Moving from BarTender: a workflow checklist

Choose one representative workflow

Before replacing label software, establish what each label needs to do and what your team relies on today. Use this checklist to decide whether moving one workflow to LabelRules makes sense.

Start with a recurring product label and a real route from order to print station. Record who supplies the data, who checks it, who prints and who handles a damaged or missing label.

Include an ordinary order, a customer-specific variation and a case that should stop printing. A missing customer product code or an unreleased job is useful because it tests the decision to hold work as well as the ability to produce a label.

There is no automatic .btw conversion. SmartFACT does not import or convert BarTender .btw files. Assess a move using artwork, representative data and documented behaviour. Recreating a suitable layout and checking it is part of the work to agree.

Make the hidden requirements visible

A label file is only part of the system. Write down the values and decisions that make each output correct.

Use an anonymised data example that preserves the original structure. Keep meaningful leading zeros and awkward cases; replacing every value with a simple number can hide the problem you need to solve.

• Artwork: label dimensions, text, barcode type, position and any customer approval requirements.
• Data: where the order, quantity, purchase order, product and batch values originate.
• Customer variations: product-code mappings, layout choices and information required for particular customers.
• Print behaviour: manual or automated triggers, copy counts, printer selection and what happens after a failed send.
• History: what operators need to find later, who can request extra copies and how long existing records must remain accessible.

Compare with what LabelRules covers

LabelRules focuses on a defined manufacturing CSV profile, saved customer mappings, 100 × 150 mm product labels, Code 128, prepared previews and reasoned exact reprints. Labels print through SmartFACT PrintStation, from the panel on an enrolled workstation or unattended at a PrintStation destination.

Native Excel import, automatic BarTender file conversion, RFID and a broad barcode catalogue are outside that scope. A recreated layout goes through template proofs and revisions, and a reviewer publishes its release to a PrintStation station once LabelRules’ label is qualified on that station’s printer.

If a required capability is missing, establish whether it blocks the move before scheduling it. The dated BarTender comparison sets out the Free and Pro features; confirm the capabilities your workflow needs. Pro pricing and any paid SAP integration depend on the agreed scope, so compare complete costs before making a price-saving claim.

Prove the data, then the physical output

Agree the expected content for each test case before reviewing the new output. Compare resolved product codes, descriptions, purchase orders, batches, quantity and the selected layout. Include a blocked case and check that its reason is understandable.

Next, qualify the intended workstation, printer queue, driver and label stock together. Print a calibration label, measure the output and scan the barcode into the actual receiving workflow. Keyboard-input scanners fit SmartFACT’s check.

A preview, or a label PrintStation reports as submitted, does not prove print quality. Check the browser printing setup requirements and record the physical result. Repeat relevant checks when the workstation, driver, printer or stock changes.

Plan a controlled first workflow

Choose who decides which system is authorised to print the selected work. Keep the existing process available for recovery, while avoiding duplicate production sends from both systems.

Agree how operators recognise a hold, reconcile an uncertain submission and request an exact reprint. Test those steps using the same representative workflow. A second source import is not a substitute for a recorded reprint.

Keep existing label files, configuration and history accessible according to your own operating requirements. Discuss any historical-data migration separately. Decide who supports the new station and what evidence is needed before extending LabelRules to another customer or product.

Bring a small assessment pack

Start by describing that workflow in the enquiry form. We can then agree how to review the example and whether LabelRules is a suitable starting point.

• One representative label or readable artwork, with dimensions.
• An anonymised source export and the expected label values.
• A customer-specific variation and a case that should be held.
• The exact printer, operating system, driver and label stock.
• Your current print volumes, triggers and reprint procedure.
• A short list of capabilities that must work before any change.

Assessing an SAP-connected workflow

Connecting SAP ECC or S/4HANA is a paid integration that SmartFACT scopes with you and builds through data.smartfact.ai. It is not included in Free or Pro. Bring the SAP release, document type, current output route and a sample payload so we can scope and price the selected workflow.

Move one trigger with its label. Agree which system may print, how repeated SAP messages are identified and how job status is returned. Existing IDoc, SAPscript or Smart Forms processes are assessed when the integration is scoped; existing forms and BarTender files are not automatically converted.

LabelRules is independent of BarTender and Seagull Software. Product names belong to their respective owners.

Practise with the real screens

Practise printing a job’s labels, handling uncertain output, authorising an exact reprint and drafting, checking and publishing a rule, using made-up orders and customers.

Read the guides on any device. Interactive demonstrations run on a desktop or laptop, showing the office screens or the station screens used on a handheld or scan station.

Open LabelRules training