disclabel 2.0

2.0
disclabel help
disclabel helps you make great-looking labels for your CDs, DVDs, and related materials.
what is disclabel?
what's new?
step-by-step from iTunes
step-by-step building a new label
getting around
templates
importing & editing tracks
editing
printing
exporting
AppleScript
tips & tricks
how to purchase [DEMO only]
support
frequently asked questions (FAQ) [web]
visit smileonmymac.com [web]
© 2004 SmileOnMyMac, LLC. All rights reserved.
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disclabel help: what's new?
We've been hard at work since disclabel 1.0 listening to your feedback and continually making
disclabel a better product. We hope you enjoy the results!
disclabel 2.0 (13-May-2004)
Combine different text and image layouts easily in foreground / background layers
Arrange and distribute objects
Use masking and soft focus to spice up your images
Combine multiple images into a montage
Import images on a per-track basis and use them in your designs
Export designs to PDF, TIFF, and JPEG formats
Print inserts, covers, and booklets on plain paper
Share templates via Rendezvous
Design and print Super Jewel Box CD and DVD elements
See visual cursor feedback for edit functions
Constrain objects to the design edge or not - your choice
Customize inner and outer boundaries for text on discs
Import tracks directly from audio CDs
Import tracks from Rendezvous shared playlists
Set keyboard increment, constrain angle, and gridline placement (in Edit preferences)
Access external folders of templates (in Sharing preferences)
Specify print bleed (in Paper preferences)
Use BPM (beats per minute) tag in track lists
Option-drag to fill all eligible label slots with copies of the dragged design
Calibrate your printer with our clear and easy instruction sheet
Check for updates automatically (in Update preferences)
disclabel 1.3 (5-Jan-2004)
disclabel Store
Hierarchical paper menu
Image library (disclabel NEATO Edition CD)
Other minor fixes / updates
disclabel 1.2.1 (28-Oct-2003)
Fixed problem with scripting under Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther)
disclabel 1.2 (7-Oct-2003)
Import of track lists from CSV files
Import of iTunes album / track art
Script menu
disclabel 1.1 (3-Sep-2003)
A wide variety of new label types and papers are now supported. These include: Business card
CDs, 80mm CDs & Digital Vinyl CDs, DVD inserts, Slim Jewel Case Inserts, CD Cores & hubs, and
VHS labels
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Circular text can now track inside the curve in addition to outside, and supports underlining
Help can be auto-updated via the internet
New shortcuts for unlock, zoom-in, zoom-out, fit to window, & increase/decrease text pointsize
English help is enhanced
Imported images > 72dpi render correctly on screen & scale to cover the bleed
Tags in the Japanese version have been changed, and now allow any font to be selected
Redraw performance has improved
Various text sizing and rendering issues have been addressed
Miscellaneous other bugs addressed
disclabel 1.0.1 (12-Aug-2003)
Fixed crash on import from iTunes in low resource conditions
Improved speed of iPhoto image import
Fixed problem saving imported PSD (Photoshop) files
Print Outlines now shows exact label dimensions and bleed
Fixed possible hang when changing template category
Several other bug fixes
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disclabel help: step-by-step from iTunes
To create a fantastic-looking label from one of your iTunes playlists:
1 Press the Template function button
2 Select disclabel Templates from the Category: menu
3 Click the templates in the Work Area to preview them
4 Select a template you like and press New Design from
Template
5 Enter a name for your new design in the Design List
6 Press the Tracks button to load your playlists
7 Select a playlist from the menu beneath the Tracks button
8 Press the Paper function button
9 Follow the Printing instructions to print your creation
Notes:
Typically, you can scroll the template previews to see more of them
You can change the Category: to see other categories of templates
You can double-click a template preview to make a new design
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disclabel help: step-by-step building a new label
These instructions show you one way to build a new label starting from scratch, without using a
template.
1. Start with a blank label
Click the plus button or choose New Design from the File menu.
The new design is automatically added to the design list on the left hand side.
2. Name your new design
Type a name for your design and press return.
Your new design is selected and you will see a blank disc in the Edit function.
3. Choose a photo for the background
First make sure iPhoto is your selected import application, by holding down the button, and
seeing if iPhoto is checked in its menu. Click the photo import button. Select an iPhoto album, click
the photo you want to use, and click Import.
