Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Because certain questions come up repeatedly, you can save yourself a lot of
time by taking a quick look at our most "Frequently Asked Questions" before
calling technical support. Sometimes your answer will already be listed
here.
If you do need to contact Technical Support, and you are already a registered
user, then it is sufficient to simply provide us your name, company name and
Product Key Code. Otherwise, if you are not yet registered, we require
certain detailed
information about you before we can be of assistance. (Approved
Seagull Scientific resellers and other business partners only need to
provide their name and company name.)
Technical Support contact information can be found on the
main Technical Support web page.
Table of Contents
Click on the topic you want more information about:
BarTender
Q: I am new to BarTender and label design software. Where do I start?
A: A "Getting Started" manual is included with each package of software.
This provides clear, concise information on how to get up and running with
BarTender. If you have misplaced this manual or you have not yet purchased a
license, you can download a PDF version from the link below:
Getting
Started Manual
We also have an animated tutorial* on getting started with label designs using
BarTender. This tutorial can be launched from the "Help>Animated Tutorial"
menu item from inside BarTender. Alternatively it can also be found via the
link below:
Bartender
Animated Tutorial
*You will need to have Adobe Macromedia Flash installed on your PC to view the
tutorial.
Q: What versions of BarTender are compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista?
A: BarTender is compatible with Windows XP beginning with BarTender
version 6.12, build 648. However, you will need to update the device driver for
the HASP hardware key (if you are using one). You can download this from the
link below:
Hasp Driver
Download
BarTender is compatible with Windows Vista beginning with BarTender version 7.75
build 2003.
If your version of BarTender is not compatible with the version of Windows you
intend to use, you will need to contact our sales department for details on
updating your software. Click on the link below for the contact details of our
regional offices.
Contact
Information for all offices
Q: Is BarTender compatible with printers that don't have a Seagull printer
driver?
A: Yes, BarTender can be used with any printer that has a true Windows
printer driver, including, for example, most laser and ink jet printers.
Seagull Scientific is the world's largest developer of Windows printer drivers
for thermal printers, supporting over 1900 models from over 60 printer
companies. "Drivers by Seagull" can help you maximize your printers'
performance. For the details on Seagull's drivers, please follow the link
below:
"The
Advantage of Drivers by Seagull" Whitepaper
Q: When using Microsoft Excel as a database source for my BarTender label format,
why do I often get missing data in some fields?
A: This is a limitation of Excel, which is not a true database
application. The data is dropped by the ODBC or OLEDB connection when the
actual data in the field does not agree with the data type given to that field
by the connection.
The solution is either to export your data to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb
file) using a delimited text file, or to "force" the data type used by the
field by prefixing your data in Excel with a ' character. This forces the Excel
ODBC/OLEDB driver to treat the data as string data type.
Q: For database-connected objects, I often find the database and field name is
too long and this makes my label design awkward. Can I change the appearance of
database connected objects, to more easily use them to design my labels?
A: Yes you can! Open the properties of the database-connected label
objects and select the Data Source tab. Here you will find the database
name and field as you see it in the Sample Data text box. You may
actually change this text to be anything you like, such as example field data
or X's to the length of the selected field. You will find that these objects
are now much more manageable in your label design.
Q: When printing, the fonts for the text objects on the printed label look
different than the fonts that are on my screen. Why is this?
A: In the on-screen label design, the text objects can only be displayed
with a Windows true type font. If you are printing your text objects with a
printer based device font, it may look a bit different when printed. BarTender
can only simulate the look of a printer based device font using only true type
fonts that are installed on the PC. Sometimes the printed results will look
identical, other times they may appear slightly different. It purely depends on
the true type fonts installed in Windows and how well they match the printer
based device font used. BarTender does the best job possible in this respect,
so truly "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG).
Q: How can I share the same data between more than one label object?
