Precise body sizing for labels

[sprynmd]

I'm trying to print labels which are about 0.95cm (3/8 of an inch) high. FM won't let me set the body height at 0.95. I can get either 0.952 or 0.917. FM seems to restrict the sizes to pixel dimensions. Those dimensions correspond to 27 and 26 pixels respectively.

Problem is, the first setting results in row creep down and the second setting results in row creep up.

I've tried dragging the body size and also setting it numerically with no luck.

Any suggestions?

...Mike

[corn]

You may be out of luck here as FMP doesn't provide for fractional pixel dimensions. I presume your labels are metric rather than US measurements since .95 cm corresponds roughly to .374 in. whereas 3/8" is exactly .375 in. or 27 pixels. That said, you're only talking about 2 pixels label creep for an entire sheet of A4 labels which should be imperceptible. To counter this creep you can subtract 2 pixels from the footer size so your overall page size is correct.

Are the labels you're using a known brand and numbered size? It's often easiest to start with a built-in label layout and tweak than to create one from scratch. To "prime the pump" so to speak you can edit the "LabelsUS.flb" file to add your own label size using the units you desire. It's an XML file so you can add you label by creating an entry like the following:

Edited December 3, 2007 by Guest

[sprynmd]

I've been researching and have some new info.

The label appears to be exactly 3/8 inch, I just usually work in metric. Based on your comment, I changed the ruler to inches and set it at 0.375. I still got creep. -(

But, I discovered something new.

After freshly launching FM and performing a print manually (not using my print script), I noticed that it printed faster than normal AND the creep was gone. When I used my print script again, the print speed was slow again (higher resolution?) and the creep was back. I could not get the print to do a lower-resolution slow print manually or with the script.

Then I edited the script. I removed the script step "Print setup [restore]". Now, the print speed was fast and the alignment was good. I re-entered the script step (same parameters) and everything still works great.

Here's a theory:

I just upgraded to Leopard. I'm wondering if some data in the restore parameters for the Print setup script step (which I previously edited under OS 10.4.10), is incompatible with Leopard. As far as I can tell, the setup parameters are identical to their original settings. But it appears that re-entering that script step has solved my problems.

BTW, Corn, thanks for the detailed response.

I'm pretty sure these are non-standard labels. They're 24-up CD spine labels which I'm using for a different application.

I appreciate the info on the XML description. I'll remember that approach for future use.

...Mike

Edited December 4, 2007 by Guest
Thanks to Corn.