Note: if you don't have iPhoto, or you have no photos in your iPhoto library you can drag an image file
from the Finder onto the disc editing surface to import a photo.
You will see the photo you chose in the new design, and it will be selected - small selection handles
(boxes) shown at each corner
4. Crop your photo
Click the cropping button (it is only enabled when a photo is selected). The cropping sheet
appears. Click and drag the mouse over the area of the photo you want to use. Check Fit Original Size
if you want it to cover the same surface area.
Now click Crop and your image is replaced with the portion you chose.
Drag the image around by holding the mouse down within it
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and dragging. Resize the image by clicking and dragging one
of its selection handles.
5. Change the opacity of your photo
Change the opacity of the image by first clicking the color
button
And then dragging the opacity slider down to fade the image
- this allows any text placed on top of the image to be read
more easily.
6. Import some tracks
Click Tracks, and choose a playlist from the list immediately below.
7. Place the tracks on your design
Click the horizontal text button and drag out a large horizontal text
region covering the bottom half of the CD. Keep it selected.
Make sure you have the text editing selector selected.
Click the Choose Format button and select a track format for your text
from the list.
Here is the result if you choose the format 1. Title (Length)
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8. Add a Title
Click the text button
Drag a text area over the disc where you
want the album title to be.
Double-click the text that appears to
select it.
Now choose Playlist Album from the Insert pop-up menu.
Press return.
Now choose Playlist Artist from the Insert pop-up menu.
Notice how the Playlist items you insert immediately show your imported data.
9. Change the title font
First make sure your Playlist Album/Playlist Artist text object is still selected (has corner selection
rectangles). Click in the text once to select it if it doesn't.
Choose Font->Show Fonts from the Format menu
Pick a new font and size.
Your disc is now complete.
10. Making a CD cover
To make a cover you could repeat the above steps for each cover element. It's much easier, however,
to duplicate the objects you created for the disc into a cover.
To duplicate the elements:
- first choose Select All from the Edit menu
- next choose Copy from the Edit menu
- choose which design element you want to work with next
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- choose Paste from the Edit menu
To clean up:
- drag the corner of the background image to make sure the area is fully covered (hold down the shift
key to keep the image resizing proportional)
- drag any of the text elements to fine-tune their position
Note that the CD cover part is different for a slimline CD cover, or for a CD booklet. Make sure you
know what paper you're printing on before doing your layout, as the standard rectangular CD cover
may not be the part you need.
Note that you will probably prefer to use the background layer to store your images, so they aren't
easily selected when you add the text. To move an image to the background layer select it and choose
Cut from the Edit menu. Click the background button. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. Click the
foreground button again to continue working in the foreground. Note also that Select All will only
select objects in the current layer.
11. Making a CD tray insert
Follow the steps in 10 but instead use the CD tray insert design element
To add text along the spine of the CD tray click the horizontal text button and drag out a
horizontal text region approximately as wide as the CD tray is high.
Double-click the text and insert - the Playlist Album and Playlist Artist tags like you did in step 8. This
time do not put a return between the two tags, instead use a separating mark, such as a bullet point
(option-8 on the keyboard).
Rotate the text so it is suitable for the spine of the CD tray
Click the rotate around center button, and drag the text item by clicking and dragging within one
of the selection handles. Hold down the shift key to constrain the rotation to 45 degree
increments as shown below.
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Click the arrow button to stop rotating, and click and drag in the text to drag the text object into
its new position on the spine.
Center the text by choosing Text->Center from the Format menu.
Finally duplicate the spine text to the other side by dragging the text object to the other side while the
option key is held down.
Choose Save As Template from the File menu if you wish to reuse this template with different
imported tracks in the future.
You can fairly quickly reuse this design with a different image.
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- First, delete the image from the three design elements you've used (click the image, and press the
delete button in each design element)
- Now import another image from iPhoto or the Finder & size and crop it as you like
- Choose Send to Back from the Arrange menu to get it behind the text
- Copy the image by choosing Copy from the Edit menu
- In each of the other design elements, paste the image & size & position the image as you like. Don't
forget to send the image to the back each time.
Note that you can save a lot of time laying out text by starting with one of the preconfigured text
options. To see them double-click the thumb to the right of the editor. Click one to try it out, choose
Undo from the Edit menu if you don't like the result.
