Print mailing labels, cards, ID tags, invitations and disk labels in color?! Silicon Beach Software, creators of RealSound (Airborne! and Enchanted Scepters) and useful utilities such as those in Accessory Pak 1, released Silicon Press this spring for Macintosh color fans.
With Silicon Press you can lay out graphics and text to match any card or label up to 17 x 17 inches. By pasting in your artwork and selecting fonts for the text, you can design an attractive label or leaflet for both black and white or color printing on the ImageWriter I, II or LaserWriter.
When you want to print colored mailing labels for people whose names are stored in your database, you can import data from your favorite database file (FileMaker, MS File, Word, OverVUE, Jazz and Multiplan to name a few).
I wanted to mail an announcement to some conservation corps members (Figure 1). Besides wanting to create the flyer in color, I wanted a colored mailing label with logo (3-1/2 x 15/16 inches) for 35 addressees. So I loaded MacPaint with Rulers (from Accessory Pak I) and Silicon Press into Switcher.
Designing the Mailing Label
First design a logo 3/4 inch square in MacPaint, using the MacPaint symbol. The page was to be printed in black, the paint streak and paint brush tip in red, and the paint brush and hand in blue. Using the lasso, separate the original drawing into three components: page, paint streak and brush tip, and brush and hand. Save them individually in a MacPaint document.
Next switch to Silicon Press. Set the mailing label design size at 3.5 x .94 inches and the page for Portrait (corresponds to Tall in MacWrite Page Setup) with the same measurements. If you are using an ImageWriter II, set Preferences in the Format menu for black and white screen and color ImageWriter II printer. That brings up an additional menu called Pen Color.
Now go back and copy the page component from MacPaint and paste it into the Silicon Press Design window at the lefthand side. Clicking on Show Rectangles/Colors under the Format menu brings up a dotted rectangle around each item in the design window. Now click your pointer in the middle of the page graphic, go up to the Pen Color menu and select black.
Repeat the process with the other two graphic components by copying and pasting them into the Silicon Press window. Before positioning them into the page component, click on each of the parts and select red and blue pen colors.
Now, using the pointer, move them into proper position. With the Show Rectangles/Colors feature on, you can see exactly which components will be printed in what color. Figure 2 shows the mailing label and its components.
To type the address data format, select a font from the Font menu, click on the point size you desire, and choose a color from Pen Color. As with Microsoft Word's Merge, type in your field names, marking them with the data merge characters (option-backslash and shift-option-backslash):
«name»
«address»
«city», «state» «zip»
Now it's time to test your design using Test Print from the File menu. Test Print prints your design with a dotted rectangle the size you have indicated in the Set Design Size feature, and it helps you position your design on the mailing label. My design was created for roll labels 3-1/2 x 15/16 inches. If your design is not correctly aligned, reposition your mailing labels and try it again until it is perfect. Then save the design under the name "Mailing."
Next set up the data file for the print merge. Quit MacPaint and load your database application in Switcher.
My records are stored in FileMaker and include more than 13 fields. I only wanted to print five fields. I sorted through my database and selected the 35 names to whom I wanted to mail my flyer. With FileMaker it's easy to output the data to an ASCII textfile with the name, address, city, state and zip fields selected. The data was saved under a new name, SP Merge.
Switch back to Silicon Press, open "Mailing" and clicked Open under the File Menu. Next open SP Merge. The contents flow into the Data Window. To format it for print merge, clean up the tabs and separate each field with a comma and space. Once that is done, click on Print from the File Menu and your labels will be printed one by one, with the proper data recorded for each addressee. Note that there is no separate Print Merge command in the file Menu. You must import your data into the Data Window for the merge feature to work.
Creating the Colored Flyer
Set your flyer design at 8-1/2 x 11-1/2 inches under Page Setup. Under the Format menu Set Design Size at 8 x 11 inches.
I chose a chickadee from Electronic Cottage Industries' Real Art. As with the mailing logo, you separate the graphic into its color components (Figure 3) and position them in Silicon Press.
Remember how we can't wrap words around graphics in MacWrite or MS Word? Silicon Press solves that problem by allowing you to lay out graphics in different color components, and to type text anywhere on the page in the color of your choice. By typing your text in blocks and placing the blocks wherever you like, you can get the word wraparound effect (see Figure 1).
If you type each block of text separately and choose your color, it will be easy to lay out your page design. Voilà, a completed color flyer!
Comments
The Silicon Press manual is logically and thoughtfully organized with ample illustrations and begins with a brief tutorial called A Quick Look at Silicon Press. The bulk of the documentaton focuses on using the program. It concludes with appendices to show you how to use Silicon Press with Switcher and with keyboard commands.
I would like to see a tool box similar to that found in MacDraw, MacDraft, MacPaint or PageMaker. Granted, Silicon Press is not meant to be a full-fledged page layout program, but it could use line, box and circle drawing tools, and several shaded fill patterns. Lines and boxes can be effective design enhancements.
At $79.95 Silicon Press is a bargain for anyone who wants to create colorful leaflets and flyers. For more information, contact Silicon Beach Software, P.O. Box 261430, San Diego, CA 92126 (619-695-6956).
Other Products Mentioned:
FileMaker
Forethought MacWare
1973 Landings Dr.
Mountain View, CA 94043
800-622-9273
Real Art
Electric Cottage Industries
P. O. Box 217
Spooner, WI 54801-0217
715-635-3516
Author blurb:
Author blurb:
Barbara J. Chan is a freelance writer, trainer and desktop publishing consultant. She can be reached via GEnie: BJCHAN, The Well: bjc, or 415-644-2794.
