MyLabelDesigner, MyAdvancedLabelDesigner. (label design software from MySoftware) (Software Review) (Evaluation)
by J. Blake Lambert

With most software trying to be all things to all people, MyLabelDesigner concentrates just on labels. This Windows programs offers over 30 present sizes for dot-matrix labels and over 50 for laser labels.

The program includes templates for mailing, disk, audio, and video labels; price tags; badges; rotary index cards; postcards; and more. You can enter and save your own label sizes as well. In this "Quick & Easy" version, each label is a separate item and may be different from the others in the same file in all respects except for size--you can store unrelated items together.

In the Design window, you can enter and rotate text; include and size clip art; add lines, boxes, and circles; and even insert serial numbers. A Quick Address button inserts areas for you to type in name and address information on the label. You can easily copy one label's contents to the next (but copying inconsecutive labels--label 11 to label 20, for example--is more difficult). MyLabelDesigner imports graphics in BMP, DIB, EPS, GIF, PCX, TIF, and WMF formats, and it has a handy graphics preview feature. It includes 100 WMF images by T/Maker.

The Index window displays each label number and title. Alphabetical index tabs and jump buttons let you move quickly through the labels, and you can sort the labels by title.

Printing options are good. You can skip already-used areas on the first sheet of labels and select the number of copies of each label or set of labels. Documentation is sparse but adequate; the program includes a six-page quick-start guide. Online help may answer questions not in the guide.

MySoftware also sells an advanced version of the program. Ironically, the database features make MyAdvanced-LabelDesigner quicker and easier to use than the Quick & Easy version.

In the Advanced version, each label file contains only one style of label, loaded from a template or designed by you. There's no need to copy one label to another. Quick Address inserts all your field names in one easy click, and a pack feature eliminates blank lines.

Only two fields of your database are visible at the time in the Index window, but you can choose which to display. You can sort the data list, enter or edit a list(in the Data Entry window), and import and export comma-or quote-delimited files. This makes the Advanced version useful even if you manage your database elsewhere.

The serial-number-labeling feature is like that of other verision, but you can set start and skip value. This version imports the same graphics formats, and the CD-ROM includes 1000 T/Maker clip art images. Curiously, though, you can't rotate text. The program has a quick-start guide and a slim manual to go with its online help.

The Quick & Easy version is OK for the simplest of tasks, but get the Advanced version (available on disks and CD-ROM). It's more powerful, more convenient, and more flexible.