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disclabel help: getting around
The easiest way to get started with disclabel is to follow the step-by-step guide for creating a label for an iTunes
playlist.
disclabel is a single-window application with these parts:
a. Design List: choose or create a design, which may contain
several parts
b. Work Area: view, edit, and prepare to print your labels
c. Function Buttons: choose what you wish to do
d. Design Element Selector: choose to work on a disc, CD cover,
CD tray, folding CD cover, DVD cover, disc spine, DVD
insert, slimline CD case, CD core, mini CD, business card
CD, VHS wrap, VHS face, VHS spine, Super CD jewel case,
Super DVD insert, and Super DVD jewel case
e. Function Area: perform function-specific actions such as
importing from iTunes
f. thumb region: open to reveal additional options in some
functions
Template functions
Category: - select a category of pre-designed templates to show in the Work Area; “My Templates” contains templates stored using
Save As Template from the File menu; “disclabel Templates” are provided by SmileOnMyMac.
New Design from Template - create a new design from the currently-selected template
Name, Description - fill in these fields when creating templates in the “My Templates” Category; when sharing your template, this
information is provided to other users
Edit functions
From top to bottom, left to right:
Layer Tools - toggle visibility of foreground or background layer; select foreground or background layer for working
Import Tracks - import tracks, select the application for importing tracks, and choose a particular playlist to import from
Selection Tools - select (move, drag), rotate around center of design, rotate around center of object
Object Tools - line, oval (circle), rectangle (square), rectangular text, circular text; select object tool then click and drag in design to
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create object. Choose type of circular text by holding down circular text button.
Apply Color - select object(s), click, and set color in Mac OS X color palette
Stroke/Fill - select object(s), then choose either stroke width or fill
Image/Text/Align - image, text, and alignment operations
Zoom - drag to zoom in or out of design; click pictures on end for zoom to fit
Image operations
Insert Image - click to insert image from your iPhoto library, from iTunes album art or from a file of your choosing.
Hold down to choose where to import from
Crop Image - click to bring up the cropping sheet
Mask Image - click to choose a shape mask, and choose whether to soften the edges of a masked image
Text Operations
Font - toggles the Font palette on or off
Insert - inserts the chosen tag into a text object at the insertion point, or replaces the selection
Options - toggles optional settings for the selected text object
Choose Format - enables choice of a presentation format for the selected text object
Alignment Operations
Alignment buttons - (6) align one object with respect to the design or several against one another
Distribute Buttons - (2) distribute objects equally spaced horizontally and vertically
Circular Distribute Buttons - (2) distribute objects at even angles the center of the design, and equalize the distance
of objects from the center of the design
Hole Size - specify whether this design should have a small or large hole, or directly specify the inner and outter
bounds for text (only applies to parts of type disc): controls the text formatting boundary
Paper functions
Stylus Photo 2200 - select printer
Print Page - prints calibration mark for you to measure with a ruler
Left / Top - indicates distance of calibration mark from edge for this particular printer
Labels: - select label type to show in paper view in Work Area
Print Labels - print the labels which appear in the Work Area above
Note: Drag from the design list on the left to the blank labels in the Work Area to select what to print
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Print Label Outlines - print a sheet with just outlines of the labels: useful for planning designs or checking alignment
Buy More - automatically navigates to the store to purchase more of the selected labels when possible
Update Labels from Internet - update your list of label types with the latest and greatest
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disclabel help: templates
Designs and Templates
The list on the left hand side of the disclabel window is a list of designs. Designs are
what you import tracks into, edit, and print. All designs you make are automatically
saved along with tracks that have been imported. The design list is automatically
hidden in the Template and Store functions, but is available if you drag or double-click
the thumb on the left to reveal them.
Frequently it is helpful to first work from a template in order to make your design. A
template is simply a design with no imported tracks assigned to it. disclabel ships with
many beautiful templates. You can use them directly, import your tracks and print, or
you can use them to form the basis of designs you make.
To choose a template, first make sure you're in the Template function. Examine the
different template categories, and then preview any template by clicking to select it.
You can change the text configuration of your template by opening up the text choices:
drag or double-clicking the thumb on the right. Click on each one to see what the
template looks like with a different text style. Go back to the template's default text
style by holding down the shift key, and clicking the selected text style choice. This will
unselect it.
