Addressing the Matter of Labels

I like putting labels on things. I label my videotapes, my file folders and my camera, and often put labels on envelopes. I don’t usually go around labeling people, but I have been known to create gummed name tags for parties and meetings.

It’s easy to use your PC to create all sorts of labels with a standard laser or inkjet printer or a special label printer. Several software programs are designed for this purpose, but chances are you already have software that can do the trick. Most major word-processing and integrated programs are able to create labels, envelopes and business cards.

But there are some programs that specialize in this kind of printing and the organizing behind it.

AddressMate from CoStar ([800] 426-7827 or https://www.costar.com/) and Labels Unlimited from Softkey ([800] 227-5609 or https://www.softkey.com/) are designed specifically to create all sorts of labels.

AddressMate ($69.95) is for those who take their mailing labels seriously. More than a label-printing program, it’s a way to manage all your addresses. The program, which comes on a single floppy disk, can not only print all types of labels and envelopes, but it also has a built-in database management program that lets you keep track of and easily utilize all your names, addresses and phone numbers. There is also a layout editor that gives you control over the label’s appearance. The program is integrated with Microsoft Word and Ami Pro so that all you have to do to write to a person is type in any part of his or her name in the word processor, select a menu item and let AddressMate look up the address and enter it into the document.

AddressMate Plus ($79.95) comes with a CD-ROM from Pitney Bowes that includes every valid address and ZIP Code in the United States. It won’t look up an address for you or even verify if the person you’re writing to actually lives at the address you enter, but it will tell you if it’s a valid postal address. The database can also be used to certify that your mailing meets U.S. Postal Service accuracy requirements necessary to qualify for postage discounts, although to use the certification system you must first get a password by paying a $395 annual fee to Pitney Bowes.

You can use AddressMate with just about any laser or inkjet printer to get an entire sheet of labels (it supports all the popular gummed label formats), but if you want to make one label at a time--to address a single envelope or label one file folder--you’re better off with a dedicated label printer such as the CoStar Labelwriter XL or the Smart Label Printer from Seiko Instruments. These printers, which cost about $170, connect to the serial port of your PC or Mac and print one thermal gummed label at a time. At about 5 cents a label, they’re too expensive for mass mailings.

Softkey’s Labels Unlimited ($49.95) is designed to produce just about any type of label, from the kind you’d put on grandma’s preserves jars to diskette labels.

In a feature that would have been perfect for TV detective Jim Rockford, who kept a small printing press in the back of his car so he could create bogus business cards as needed, Labels Unlimited can produce business cards on special perforated stock you can purchase from most office supply stores for about $12 for 250 cards. I sometimes create special business cards to use at trade shows or for when I’m going overseas. Once I used it to create a small batch of cards for my kids to give to their friends and associates.

Labels Unlimited is a champ when it comes to graphics. You can import just about any picture or drawing into your graphic and choose from among more than 2,000 pieces of clip art that come on the program’s CD-ROM.

Of course, you don’t need special label software if you already have Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, WordPerfect or Lotus WordPro 96. Word’s Envelopes and Labels command will automatically recognize an address on a page to generate either a label or an envelope. Personally, I find Word’s label and envelope feature to be just as easy to use as the stand-alone label products. It doesn’t have nearly as many bells and whistles as Labels Unlimited or AddressMate, but, when it comes to simple things--like creating labels--there is something to be said for keeping things basic.

As you might expect, you can order computer labels and business- card stock on the World Wide Web. For links to supplies and other companies that make label software, point your browser to https://www.larrysworld.com/labels.html.