A: In the Professional (or higher) edition of BarTender, you can use the Share/Name
feature that allows you to share the same data between objects. You can find
this by opening the properties of an object, selecting the Data Source tab
and then clicking the Advanced button, so that this dialog is displayed
in the advanced mode. You should now see a Share/Name tab, where you can
enter a name to share with other objects or, if another object is already
shared you can choose that name from the drop down list, so that the same data
value is used. You will notice that when the Data Source dialog is displayed in
advanced mode, you can split the data of your object into one or many
sub-strings. Each sub-string can have its own individual source of data, set of More
Options, and of course, its own share name.
In version 7.75 of BarTender, we introduced the Label Object String data
source. This is an additional method that allows you to share data between
objects. Each label object has a unique name, which can be set in the object's
properties under the General tab. Objects can source the data of other
objects by using the Label Object String source type by selecting the
name of the object whose data you wish to use. Note that by default all newly
created objects are automatically given a name. This feature is available in
all editions.
Bar Codes
Q: I need to print a retail bar code to a specific width. Why won't BarTender
allow me to do this?
A: The X-dimension setting of a bar code specifies the width of the bar
code. This in fact adjusts the number of dots a printer uses for the width of
the narrowest element of the bar code. All other bars of greater width grow in
ratio to the narrowest bar as you expand the bar code's width.
The size of the dot and the X-dimension are determined by the selected printer's
resolution. A dot represents the size of the smallest mark the printer can
print. Each step in the X-dimension increases the narrowest element by a single
dot of the printer. The printer resolution is important because it's impossible
to increase the narrowest elements by fractions of a dot. It can only increase
by a full extra dot. Of course all wider bar code elements grow in ratio to
this.
For example if the narrow element is 1 dot wide and the widest element is 10,
when we increase the X-dimension by 1, so that the narrow element is 2, the
widest element will now be 20. This accounts for the "jumping" in the bar
code's width when you increase the X-dimension. The higher the resolution of
the printer, the smaller these steps will be, because the size of a single dot
will be smaller.
We do not advise that you try working around this physical limitation of the
printer by exporting the bar code object as a graphic and then importing it
back into your label as a picture object. Although a picture object can be
scaled to any dimension desired, it will result in a poor quality bar code and
may be unreadable for a bar code scanner.
Q: Why am I not able to print a Code 128 check digit in the human readable
portion of my bar code?
A: It is not possible to print a Code 128 check digit in the human
readable portion of the bar code, because the check digit has the possibility
of being a non printable character such as a space, tab or control character.
If you need a check digit for your bar code to produce a visible character then
you should create a custom check digit in addition to the symbology's built-in
check digit. This custom check digit can be generated using a VB script, which
takes the bar code data as its input.
Q: Are there any pre-made examples of bar code standards that can be used and
modified?
A: Yes there are! In the BarTender "toolbox" you will find under the Standard
Bar Codes section a number of folders that contain various bar codes
and bar code standards grouped by type and application. These can be dragged
and dropped directly onto the label design and modified to suit your needs.
Q: Is there an easy way to create GS1/UCC/EAN/JAN-128 bar codes that use
application identifiers?
A: When you create a bar code and specify the symbology as either
"EAN/UCC Code 128" or "Code 128" (with the "UCC/EAN - 128" bar code option
checkbox checked) you will be able to click the Application Identifier Data
Source Wizard button to launch a bar code creation assistant. This
assistant steps you though the process of selecting application identifiers,
followed by the data for each data item in the bar code. All necessary function
characters, variable data terminators, validations and check digits will
automatically be generated for you, with each application identifier and
related data item residing in their own sub-string value in the object's data
source. This feature was first introduced in version 7.50 of BarTender.
For more information on the Application Identifier Wizard, please take a look at
the following white paper:
Using
BarTender's Application Identifier Wizard
Seagull Printer Drivers
Q: What versions of Windows are your printer drivers compatible with?