Note that the act of changing the text configuration of a template replaces the front
layer of the template with the text selected. See the section on Editing to learn more
about layers.
You can import a playlist to preview in the selected template by clicking the Tracks
button. This loads your playlists into the menu immediately below. Choose a playlist to
see what it looks like in the selected template.
Note that if you want to import tracks from an application other than iTunes, you can
do that by holding down the mouse on the tracks button. You'll then get a menu from
which you can choose an alternate application.
When you've chosen the template you want to use, click the button New Design from
Template. This turns the chosen template into a design that you can then edit or print.
Making a new Design
If you don't want to start with a template you can create an empty design instead by
clicking the + button, or choosing File–New Design from the menu.
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Saving your own Templates
When you make a design you want to use again and again, you can save it as a template by choosing
File–Save As Template from the menu. Your template is saved into the template category named My
Templates. Reselect that template and choose New Design from Template to reuse your design.
Sharing Templates with Friends
A template can be shared in one of three ways:
File
Export it by first selecting it in the Template function, and choose File–Export from the
menu. Alternatively, drag the selected template to the Finder. Your template file can be
imported by double-clicking it in the Finder or by choosing File–Import from the
menu.
Rendezvous Choose disclabel–Preferences from the menu.
Click Sharing in the Preferences window.
Check Share "My Templates" with others.
Make sure you've set your Shared name.
Provided Look for shared templates is checked another computer on the same
Rendezvous network will be able to see your templates in My Templates listed as a
template category named from the Shared name you have chosen.
Folder
Folders of templates can be accessed by adding the names of those folders into the
Show templates from external folders area. Click the Add button to add a folder.
With this feature several computers can have access to a folder of templates on a
network.
Where are my Files Stored?
How do I move them to a new Computer?
Your files are stored in the folder ~/Library/disclabel where ~ is your home folder (Go–Home from the
Finder).
You can copy them to another computer by copying this directory into the same relative place in your
home folder on your other computer.
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disclabel help: importing & editing tracks
Customizing Import
Sometimes you don't want to import from just one of the main import sources: iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD,
Finder, or Toast. You may wish to edit what you've imported, or even make your own list of tracks.
To import from your own list of tracks you can choose to import from a text file:
Hold down the Tracks button and choose Text File as the import option, and then
choose a text file from the file dialog that appears.
The format of the text file is important. Each field should be separated by commas like
the following:
Track #,Title,Artist,Album,
1,At home,Me & Mom,Birthday,
2,In the Garden,With Dad,Birthday,
3,The cake,All the Family,Birthday,
Note that the column titles are the same as appear in the Insert menu in disclabel's Edit
function. You can choose to use as many or as few of them as you want.
Editing Tracks
Tracks can be edited when displayed in any text region. There are three possible editing operations for
tracks:
Editing information Click on the piece of track information you wish to edit to select it (eg. a single
title you want to alter). The cursor will change to show a menu is available. Click
again for the menu, and choose Edit from the resulting menu. Type or edit the
text as you want. Click outside the text when you're done. The track information
will be edited, and will update in all other parts of your design that also use it.
Removing a track
Click on any piece of track information within a track you wish to remove to
select it. The cursor will change to show a menu is available. Click again for the
menu, and choose Delete Track. The track will be deleted here and in all other
parts of your design that also use it.
Inserting a track
Click on any piece of track information within a track after which you wish to
insert another. The cursor will change to show a menu is available. Click again
for the menu, and choose Insert Untitled Track. The track will be added after
here and in all other parts of your design that also use it. You can edit the new
track by following instructions in Editing information above.
Reordering Tracks
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Change the order of tracks by selecting any track you wish to move and then
dragging it to the position you want. You can select an entire track by trebleclicking on any part of the track.
Import from iTunes
Importing tracks from iTunes also imports album art along with the tracks. However, album art is not
available from a rendezvous playlist.
You can insert album art into text by choosing Image from the Insert menu in the text portion of the
Edit controls.
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disclabel help: editing
Selecting
Click on an object in the Edit function in order to select it for editing. Hold down the shift key and
click to select more than one object, or to toggle the selection of a particular object.
Sometimes you can't see the selection handles of large objects. If you zoom out a bit in the edit view
you can see the selection handles on images or other objects that lie partly outside of the design. Click
on one of the large or small disc images above or below the zoom slider to fit the design back into the
editing area.
