LabelTac 4 User manual

LabelTac 4 Setup Guide

Contents
Unboxing
What’s in the box
Your printer
Setup & Install
Before you continue...
Connecting LabelTac
Installing LabelTac drivers
Installing templates & symbols
Using LabelTac
Loading print ribbon
Loading tape supply
How to make labels
LED & button functions
Troubleshooting
When using die-cut labels...
Warranty
Contact Us
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Contents 1

What’s in the box
Included
•LabelTac 4 Printer
•USB Cable
•Power Cable
LabelTac Printers are professional thermal transfer printing
systems, designed for creating custom vinyl labels and signs,
in-house, for a variety of applications including:
Pipe Marking, Safety, Arc Flash, OSHA, Racks/Warehouses,
Tool Identification, Lean & 5S, Kaizen, Kanban, Hazmat, ANSI/
ASME & more.
We’re here to help!
Please give us a call or email if you need any help with installing
or operating your LabelTac Printer:
phone [phone]
web www.labeltac.com
email [email protected]
* Print ribbon ships pre-installed for convenience
•Install CD
•Setup Guide & Lit
•1 Black Print Ribbon*
Unboxing What’s in the box 32

Your printer Your printer (cont’d)
Unboxing Your printer4Unboxing Your printer 5
Ribbon Rewind Hub
LED Indicator
Multi-Function Action Button
Ribbon Access Cover
Cover Releases
Ribbon Supply Hub
Cover Support Release
Media Holder
Platen Roller
Cutter
Alignment Guide
Adjustment Wheel
Print Head
Alignment Guides
Black Mark Sensor
Mouth
Media Holder
Lock Switch
Ribbon Rewind Gear
Ethernet Port
USB 2.0 Port
Parallel Port
RS-232C Port
Power Jack Socket
Power Switch

Before you continue... Connecting LabelTac
BEFORE INSTALLING DRIVERS...
Please connect your LabelTac Printer to both
your computer and to power, and make sure
the printer is turned on.
See pages 7-9 for connection instructions.
Setup & Install Before you continue...6Setup & Install Connecting LabelTac 7
Step 1: Connect to PC
Connect one end of the USB cable to an available USB 2.0
port on the back of your computer.
Connect the other end of the cable to the USB port on your
LabelTac 4 printer.
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USB 2.0
IMPORTANT
Let us install LabelTac for you, for free!
We offer a quick 5-minute remote installation- Go ahead, let us do the work while
you grab a cup of coffee! Call us at [phone]. Mon-Fri, 6am-3:30pm (PST)
. . .

Connecting LabelTac Connecting LabelTac (cont’d)
Step 2: Connect to Power Step 3: Turn on your printer
Join the 2 segments of the power cord together.
Connect one end of the power cord to the power port on the
back of the LabelTac, and the other end to a power outlet.
Flip power switch from ‘off’ position (O) to ‘on’ position ( I ).
The LED indicator on the top side of the printer will turn green,
signaling that the LabelTac is powered on and ready.
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Setup & Install Connecting LabelTac8Setup & Install Connecting LabelTac 9

Installing LabelTac drivers Installing templates & symbols
Insert LabelTac Install CD. The install menu should auto-load. If
it doesn’t, open the CD and run setup.exe manually.
Select ‘Install LabelTac 4 Drivers’. (If a pop-up appears about
making changes to your computer, select ‘Yes’ and continue)
Click ‘Install printer drivers’, and then click ‘Next’.
Select ‘Install a driver for a Plug and Play printer’ (this should
be already selected by default) and click ‘Next’.
In the Printer name field, change the name to LabelTac 4.
Leave everything else as-is, and click ‘Next’.
Click ‘Finish’ to start the installation. (If a pop-up appears about
driver software publishers, select ‘Install this driver software
anyways’ and continue) Click ‘Close’ when complete.
From the LabelTac Install CD menu, select ‘Install Templates &
Symbols’.
Choose the folder you would like to install the templates and
symbols, and then click ‘Install’. (We recommend installing to
your desktop for easy access when creating signs and labels)
Click ‘Close’ when complete.
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Setup & Install Installing LabelTac drivers10 Setup & Install Installing templates & symbols 11
Need a hand with installation?
Our representatives are available Mon-Fri, 6am-3:30pm (PST) to assist in a variety of
ways with installing your printer. Call us toll free at [phone].
LabelTac Printers include hundreds of templates and symbols to help you make
professional signs and labels quickly and easily.
Once installed, you will see two folders named ‘Templates’ and ‘Symbols’.
The Templates folder contains customizable industrial templates in MS Word and
OpenOffice formats, and is divided into subfolders based on application as well
as by size/width.
The Symbols folder contains useful symbols often found on industrial labels in a
resizable PNG format. The folder is also divided into subfolders by application,
and all also appear together in an ‘(ALL SYMBOLS)’ folder.
. . .