A: The newest Seagull printer drivers are fully compatible with all editions of Windows
2000, XP, Vista, Server 2003 and 2008, and Windows 7, including 32 and 64 bit versions. Follow the link below to
download:
Drivers
Download Page - Latest Version
Our last driver release to support Windows 98 and ME was v7.0.6 and can be
downloaded from our website at the following link:
Drivers
Download Page - 7.0.6
Our last driver release to support Windows 95 and NT4 was v6.9.3 and can be
downloaded from our website at the following link:
Drivers
Download Page - 6.9.3
Q: Are your printer drivers compatible with Terminal Server and Citrix Metaframe?
A: Yes, all our Seagull printer drivers have been compatible with these
two platforms for some time. However, it is recommended you always use the
latest version available for the version of Windows in use to get the best
performance and reliability.
Although some of our customers use our Windows NT4 drivers on Terminal Server
and Citrix for NT4, it has proved to be problematic and is therefore not
supported. For more information on our support for the Terminal Server and
Citrix platforms, please take a look at the white paper found at the following
link:
Using
BarTender With Terminal Services and Citrix MetaFrame
Q: Are your printer drivers digitally signed by Microsoft?
A: Seagull's Windows printer drivers ("Drivers by Seagull") are not
certified by Microsoft. However, "Drivers by Seagull" are widely recognized to
be of the highest quality and are used by many of the world's most successful
corporations. We have always tested our drivers to be compatible with current
Windows versions, including, over the years, Windows 95, 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP,
2003 and 2008 Server, Vista and Windows 7 (including 32 and 64 bit versions). The drivers are also tested for correct
functioning in Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix.
Note: Not all driver versions are compatible with all
versions of Windows. Please see the section on Windows
version compatibility for details.
Seagull has drivers supporting over 1900 different printer models, and all of
these drivers are frequently updated. Unfortunately the current Microsoft
driver certification process is unsuitable for us, due to reasons of logistics
and signing costs. However, we do perform extensive testing on each
supported Windows platform, and aim to develop our drivers to the highest of
Microsoft's standards.
Q: When printing labels either the ink ribbon does not wind onto its take up
spool or the printed image is too light. How would I change the printer
settings to fix this?
A: To set the printing preferences for a particular label, you should
open the Print dialog of the application in use, click the Document
Properties button (assuming you are using BarTender) and select the Stock
tab from the printer driver dialog.
When printing with BarTender, make sure you save the label format, so that these
settings are kept for the next time you wish to open and print the labels.
Q: Does BarTender need to be installed in order to use the bar code font?
A: No it does not. You may use the bar code font of the printer driver in
any application you want, without the need to install BarTender. We do however
suggest you use BarTender for your bar code generation as the bar code fonts
are limited in use and are not "WYSIWYG."
Q: When I adjust the printing preferences of the driver, why are the changes I
made not appearing when I print out my label design?
A: When you open the Printing Preferences dialog by right-clicking
on the printer driver icon in the Printers and Faxes folder of Windows,
you are able to simply change the default settings of the driver for that
particular user of the PC. When a new document is created, the settings will
start off using the same settings found in the Printing Preferences dialog.
BarTender saves a copy of these printing preference settings with the label
design. In this way the settings can be adjusted on a per label design basis,
without the different settings interfering with each other. When you make a
change from within BarTender, you will only be modifying the settings embedded
into the label design, rather than the general printing preferences of the
Windows user. Because the print settings are considered part of the label
design, they can be used by any computer that has an equivalent printer driver
installed. The printer settings for each label in BarTender are accessed
through the Print dialog by clicking the Document Properties button.
Q: Why is it that when I print out my labels, the objects on the label are bigger
(or smaller) than what is shown on my screen?
A: This is typically caused by having the wrong resolution printer driver for
your printer. Many times, a printer manufacturer may have versions of the same
model with different printer resolutions. If you have a lower resolution
printer (i.e. 203dpi) and are using a higher resolution printer driver (i.e.
300dpi), the print on the label will be larger than what shows on the screen.
The opposite applies if you're using a higher resolution printer (i.e. 300dpi),
with a lower resolution printer driver (i.e. 203dpi). In this case, the printer
would print everything much smaller than what you see on the screen.