If you can't select an object you're trying to select, it might be locked (see Locking), or other objects
might be in front of it (see Arranging), or it might be in another layer (see Layers). You can try locking
objects that get in the way and then selecting again.
Moving
Click on an object and drag the mouse to move it around. If multiple objects are selected (via shiftclick) you can move them all around at once.
Hold down the shift key while dragging to constrain the dragging to the closest axis (horizontal or
vertical).
Duplicating
As well as using copy and then paste to duplicate the selection, you can also drag while holding down
the option key. This duplicates the objects being dragged, leaving the selected objects in their original
positions.
Sizing
To resize an object, first select it and then click and drag in one of its corner handles. Release the
mouse button once it is the size you want.
You can resize an object proportionally, or constrain dragging to a particular axis (whichever is
closest) by holding down the shift key while you resize the object.
You can resize an object about its center by holding down the command (Apple) key while you resize
the object.
Locking
Using the Lock function from the Arrange menu can help with selection when multiple objects are
getting in the way. Locking a troublesome object that you don't want to select allows you to select only
the
18object you want. In disclabel's templates you will find the background image is usually locked.
Generally doing this or making sure your background images are in the background layer is good
design practice.
Select the menu item Arrange-Unlock All to unlock all objects so they can be selected and
manipulated once again.
Layers
You can place your objects in one of two layers: Foreground and Background. You will probably
choose to place your text in the foreground layer, and your graphics in the background layer. You can
only select objects in the layer you currently have chosen. This allows you to work in the foreground
without accidentally selecting objects in the background layer. You can also toggle the visibility of one
layer by clicking the eye symbols. In some situations turning off one layer can make your work easier
to see, or can speed up interactivity if one of the layers is very complex.
Note also that when you choose any of the predefined text layouts to apply to a template or to a design
that all objects in the foreground layer are removed and replaced with the those from the foreground
layer of the predefined text layout. This is another reason that you might want to place your graphics
in the background layer.
Arranging
All objects are drawn in order (back to front). They are also selected in order (front to back). You can
change whether an object lies in front of another by using the Arrange menu. Your choices affect only
the selected objects within the current layer. Objects in the background layer are always drawn before
those in the foreground layer.
Rotating
You can rotate objects as well as drag them. To do this you use the following palette controls:
Rotate around center of design
With this palette control selected any object you drag rotates around the center of your design. This is
great for working with discs, or moving text upside down on a design.
Rotate around center of selection
With this palette control selected any object you drag rotates around its own center.
You can constrain rotation to discrete increments by holding down the shift key while rotating. By
default the increment is 45 degrees, but this can be changed in the Editing Preferences. You can also
make a rotated duplicate of the selection by holding down the option key while rotating.
Don't forget to click the arrow palette control
to drag and size objects normally once again.
Image controls
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Make sure you have the image Tab selected as shown.
You can change the image import application by holding
down the mouse button on the Insert Image button, and
choosing an import source from the menu. You can also
select a built-in image library from this menu (disclabel
NEATO Edition+ only).
Importing an Image
To import an image click:
The sheet that appears shows pictures from albums in iPhoto you can use, or you can choose a
file via the button at the bottom of the sheet.
A faster way to import a file is to drag and drop it from the Finder (or even a web browser) into the
editing area. You can also copy and paste graphics into disclabel.
Importing a Montage
A montage is an image created from multiple images. You can
select multiple images in the Insert Image dialog, and click the
button Make Montage to create a single image from the
selected ones. Click Add to Montage to add further images to
the montage. You can change the format of images in the
montage with the Format, Border, and Mask options.
This option is great for making covers for CDs containing
photographs.
You can import an image of any size and scale it in disclabel to effectively get any resolution you want.
So, for example, a 1500 x 1500 image at 72dpi, when scaled across a 5" disc will yield 300 dpi, and a
750 x 750 image at 72dpi will yield 150 dpi, etc.
If you import PDF line art into disclabel you can still scale and crop it. The picture will scale to
maximize use of the resolution of the output device.
Drag the selection handles of a selected image to change its size. Don't forget to hold down the shift
key if you want to keep its proportions.