Loading print ribbon Loading print ribbon (cont’d)
Open cover by pulling both green cover release tabs straight
towards you, then lift up on the ribbon access cover to open.
Remove outer plastic bag from the ribbon, and unstick the
white ribbon ‘leader’ or ‘tail’ from the roll. (For new rolls)
With the ribbon leader hanging from behind/under the roll,
insert the ribbon right-side first onto the ribbon supply hub. (a)
Insert the left side of the ribbon onto the other hub and rotate
the ribbon until you feel the notches on the cardboard core
lock into the hub spokes.
Insert an empty cardboard core into the ribbon rewind hub, then
take the hanging ribbon up and over the print head and stick the
ribbon to the core with scotch tape or the leader adhesive. (b)
With your finger, turn the green ribbon rewind gear until the
leader is wound around the core, and the ribbon is exposed
and fully covers the print head.
Close the ribbon access cover, push the green cover support
to the left to disengage and close the top cover gently.
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Using LabelTac Loading print ribbon12 Using LabelTac Loading print ribbon 13
A full print ribbon loading video is available on your LabelTac Install CD under “User
Guides & Videos” or online at www.labeltac.com/support.
If installed correctly, the dull side of the ribbon should be exposed and facing you.
(a) (b)

Loading tape supply Loading tape supply (cont’d)
Open cover by pulling both green cover release tabs straight
towards you.
Separate the green media holders so they are wider than the
roll of material you are loading. (a) (If media holders are locked,
unlock them by clicking up the lock switch on the left holder) (b)
Place the supply roll in between the holders, close them onto
the core, and lock the holders into place by clicking down on
the lock switch on the left media holder.
Using the green guide adjustment wheel, adjust the media
guides wider than the width of the material, feed the material
through the guides, and then re-adjust the guides so they fit up
against the material while still allowing free movement. (c)
Feed the material through the cutter and out the mouth of the
printer. Push the green cover support to the left to disengage
and close the top cover gently.
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Using LabelTac Loading tape supply14 Using LabelTac Loading tape supply 15
A full tape supply loading video is available on your LabelTac Install CD under “User
Guides & Videos” or online at www.labeltac.com/support.
UNLOCK
LOCK
(a)
(c)
(b)

How to make labels (cont’d)
Using LabelTac How to make labels16 Using LabelTac How to make labels 17
How to make labels
How LabelTac works
Setting up your document (label size)
Getting started
LabelTac Printers are designed to work with PC’s running
Microsoft Windows XP or later.
The printer interfaces into your system like a normal printer,
allowing virtually any program to print to it, including:
The size of the label or sign that will print is determined by the
page size in your word/image processing program.
For example- if you want to print a 4”x6” label, simply set your
page size in the program’s settings to 4” height and to 6” width.
We find Microsoft Word to be the easiest program to design
labels and signs, but if you don’t have access to Word on your
computer, OpenOffice or Bartender (both included on the Install
CD) are great free alternatives. The majority of the templates
that we include with your LabelTac are in Word format.
Creating labels and signs with LabelTac is easy-
•Microsoft Word (preferred)
•Microsoft Excel
•Apache OpenOffice
•Seagull Bartender
•Adobe Creative Suite
•Google Docs
Start with one of our pre-made templates (see page 11 for
information on installing templates) and customize to fit your
needs & application...
Start from scratch in any word or image processing program.
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OR
Be sure to load appropriate width material for your job- for the above example, you
would want to load 4” wide material.

