Avery Label layout problem

[Mandu]

I want to make a layout that will print Avery 5160 mailing labels. So I'm like, okay, I'll use FMP8v3's automatic label-layout generator for Avery 5160, but the Preview mode shows the labels printing 9 rows per sheet rather than 10. Is that like a bug?

[iMarcW]

I wouldn't call it a bug, just a poorly designed template. It doesn't seem like it would be hard to make a page where there are 10 1-inch cells with a half-inch on the top and bottom, but I have to make several modifications to the template every time I make a new one.

If you want to get that 10th row of labels on the sheet, the main thing is to go into layout setup-->printing, use set fixed print margins and shorten the bottom page margin to some smaller number, ignoring the (outdated since about 1993) warnings about your printer not being able to print that close to the edge.

I have a recipe for getting the 5160 layout just right that I'll share as soon as I can track it down.

[iMarcW]

Okay, so here's what you do.

• Make a new layout using the built-in 5160 template

• Convert units to pixels (px) by clicking on the unit designation on the object info palette--this cycles through the different measurements: inch, cm, pica, px, etc.

* Under Layouts-->Part Setup, delete any existing headers or footers, leaving only the body

• Click on the Body tab in layout mode and enter a height of 71 in the Object Info palette (in other words, just barely under an inch--for some reason, entering the inch equivalent of 71/72 of an inch doesn't work for me, hence the change to pixels earlier). If you make it a full inch, you'll lose the 10th row, but if you make it less, the address block will creep upward until it's almost touching the top by the 10th row.

• Click on the dotted vertical line dividing the first and second labels in the row and adjust to 201 px. This is to prevent horizontal creep like the vertical creep described above.

• Under Layouts-->Layout Setup, click the printing tab, check Use fixed print margins and enter 36 px for top/bottom (1/2 inch) and 18 px for left/right (1/4 inch). Ignore the warning about the margins.*

• Make the address text block as tall as is allowed--I seem to be able to make mine a full 72 pixels even though that's one pixel taller than the body-- and set the vertical text alignment to middle.

That should do it! Let me know if it works.

* P.S. If you DO have a problem with clipping, go to Page Setup and change Format For: from Any Printer to your actual printer and that will solve it. But you'd probably get the warning either way.

(Also, I can't guarantee this will work on Windows, where 72 pixels doesn't, as far as I know, equal an inch.)

Edited August 2, 2007 by Guest

[Mandu]

Nice. Thank you! Very precise instructions.

For some reason I could not "click on the dotted vertical line dividing the first and second labels in the row" and therefore could not adjust to 201 px. However, the current setting (whatever it was) appears to work okay.

It works on Mac. In a little while I'll try it on Windows and report back.

[Mandu]

Okay - with the Mac, I "printed" to PDF, transferred to the PC, and printed the PDF from Windows to the HP 1022. Then, I moved the FM DB onto the PC and used the same settings to print directly to the 1022.

The PC-generated printout was offset about +4 mm vertically and +6 mm horizontally, compared to the Mac-generated printout, and the leading was a bit greater on the PC, but I still got all 30 labels printed "within the lines."