Scale or crop your image by double-clicking on the image or by first selecting the image and clicking
Crop:
The image scaling & cropping sheet will appear. Note that this button won't highlight unless
there is a single image selected. From this sheet you can reduce the image by dragging the
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slider. Click Fit original size to reduce only the resolution of the image (and how much disc
space it requires) as you drag the slider. Drag a rectangle over the image to choose a region for
cropping.
Click Mask to mask the selected image with one of the shapes from the masking menu. You
can also choose to soften the edges of the image against its mask.
Drawing Lines, Rectangles, and Ovals
Click one of these palette controls to add a line, oval, or rectangle to your design. Choose where
to add your object by dragging out the desired size in the edit area.
Changing Fill or Outline Width
When you have a line, oval, or rectangle selected you can change whether it is filled or
outlined, and the width of the outline by choosing one of the options from the
Fill/Outline control.
Note that Fill does not apply to a line.
Color
To change the color of an object, first select the object by clicking it. The color control updates to
show the present color. Click the color control to show the color palette and choose a new color. Note
that you can also change the opacity of a color so objects behind show through. You cannot change
the color of an image, but you can change its opacity.
The color control works in one of two modes - connected or disconnected. When connected, its border
is shown highlighted and any color you choose is applied to the selection. When disconnected the
border is light gray, and you can only change the color displayed. In this mode you can apply a color
by dragging the color swatch in the color window to the color button. This is useful when you don't
want the color of the selected object shown in the button to affect the color in the color window, so
you can apply a color you have chosen to multiple objects as you select them one at a time.
When text is selected internally the color you choose applies only to the selected text.
Adding and Editing Text
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Click one of these palette controls to add horizontal or circular text to your design. Choose
where to add your object by dragging out the desired size in the edit area. Clicking in the edit
area inserts text of the default size (especially useful for adding circular text around the edge of
a disc).
You can change the circular text control to make text that is automatically centered on the top or
the bottom of your design. Click and hold the palette control, and choose which type of circular
text you'd like from the menu that appears.
Edit the text by clicking in it. If the text object is not already selected, the first click selects it, and the
second click starts editing. A double-click selects a single word. A triple-click selects the entire text
so that typing will replace it completely.
Choose format options (including Font) from the Format menu. All format options work on the
selected text and require text or a text object to be selected in order to operate.
Change the justification of the selected text by choosing Format–Text and your desired justification
from the menu. Alternatively display the ruler via Format–Text–Show Ruler and choose justification
via the buttons displayed in the Ruler window.
To center circular text around the bottom or top of a design you must first have your circular text
selected. Now choose Format–Text–Center. To get your centered text at the top, rotate it around the
center of the design with the shift key held down (see Rotating above).
Linking Text
If you create two text objects, then it is possible to link them together and allow text to flow from one
into the other. To do this, select the text object you wish to add to. Click the + button that appears on
the bottom right of the text border. Move the mouse over the text object you wish to link to. Valid text
objects are highlighted as you move the mouse. Click to make your choice. Click elsewhere if you
decide not to link text objects.
To unlink text objects, select the one you want to unlink from a subsequent text object. Click the button that appears on the bottom right of the text border.
Text Controls
The Font button gives you quick access to the font
palette. The other menu options displayed are all about
controlling tags and linked text features.
You can convert text containing tags that shows imported tracks to plain text for easier editing by
choosing Convert to Text from the Text part of the Format menu.
Inserting Tags
Tags are used to specify where to place imported data.
Insert any of the tags at the text cursor position by choosing from the Insert
control. The tags in this control are grayed out when there is not a current text
cursor position.
Tags that are not valid for a particular set of imported data are displayed as empty
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strings.
You can use non-breaking space between tags if you don't want a line break to
come between them when formatted. To do this, instead of typing a space into
your text, hold down the option key and type a space.
Formatting Text Tags
Make sure that you have a text object selected, and choose a format
from the Choose Format drop-down menu. The text will be replaced
with the format chosen, with imported data inserted.
The options menu allows you to set options for the selected text object
Shrink to Fit - automatically reduces the size of text that overruns a text
object to fit into the text object.
Oppose Text Alignment - useful for a linked text object. When set it
makes the linked text be aligned opposite to the original text. This way
you can format tracks in two linked regions across a CD, with the left side
justified to the left, and the right side justified to the right.
