Set Up PDF Label Printing

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Introduction

Setup Overview

Setup Steps

Additional Setup: One-Click Printing

Editing and Managing Label Printers and Templates

Introduction

Using PDF label printing, you can print labels as PDF files from Provet Cloud so that no special integration software or devices are needed. You only need a compatible label printing device that can connect to your computer. The printer can also be connected as a network printer.

It is recommended that you use our recommended configurations for PDF label printing. You can also use a setup that is not included in the recommended configurations, but note that you are responsible for configuring and validating the setup yourself. Even when using the recommended configurations, it is recommended that you test and validate the setup properly by printing out labels with actual data.

Note

PDF label printing is also possible when you are already using the legacy Blackbox 2.0 solution. You can choose whether to print a PDF or use the direct method of Blackbox 2.0.

Setup Overview

Setting up PDF printing includes the following steps:

  1. Connect your physical printers.

  2. Enable PDF printing in Provet Cloud.

  3. Setup PDF printers for your label types. It is recommended that you start the setup for a particular label type by adding a PDF printer with the corresponding label dimensions before creating the label template.

  4. Create the label templates.

  5. Test the setup by printing labels.

Setup Steps

Note that the label printing settings and printer setups are clinic location specific. If your Provet Cloud includes multiple clinic locations (locations), you need to repeat the setup process for all the clinic locations for which you want to enable label printing.

1. Connect your physical printers.

All modern printers and specific label printers that can print PDF files are compatible with Provet Cloud PDF label printing. You can connect them to a workstation directly, usually through a USB connection, or set them up as network printers.

Note

Your clinic's IT staff is responsible for setting up the label printers. Provet Cloud support is not responsible for the setup or the maintenance of the printers.

2. Enable PDF preview printing.

  1. Go to Settings > General > Integrations > Label printing and open the section for editing using the blue edit button.

  2. From the Enabled label printing solution drop-down menu, select PDF preview print.

  3. Select Save.

enable_printing.jpg

3. Add the PDF printer(s).

The PDF printer settings define the PDF label layout. Add one PDF printer for each type of physical label the clinic location needs to print (different width, height, orientation, margins, etc.).

The number of PDF printers depends on the number of different label layouts the clinic location needs. Usually, it is the same as or a bit smaller than the number of label templates used. It may be practical to use the same PDF printer for multiple label templates if the layouts (especially the header and footer sizes) are similar. If there are several physical printers that print the same type of label, only one virtual Provet Cloud PDF printer is needed for them.

  1. In the Label printers section, select Add PDF printer.

  2. Fill in the printer profile:

    • Printer name: Add a short, recognisable name (related to the label type the printer is used for). This name will be shown in most printing device selection lists.

    • One-click printer type: This field is used for setting up one-click printing. Otherwise, you can leave the field empty.

    • Label size: Some presets are available in thedrop-down list. When you select one of these, the label height and width fields are automatically filled in. The available presets are used in the recommended configurations. You can also select the custom size option and manually adjust the following options.

    • Label height and width: Set the label physical dimensions in millimetres. See also the Label size setting above.

    • Resolution (DPI): The default value is 144. If the physically printed labels seem blurry, consider increasing the resolution, for example, to 200 or 300 DPI. Note that very big resolution may increase label generation time.

    • Rotation: Set the orientation of the labels stored as PDF pages. Adjust this setting if you have trouble setting the correct orientation in your physical printer's settings.

    • Margins: You may need to add some margins (whitespace) around the label content so that the header and footer sections of the labels are completely visible (for more information, see Label Printing FAQ. The margins are added in millimetres. Note that this shrinks the content, but the overall PDF page size remains at the width and height set above. Also note that the label preview may show more whitespace around the text content than the actual printed label.

  3. Use the Print test label and View test label buttons to test printing and preview the label. Adjust the settings if necessary.

  4. Select Save.

add_printer.jpg

4. Create label templates.

The label templates define content of the PDF labels. It is recommended that you create a label template for each label type the clinic location needs to print (there can only be one template for each type). In some cases, printing labels is disabled if a matching template does not exist. The templates are shared with the Blackbox 2.0 solution.

  1. Select Add in the Label templates subsection. A dialogue opens.

  2. Select Label type. This affects where the template will be available for use (for example, for medicine labels, laboratory sample labels etc.).

  3. Select a PDF printer from the Preview on device drop-down list to view a preview of the template in the dialogue.

  4. You can select a Template preset to use as such or as a basis for creating your own template.

  5. In the Header, Body and Footer fields, you can add the texts for the different parts of the template. The preview updates as you make changes. If you need to change the sizes of the header, footer, and body areas, go back to the printer settings and adjust the top and bottom margins.

    • You can use placeholders in the labels. For example, the placeholder [[client_name]] automatically adds the client's name to the label. To add a placeholder, start by typing double corner brackets [[, and a list of available placeholders for the selected label type opens.

    • For client and patient labels, you can also use the [[client_qr_code]] and [[patient_qr_code]] placeholders to print a QR code on the label. The QR code is a link to the client or patient page, providing an easy access to the client and patient details using the Provet Cloud mobile app.

  6. When finished, select Save.

label_template.jpg

5. Test the setup.

Print some test labels to check that everything is set up correctly and adjust the settings if necessary. For how and where you can print labels, see Print Labels. If there are any issues or problems with label printing, see Label Printing FAQ.

Additional Setup: One-Click Printing

Optionally, you can also set up one-click printing (direct printing) for printing PDF labels. One-click printing speeds up printing by allowing users to skip the browser and operating system printing dialogues so that labels can be printed with fewer steps.

For more information, see Setting Up One-Click Printing for Windows or Setting Up One-Click Printing for macOS.

Editing and Managing Label Printers and Templates

To edit or remove label printers or templates from Provet Cloud, go to Settings > General > Integrations > Label printing and select the pen or delete button on the printer or label template rows.

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