Forms and Label Printing Software

lisa.abney

Member
We are using E1, versions 8.12, 9.1, and 9.2. We currently use Transform for designing and printing forms and labels, but are curious as to what other tools folks are using. We print formatted documents (like invoices or purchase orders), as well as barcoded product labels (generally on Zebra printers). The tool also needs to be able to email documents, as well as store copies of the generated document. It also needs some kind of translation capability, as many documents are printed in foreign languages. (Doesn't have to DO the translation - just the ability to have a lookup table to get a translated heading, etc.) Not sure what other information would be needed/helpful, but would appreciate hearing what others are using with a similar environment.
 
We use BI Publisher to do all that with the exception of the Translation - not a requirement for us.
If it was me I'd use JDE's built-in multi-language capabilities for both the data and literal translations.
 
Take a look at XForm: https://www.aellius.com/xform/. It has the features you require. Formatted/generated documents can be archived and retrieved by key values that pertain to the document (for example, pull a formatted invoice by invoice and customer #).
 
At this point, we use CreateForm 7.x for all our forms (which is about a 100 different forms). We email, archive, distribute, etc with it and have for many years. I still find BIP has some drawbacks that I cannot resolve that I can do in CF just fine. Some of the forms have quite a bit of conditional formatting as well. Changes are easy to make and get into Production quickly.
 
We use BI Pub. Used to use Createform, but the fact that BIP comes included with JDE is a heavy inducement. In converting our forms, found that BIP can accomplish about 98% of what Createform does. Here's a few pros and cons we found:

Pros:
1) Removed a layer of 'logic', for lack of a better word. BIP resolves on the JDE Enterprise server, whereas you need a CF Server and that Citrix plug-in for CF.

2) The documents resolve MUCH quicker with BIP. If the document runs into the thousands of pages, sometimes it would take a very long time to come up in CF, since it has to read and interpret the entire PDF. The tech behind BIP works completely different- turns initial program output into XML, which is easier to convert into your formatted document.

Cons:
1) Not that Createform is easy, but I think the leaning curve with BIP is greater. Your development environment is MS Word, so you're somewhat limited to what Word can do. Things like headers/footers can be a pain. You have to be very inventive with Word tables. There's certain BIP functions you can use, but they're not intuitive; there's no button or list available in Word to use them- you just have to know the function and free form type.

2) We had to make UBE adjustments in almost every one of our forms to get them to print out right. This might be a deal breaker for some, if the CF admin wasn't proficient in RDA or you didn't want to have to make base UBE changes and the testing/audit requirements it brings. And you don't really know if you need to make UBE changes until you're well into the BIP design and find your form isn't printing as you expect. Sometimes the changes are minor, but others could be very material to how the UBE runs. Sometimes we had to re-arrange how the report level breaks. Its something you need to be prepared for if you're going to undertake a conversion.
 
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Hi!
We are using BIP for all forms and also for labels. BIP is not as "good" as CreateForm but accomplishes what we want. Labels are printed on Datamax O'neil Performance series printers that accept PCL format so now we can desig labels in BIP (just like any other forms) and have them printed without needing any additional servers/software.
The forms are created in all applicable languages and we use bursting to decide which of the forms/languages are actually sent to printers.

Hope this helps
Aarto
 
To create and print labels for various business operations like inventory management or shipping, label printing software is employed. Companies can produce customized labels using this kind of software that adhere to client demands or legal standards. Logistics experts as well as warehouse and inventory departments employ label printing software.

Software suppliers or companies that sell label printing hardware may offer this kind of software. Label printing software must be compatible with the most popular kinds of label printers when delivered separately. Since barcodes are necessary for the majority of labels, label printing systems incorporate barcode software.

List of printing software and solution:
  • Linnworks
  • Uniprint.net
  • Endicia
  • Loftware NiceLabel
  • Loftware Spectrum
 
We use BI Pub. Used to use Createform, but the fact that BIP comes included with JDE is a heavy inducement. In converting our forms, found that BIP can accomplish about 98% of what Createform does. Here's a few pros and cons we found:

Pros:
1) Removed a layer of 'logic', for lack of a better word. BIP resolves on the JDE Enterprise server, whereas you need a CF Server and that Citrix plug-in for CF.

2) The documents resolve MUCH quicker with BIP. If the document runs into the thousands of pages, sometimes it would take a very long time to come up in CF, since it has to read and interpret the entire PDF. The tech behind BIP works completely different- turns initial program output into XML, which is easier to convert into your formatted document.

Cons:
1) Not that Createform is easy, but I think the leaning curve with BIP is greater. Your development environment is MS Word, so you're somewhat limited to what Word can do. Things like headers/footers can be a pain. You have to be very inventive with Word tables. There's certain BIP functions you can use, but they're not intuitive; there's no button or list available in Word to use them- you just have to know the function and free form type.

2) We had to make UBE adjustments in almost every one of our forms to get them to print out right. This might be a deal breaker for some, if the CF admin wasn't proficient in RDA or you didn't want to have to make base UBE changes and the testing/audit requirements it brings. And you don't really know if you need to make UBE changes until you're well into the BIP design and find your form isn't printing as you expect. Sometimes the changes are minor shipping label printer, but others could be very material to how the UBE runs. Sometimes we had to re-arrange how the report level breaks. Its something you need to be prepared for if you're going to undertake a conversion.
I have got a label printer on the cheap, and am looking for some software that I can use to create very simple labels, a little bit of text, a barcode, etc. It doesn't have to be able to link to any databases at all, etc, and doesn't have to be freeware, although free/cheap is prefereable to big expense. Can anyone recomend me software for this purpose? Although MSWord and the like are perfectly capable, I am looking for something more straight forward, self explanatory, and simple to use.
 
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