Constrain to Design Edge - when unchecked, text will flow over the
boundary of a design, rather than being bound by it.
Override Text Color - normally the text color of a text object is used for
drawing. Checking this option, and choosing a color, will use that alternate
color for the text in the selected text object rather than the default color
defined in the text. It is useful to have two linked regions of text be
readable on very different backgrounds by making the text in the two
regions a different color.
You can put any text between tags you insert in text, and it will appear verbatim.
You can remove tags by double-clicking the tag you wish to remove and pressing the delete key. You
can add tags via the Insert menu. Place the text cursor where you want to insert your tag, and choose
the tag you want from the menu. The tracks displayed automatically update.
To add and remove tracks read the section Editing Tracks in the importing and editing tracks part of the
help.
Once tags are inserted into text you can change which tag you want to use or set options to repeat
track information for each imported track. To see the menu of options, first click on the piece of track
information you wish to edit in order to select it. The cursor will change to show a menu is available.
Click and hold down the mouse for a short time to see the menu. To change the tag to another simply
check an alternate tag than the one checked already. To change repetition choose one of the following
options:
Repeat Starts - check to repeat all tags and text including and beyond this for every imported track
Repeat Ends - check to stop the repetition at this point. This is useful to follow a list of repeated tracks with
some text.
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Advance Track - this allows a subsequent track to be formatted different to the prior track. With this option
checked, you can repeat, for example, track n, and track n+1 with different formats.
Use Track - choose a specific track number from the drop down menu to utilize track information from the
specified track.
Show Empty Tags - allows you to toggle visiblity of tags that are empty and effectively invisible. This means
that you can still select, edit, & remove them.
You can change the font or color of any of the text displayed for each track by selecting the tags and
or/text you wish to change, and choosing Format–Font-Show Fonts to change the font or by clicking
the color button to show the color palette and change the color.
Alignment Controls
The Align tab gives you access to the alignment
controls.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Aligns a single object to the top of the design, or multiple objects to the topmost edge of the objects
Aligns a single object to the left of the design, or multiple objects to the leftmost edge of the objects
Aligns a single object to the bottom of the design, or multiple objects to the bottommost edge of the objects
Aligns a single object to the right of the design, or multiple objects to the rightmost edge of the objects
Centers a single object horizontally in the design, or multiple objects center horizontally on one another.
Centers a single object vertically in the design, or multiple objects center vertically on one another.
With three or more objects selected, distributes those objects to be horizontally equally spaced.
With three or more objects selected, distributes those objects to be vertically equally spaced.
Distributes objects around the center of the design by rotating them. Hold down the option key to position
them around the center but not rotate them.
10. Equally spaces objects from the center of the design.
11. Switch the hole size to change how text and track regions format on a disc surface. Some papers print close to
the center, and others only around a larger circle, called the core. A safe design uses the larger center hole, but
many papers give you the space for a smaller one. Select your choice of hole size from this menu. Customize the
settings by choosing Other Boundary..., and enter the specific distances you require.
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disclabel help: printing
Calibration
Most printers require calibration in order to print your labels dead-center:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Press the Paper function button
Select your printer from the list under Calibration:
Press the Print Page button then hit Print in the sheet that follows
Follow the instructions on the printed sheet
Using a ruler, measure from the Left to the mark and enter the measurement in the field
marked Left
Using a ruler, measure from the Top to the mark and enter the measurement in the field
marked Top
disclabel maintains calibration settings for each printer.
The default mark calibration is at 20mm from the top and 20mm from the left. A perfect printer will
print the mark at exactly those distances. Note that the mark is always printed uncalibrated whatever
measurements you enter. Only the labels and the label outlines are printed using the calibrated
distances you provide.
Printing
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Choose the type of label paper you want to use from the Labels menu
Drag your design from the list on the left to the part you wish to print
Drag from one part to another to print multiple copies
Press Print Labels
Set any printer options (such as output quality) and press Print
Note: If you are not a registered user, DEMO: disclabel.com will be stamped on your labels. This is so that you
can create printed labels even with the demo version. We strongly encourage you to purchase disclabel.
When you drag a design onto a part slot on the page, you can hold down the option key to drag the
design to all of the identical slots on the page. This can save a lot of time when you have a page of 30
core labels that you want to print all the same.