Using LabelTac How to make labels18 Using LabelTac How to make labels 19
How to make labels How to make labels (cont’d)
Designing your label Adding: Text
Adding: Images & logos
Adding: Borders
Once you’ve set your document to the size you want to print
your label, you can start placing whatever you want into the
label- text, images/logos, borders- and what you see on your
screen is what will print on your label.
The LabelTac 4 is a monochrome thermal transfer printer, so
when you print your label, the areas of your label that are black
(or dark) on-screen will print to the ribbon, while the areas that
are white (or light) will not print, allowing the color of the tape
you use to remain visible.
For example- if you have yellow vinyl material loaded, and a
blue print ribbon- the elements on screen that are black will
print to the blue ribbon, and the elements that are white will not
print- resulting in a blue on yellow final label.
You can add images and logos to your labels by “inserting”
them (typically done through your program’s menu bar:
Insert > Image > From File) or by copying and pasting them in.
We find that using PNG images produces the highest quality
results, though most image file types are supported.
The ideal way to add text in labels designed in word process-
ing programs is through the use of “text boxes”. Text boxes
are easily resizable and are able to be moved independently of
other elements in your label.
Text boxes can also be used to create borders. In the text box
options you can usually add a “stroke” or border to the text box
and adjust the thickness, style, etc.
Designing your label in black and white or grayscale will produce the best results.

Using LabelTac How to make labels20 21
How to make labels
Adding: Industrial symbols
Adding: Arrows
Arrows for marking directions or for use with pipe marking
labels can also be found in the LabelTac ‘Symbols’ folder in
the ‘Arrows’ sub-folder. You can also insert or paste your own
arrows in most image formats into your label.
You can add industrial symbols (hazard pictograms, warning
symbols, NFPA symbols, etc.) to your labels the same way as
you would add other images (page 19). We include hundreds of
free symbols in the LabelTac ‘Symbols’ folder. (See page 11 for
installation instructions for LabelTac templates & symbols)
Stuck on a label design, or new to LabelTac and need a label
ASAP?
Let us design your label or sign for you, for free!
We can create labels to your specifications and then email
them to you... for free, for as long as you own the printer.
All you have to do is open the files, and print them. You can
even keep the files for later printing or editing/customization.
Give us a call at [phone]
or email us at [email protected]
(or call/email your rep directly)
We’re here to help!

23Using LabelTac LED & button functionsUsing LabelTac LED & button functions22
LED & button functions
The LabelTac 4 has one button and one 3-color LED indicator.
LED indicator
Action button functions
Action button: Power-on printer utility functions
LED Color Description
Green (solid) Power is on and the device is ready to use
Green (blinking) System is downloading data from the PC to
memory, or the printer is paused
Amber System is clearing data from the printer
Red (solid) Printer head is open or printer has a cutter error
Red (blinking) Printing error- e.g. head open, paper jam, ribbon
empty, or memory error
Release during Description
Red blinking Ribbon sensor & gap/mark sensor calibration
Amber blinking Gap/black mark sensor calibration + Dump Mode
Green blinking Printer initialization
LED & button functions (cont’d)
While powered on (not printing): Feed material
While powered on (printing): Pause or resume printing
If you turn off the printer, hold down the action button, and
turn on the printer while still holding the button, the LED
indicator will quickly light up amber once, then green, and
then flash through a series of colors (each blinking 5 times).
Depending on the color that is flashing when you release the
button, a printer utility function will happen.
Additional support & troubleshooting help available at www.labeltac.com/support.