The solution for this problem is to make sure that the printer driver you've
installed for your printer is the same resolution as your printer.
Q: I can't get my printer to work. What could be wrong?
A: If you are printing through a non-USB serial port, most printing
problems with non-USB serial ports are solved by following these guidelines:
1) The communication settings for your printer must be set to agree with the
settings in the Windows Control Panel for your serial port. If the baud rate,
parity, etc. do not agree, you will not be able to print.
2) Most non-USB serial printers require a "NULL modem" serial cable, sometimes
with a custom pin-out. Alternatively, a few serial printers use a
"straight-through" cable. Whatever the case, guessing your cable type is a bad
idea. You should consult the user's manual that came with your printer, as use
of the wrong cable type is more common than you might think and almost always
causes printing problems. (Note: serial port connections have become rare as of
2007, having been mostly replaced by USB and TCP/IP connections.)
Printer driver self-help: The Help System for your Seagull
driver contains a trouble-shooting guide that will help you with many printing
problems.
Commander
Q: What types of "triggers" does Commander support?
A: Commander currently supports the use of a file, email and TCP/IP
socket trigger. Any data in the file, email or TCP/IP socket trigger needs to
be in a delimited format that BarTender can read. This can include an SAP IDoc
or Oracle XML in addition to standard ASCII text files such as CSV.
Optionally the trigger can contain BarTender XML Script, which allows you to
dynamically insert commands, instructing BarTender which label format to load,
which printer to print to, how many labels to print, etc. For more information
on Commander, please take a look at the two Commander white papers found at the
links below.
Commander
Overview Whitepaper
Commander
Examples Whitepaper
Q: When I start detection I get an error message telling me that Commander was
unable to create the file notification object. What is this referring to?
A: There are two types of detection methods for file triggers, these are
"Immediate" and "Polling." The "Immediate" detection method uses the Windows
messaging system to notify Commander when a particular file is created. This
requires the folder where the file is created to be on a Windows-formatted
partition. If the folder is not on a Windows formatted partition this error
will be generated. If this is the case, then you should instead use the
"Polling" detection method in your task design.
Note: AS/400 and UNIX systems do not use Windows based
disk formatting.
Q: What are Commander Variables and how do I use them?
A: "Commander Variables" are used to provide specific information about
the trigger at time of task execution.
Among other uses, these variables can be used to specify such things as the text
file name, the IDoc file name, the trigger file contents, and additional
command parameters.
Most commonly the "%Trigger File Name%" Commander Variable is used to specify to
BarTender that the file that Commander detected and renamed is the same data
file to use with the label format when printing. For more information on
Commander, please take a look at the two Commander white papers found at the
links below.
Commander
Overview Whitepaper
Commander
Examples Whitepaper
Q: How many tasks can I have in a single task list?
A: Commander has been designed to be fully scalable. Indeed the main
limitation when using Commander is the limitation imposed by the hardware of
the computer in use. You may create as many tasks as you wish, however you
should bear in mind that each task runs in its own thread, each of which
consumes processor time and memory.
If you are using more than 10-20 different tasks, you should instead consider
using BarTender XML Script or Commander Script to dynamically write the
BarTender commands in the trigger file when it is produced by the requesting
system. For more information on Commander, please take a look at the two
Commander white papers found at the links below.
Commander
Overview Whitepaper
Commander
Examples Whitepaper
Q: I'm running Commander as a service, the trigger is detected, but no spool file
is produced or labels printed?
A: By default the Commander service runs under the Local System account.
This is a special Windows account that is used for internal processes of
Windows including services. You will often find that this account does not have
sufficient access or permissions to use network resources such as files,
folders or printers.
On such occasions, within Commander you can have the BarTender command handler
run the BarTender processes under a specified user account. Select the Detection>BarTender
Command Handler Setup menu item. Under the Logon tab, enter an
account for BarTender to use that has sufficient network access and
permissions.