If you have only a CD defined in your design, but no core, you will find that you can still drag the
design to a core label part. In this instance, only the center part of the CD will be imaged onto the
page so that you can match up a combination of core and non-full-coverage CD labels.
Bleed
disclabel prints a 2mm bleed beyond the label perforation in all directions to cope with inconsistencies
in setup accuracy and varying label types. You can change the bleed from disclabel's Preferences:
1. Choose disclabel–Preferences from the menu
2. Click the Paper button
3. Change the bleed to the desired value
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Problem-Solving Printing
In the Paper function the display only changes based on the choice of label stock. In order to print the
different parts of your design you must choose a label stock that will accommodate them, and then
drag your design (which must contain the matching part) onto the labels.
For example, to print a Jewel case you must have the Jewel case parts of your design defined as
follows:
In the Paper function choose a Jewel case paper type, such as Fellowes/NEATO A4 Jewel Case Tray
Liners, to print your tray liner. In order to print the cover you must choose the appropriate cover stock
for the kind of cover you're printing. If you're using Fellowes/NEATO labels, you will need to use the
booklet part to make your design (just beyond the tray liner) and print to Fellowes/NEATO A4 Jewel
Case Tray Booklet labels.
If you're wanting to create a label for a slimline jewel case, again you need to use a different part: the
standard CD cover won't work as it's a different size. Scroll along in the part list, and use the following
part instead:
Drag your design from the list on the left to the label portion of the paper, and you should see appear
it for printing. Note you will only be able to drag a design to a label region if you have that part of the
design defined already. If you don't, go back to Edit, and choose the associated design element, and
edit it to create what you want. After that you will be able to drag the design into matching label stock
regions in the Paper function.
Printing to Plain Paper
You can also use disclabel to print designs to plain paper with cropmarks so that you can score and
cut your printed design to size. To use plain paper you should choose labels from the Plain Paper
(A4) or Plain Paper (US) categories. None of the manufacturer paper settings print cropmarks.
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disclabel help: exporting
Exporting your design
A design can be exported by dragging it from the design list to the Finder. This creates a disclabel
document file, which you can utilize as you would any other file.
You can also export your designs by choosing Export from the File menu. The default export format is
disclabel, which is the format saved by dragging (above). Alternatively you can choose to export your
design as a PDF, TIFF or JPEG image file. In those formats you can specify the size, and in the bitmap
formats (all but PDF) you can specify the output resolution in pixels per inch. 300 is good enough for
most current imaging devices. The resulting file is an image of the currently selected design and part.
Note that the disclabel format holds all parts of a design including CD, and media boxes.
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disclabel help: applescript
disclabel includes extensive AppleScript support so that it's possible to automate the label creation
process.
Example scripts may be found in ~/Library/disclabel/Scripts (where the leading ~ represents the Home
button in the Finder) after you've run disclabel at least once.
You may view disclabel's AppleScript dictionary by dragging the disclabel application onto the Script
Editor icon.
If you create a script you'd like to share with other disclabel customers, please let us know. You're
welcome to send such scripts to [email protected].
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disclabel help: tips & tricks
Track Formatting
You can use a non-breaking space to keep the track number with the title. Enter a non-breaking
space with the option key+space. You may want to put a standard space before the track number if
you do this in order to avoid the track text itself being split within a word in tight areas.
For example: space«Track #»option+space«Title»
Special Keys:
Shift - constrain proportions with any of the object tools; create squares and circles with the
rectangle and oval tools
Option - copy object
Command (Apple key) - resizes from the center rather than the opposing corner when dragging out
a corner of an object
Design Hints:
Option-drag during rotate around circle - use this with shape objects to create fun regularly-shaped
patterns rotated around the label
Image transparency - select an image and press the Apply Color button, then set the opacity to
your desired level
Colorizing an image - add a rectangle in front of the image you wish to colorize. Press the apply
color button, and set the opacity of the rectangle below 100%, and change its color. The image
beneath appears to be colorized with the transparent hue of the rectangle in front. We often use
this technique to ghost out part of an image behind text with a white transparent rectangle. This
makes the text easier to read.
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disclabel help: support
We answer common support questions in our FAQ (frequently asked questions).
Please review the FAQ before requesting support.
If the FAQ does not answer your question, please include as much information as
you can in an E-mail to [email protected]
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