?

In order to help you to make this decision based on your needs, here is a summary of the main differences and exclusive possibilities:

More information is also available on our website:

• Technical data label software cablabel S3

The gap

Another property to check in the layout is the “gap”, even if the default value of 3 mm is suitable for most of the labels.

This dimension corresponds to the distance between the labels, and is also measured in the printing direction or in the unwinding direction of the label roll.

Thereby, the gap added to the label height, determines the total height of the page and therefore also the minimum material feed during printing.

In case of using a material with a gap, you have therefore to be careful that the value indicated in the layout is simply lower or equal to the value measured between the labels:

This avoids some detection problems by the label sensor of printer and especially the emergence of non-printed labels.

And in case of using a continuous material, you are free to set a gap value:

• for example to print the labels one after the other.
• or to intentionally leave more space between each label.

When you try to connect with cablabel S3 Pro to an Excel or Access file, created with the version 2007 or later, and you get the following error message:

Then it is necessary to download and install the 32-bit version of the OLE DB provider “Access Database Engine” from the following Microsoft website:

• Access Database Engine 2016

Notice: if the setup of Access Database Engine warns you that a 64-bit version of Microsoft Office is already installed, you must start it manually by the command prompt “cmd”, from the file location and also with the parameter “/quiet” behind the file name.

The size

Let’s see some tips, to find more easily the size of a label and especially to avoid mixing the measures.

The easiest way is, to use the information given in the label designation, or if applicable on the packaging and inside the roll.
The first number corresponds to the width and the second to the height.

Thereby, with a:

• Format 60×40 mm ⇒ width = 60 mm and height = 40 mm
• Format 100×150 mm ⇒ width = 100 mm and height = 150 mm

You can also directly measure the size of the label. But in this case, you must be careful to correctly identify the width.

The height coincides then with the label feed, in the printing direction or in the unwinding direction of label roll. The size of the label is therefore independent of its orientation and also of the reading direction!

Click on the following link, to see some examples of measurements:

• Examples of measurements (PDF; 1 MB)