Seagull License Server
Q: How does BarTender communicate with the license server?
A: BarTender Enterprise editions (including Enterprise, RFID Enterprise,
and Enterprise Print Server) connect to the Seagull License Server (SLS) via
TCP/IP network communication, in particular using the UDP protocol. This is the
case even if BarTender and SLS are installed on the same PC.
When starting, BarTender contacts SLS, if SLS is not found then BarTender goes
into demo mode. When printing, BarTender sends a message to SLS asking if it is
licensed to print to the requested printer. SLS responds either with a "yes" or
"no" depending on the current printer license status. If the answer is "yes",
then the printer license is either added or updated with a new "Time last
printed" date/time stamp, or if the answer is "no" then BarTender will go into
"demo mode" (see note below). When printing, BarTender prints directly to the
requested printer port.
Note: "Demo mode" is a slightly limited mode of operation
that BarTender enters into after deactivation or, if using the Trial Edition,
after the 30-day trial period has expired. In Demo Mode, one character in each
printed bar code or text field is changed randomly. For example, if you tried
to print out a text or bar code field containing "ABCD," it might print out as
"ABXD" instead.
Q: What do I do if I have the Windows firewall running?
A: As BarTender Enterprise editions communicate with Seagull License
Server (SLS) via TCP/IP network connections, it is necessary to allow the
communications to pass through the Windows firewall. To allow this, open the
Windows Firewall (found in the Windows Control Panel) and click the Exceptions
tab, then click the Add Program button and add the BarTender application
"bartend.exe". For the PC running SLS, add both the License Server application
"sls.exe" and the service "slssrv.exe."
Q: How do you configure BarTender to connect to the license server over a WAN or
multiple subnets?
A: From the BarTender window, select the Tools>General Options menu
item and from the dialog that opens select the License Management tab.
Uncheck the Automatically find Seagull License Server checkbox and
specify either the host name or IP address of the computer running the Seagull
License Server.
Note: The "auto find" option uses a network broadcast and
will not work over subnets.
Q: How can I remotely administer the Seagull License Server?
A: Install a copy of the Seagull License Server on your remote PC from
where you wish to administer the license server. Next select the Actions>Connect
to remote Seagull License Server menu item, and select the address and
port number of the PC on which the remote license server is running.
Alternatively, you could run a license server "command line" command using the
"/remote" switch option. As the computer running license server is remote from
where you wish to administer it, you should use a UNC path to specify the
application's location. See the following example, which may be entered via the
Windows Start>Run dialog.
\\ComputerName\ShareName\sls.exe /remote
Note: You may use remote clients such as VNC to administer
license server, but not Terminal Server or Citrix.
Q: How can I run a backup license server in case the primary SLS PC fails?
A: From BarTender version v7.50 and above you may specify an alternate
Seagull License Server (SLS), so in case the "Preferred" (primary) SLS can not
be found, the second will be used automatically. In order to activate a second
or "alternate" SLS on a second PC, you will need a second Product Key Code
(PKC).
Note: Alternate (backup) license server licenses are not
given out for free. Please contact your local Seagull sales representative for
more details.
If you choose to run the "Alternate" SLS on the same network port as the
"Preferred", you will need to specify the exact address of each SLS in the
BarTender "License Management" tab.
If your BarTender version is v7.10 or older, the backup SLS is governed by an
additional hardware key that is plugged into a different PC. However, in this
case, BarTender must be manually directed to the backup SLS in case the
"Preferred" SLS goes down.
Q: When printing with BarTender Enterprise, I get an error message saying, "You
have exceeded your maximum number of licensed printers." Why is this?
A: Enterprise editions of BarTender (including Enterprise, RFID
Enterprise, and Enterprise Print Server editions) are licensed based on the
number of printers to be used by BarTender on the network. Seagull License
Server keeps track of the number of printers in use within one 24 hour period.