Using LabelTac Troubleshooting24 25Using LabelTac Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting Troubleshooting (cont’d)
First steps Common issues
LabelTac printing preferences
•Ensure LabelTac is connected to both AC power and to your
computer with USB, and that cables are pushed all the way in.
•Did you install the printer drivers before connecting the printer?
This can sometimes cause a problem with your computer not
being able to recognize the printer at first. Try uninstalling and
re-installing the drivers, or call us at [phone].
LabelTac printing preferences is accessed by navigating to...
Start Menu > Devices and Printers > LabelTac 4 > Printing Preferences
(...or through your program’s print dialog when printing*.)
From this menu you can control many things, including: print
speed, “darkness” (print density), graphics rendering, etc.
* Changing settings this way only changes them for the current session. Once you
close the document, your printer preferences will revert to their previous settings. If
you navigate to printer preferences through Start Menu > Devices and Printers, the
settings will be retained.
Symptom Causes/Suggested action
Speckling/spotting, rough
edges, inconsistent print
Heat (speed/density) settings are too low. In
Printing Preferences > Options, try lowering
the print speed and/or raising the density. (We
find a speed of 2 and density of 7 yields the
best results in most cases)
Half-moon arches in print
Heat (speed/density) settings are too high. In
Printing Preferences > Options, try raising the
print speed and/or lowering the density.
Diagonal lines through print
Ribbon may have an alignment issue. Try re-
installing the print ribbon.
1Open ribbon access cover, cut ribbon from rewind
hub and remove used print ribbon from cardboard
rewind core.
2Using a piece of scotch tape, re-attach print ribbon
to the bare cardboard rewind core.
Continuous void through
print
This can be a sign of an obstructed or dirty
print head. Try cleaning print head with sup-
plied alcohol swabs.
LED indicator blinking red
This can indicate: ribbon or supply is missing/
incorrectly loaded/depleted, cutter or paper is
jammed, incorrect supply mode (continuous vs
die-cut), or a communication/memory error.

Using LabelTac When using die-cut labels...26 27Using LabelTac Warranty
When using die-cut labels... Warranty
Load the die-cut material in the printer, leaving a small amount
of the first label leading out of the mouth of the printer.
When ready to print your label, first go to ‘Printing Preferences’
for your LabelTac (see page 24). In the tabs at the top of the
window, click ‘Stock’.
Under ‘Type’ in the ‘Media Settings’ section, change from
‘Continuous’ to ‘Labels with Gaps’. Click OK.
Change the number of copies to print to ‘1’, (if it isn’t set to that
already) and click Print/OK to begin printing.
The printer will print this first label off-center, and the print will overlap
into part of the second label. This is normal. (The printer self-calibrates itself
by reading the gaps between the labels, and once it reaches the end of the
second label, it will be fully calibrated and aligned.)
Go backand print the rest of the labels as normal.
We offer an industry-leading, 4-year, full
warranty to our LabelTac customers. This
is a 4-year warranty on parts, manufacturer
defects and even the thermal print head. Our warranty is the label
printer equivalent of a “bumper-to-bumper” warranty. If anything
goes wrong, we’ve got your back!
Warranty Limitations
CSS’s limited warranty provides that, subject to the following limitations, each Product will be free
from defects in material and workmanship and will conform to CSS’s specification for the particular
Product.
CSS will have no liability for any Product returned if CSS determines that:
• The Product was stolen from CSS.
• The asserted defect:
• The Product was not sold to you as new.
• The Product was not used in accordance with CSS specifications and instructions.
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To switch back to using standard continuous vinyl, simply return to the ‘Printing
Preferences’ window and change the Media Type back to ‘Continuous’.
**
For full warranty terms and conditions, please visit www.labeltac.com/support.
o is not present,
o cannot reasonably be fixed because of damage occurring when
the Product is in the possession of someone other than CSS, or
o is attributable to misuse, improper installation, alteration
(including removing or obliterating labels and opening or
removing external covers (unless authorized to do so by CSS)),
accident or mishandling while in the possession of someone
other than CSS, or use of unauthorized supplies/accessories.

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powered by Creative Safety Supply
phone [phone]
web www.labeltac.com
email [email protected]
/creativesafety
/creativesafetysupply
Contact Us

www.labeltac.com
LT4-2.01-11.12