After each print request from BarTender, SLS adds or updates the date/time
stamp for a printer in the "used printer list." If a given printer has not been
set to "Keep" in the list of used printers, or if it has not been printed to
for the past 24 hours, the printer will automatically be removed from the used
printer list, thus freeing a printer license.
The error message "You have exceeded your maximum number of licensed printers"
will appear if you try use more printers within 24 hours than your license
allows. In such a case you may wish to consider purchasing an "Enterprise
Printer Add-on" upgrade. (Please contact your BarTender reseller or nearest
Seagull Scientific sales office for details.) Also, you can get more
information on Enterprise printer licensing from the white paper at the
following link:
Bartender
Enterprise Licensing Whitepaper
Hardware Key
Q: BarTender says the HASP driver is not installed?
A: The device driver for the HASP hardware key (or dongle) sometimes may
not install correctly. Also, from BarTender version 7.75 build 2003 and higher,
the HASP key device driver is not automatically installed as part of the
BarTender installation. You will need to install this separately if you are
using a hardware key. The device driver can be found in the Key folder of the
BarTender CD. The device driver installed by older versions of BarTender (v7.10
and below) might encounter compatibility problems with newer versions or
updates of Windows, such as XP, 2003 server, Vista and later versions.
In such cases you should download and install the latest HASP device driver from
the Seagull FTP site at the link below:
HASP Driver
Download
Q: My PC does not have a parallel port. Do you have a USB key option?
A: Yes, we offer both USB and parallel keys. Be sure to specify your desired hardware key type at the time of your order. (Otherwise, by default, we will ship you a USB hardware key.)
If you already have a parallel key and wish to swap for a USB key this is
possible also. In such a case, please get in touch with your local Seagull
sales representative who will inform you of the costs involved.
Please note that the USB key device has no "pass-through" capability, so once
plugged in, it will occupy a USB port on your PC. (A parallel port hardware key
does offer "pass-through" capability, meaning you can plug another device, such
as a printer, into the back of the hardware key so data will pass through.
However, this may cause technical issues and therefore we do not recommend it.)
Q: The key is not being found at all. What can be done to resolve this?
A: Make sure the latest device driver for the key has been installed and
the key is securely connected to the PC. If the "Key not found" error still
appears then it is possible that the key is faulty.
In such a situation, please contact our technical support department. A
technician will determine whether the key is indeed faulty and if so, will
arrange to send you a replacement key.
Q: The key seems to be corrupt because my license appears to be incorrect. What
has happened and how can I fix it?
A: If you are using BarTender v7.10 or older, the software is activated
by the activation code programmed into the key. Sometimes this code becomes
corrupt, and can give incorrect information such as edition, number of users,
or number of printers licensed. In such circumstances press the "F9" key in
BarTender or Seagull License Server, and communicate to a Seagull technician
the "Key ID" and "Current key settings" as displayed in the dialog that opens.
With this information, the Seagull technician can provide you information to
reprogram the key and fix it.
RFID
Q: How do I add an RFID object to my label design?
A: Either click the purple "RFID object" in the BarTender toolbar, or
drag-and-drop a predefined RFID object onto the label from the Standard RFID
tab of the toolbox. Both these actions will cause an RFID object to appear off
to the side of your label and open the RFID properties dialog.
If there is a particular RFID standard you are looking for, please see the list
of predefined RFID standards and formats in the Standard RFID tab of
BarTender's toolbox. Alternatively, see the list of available RFID formats in
the "Data Format Type" list box found in the RFID tab of the RFID Object
Properties dialog box.
Q: What RFID tag types does BarTender support?
A: BarTender supports a whole range of tag types including the most up to
date EPC Global "Gen 2" specifications. Whether or not BarTender can support a
given tag type depends mainly on the printer model and the printer driver. We
can only support those tag types that the printer supports and we can only do
this through the use of a Seagull printer driver for that printer. Make sure
the printer driver version is the latest available, as RFID specifications in
printers are updated frequently.
Details of the currently supported RFID printers and tags are found at the link
below:
List
of Supported RFID Printers