Label Printing Software

BarTender Editions Summary
BarTender is available in four editions that address a wide range of features and user requirements. This general overview is followed by a more detailed Features and Editions Comparison Chart.

Printer Licensing: Both "Automation" editions allow unlimited network users. With these editions, licensing is based on the maximum number of printers used by BarTender on the network.

Our most powerful edition. Includes all of the designprintingsoftware integration, and data sourcingfeatures of the Automation edition, plus advanced server functions for centralized printingsecurity andadministration. Supports RFID and all card printing and smart card encoding functions. Includes BarTender Web Print Server to print labels from any browser. Contains our most advanced integrationfeatures, including TCP/IP triggers, SAP AIIOracle XML, XML transforms, and XML scripting. Includes full functionality for all of the Companion Applications, including Librarian and logging to centralized databases. Tracks printer parts inventory and in-printer media usage.


Includes - All of BarTender's most powerful design features. Numerous software integration tools, such as ActiveX Automation, enterprise messaging and Seagull's Commander utility for cross-platform integration. All the data sourcing of Professional, plus support for SAP IDocs. Supports RFID tags and labels. All card printing functions but only encodes magnetic stripes. Includes all of the Companion Applications except for Librarian, but not all of the features. Logging to local databases only.

Omits - Does not offer the enhanced server functions, advanced integration (such as XML and SAP AII), and web printing capabilities of Enterprise Automation (see above). No smart card encoding. NoLibrarian. Excludes some Companion Application features. No logging to centralized databases. No inventory control of printer supplies.

PC Licensing: The Professional and Basic editions are licensed based on the number of PCs used.


Includes - All of BarTender's most powerful label design features. Data access for network databases (using OLE DB and ODBC), as well as spreadsheets and text files. Supports RFID tags and labels. Allcard printing functions but only encodes magnetic stripes. Includes two of the Companion Applications:Batch Maker and Print Station.

Omits - No control from within other software. (No ActiveX, Commander or command lines.) No SAP or XML support. No job logging or e-mailed error alerts. Cannot export printer code templates. Excludes all features omitted from the Automation edition. No smart card encoding. No Printer Maestro. Does not include many of the Companion Applications.


Includes – The most frequently used label design features. Includes all text, graphics, barcode, and most serializing capabilities. Useful for keyboard and scanner-supplied label data only. Most card printing functions, but only encodes magnetic stripes. Print Station is the only included Companion Application.

Omits – No access to external data. No password protection of label formats, no VB Script customization, and only limited text filtering. No custom-base serialization. Excludes all features omitted from Professional, plus no Batch Maker.


Features and Editions Comparison Chart

The following chart compares the features available in each of the four editions of the BarTender Application Suite.

Edition heading abbreviations:

= Enterprise Automation
= Automation
= Professional
= Basic

Grid characters used:

= Feature is fully supported
= Partially supported
= Supports shareable centralized databases
= Supports local databases only
= Supports all printers and print jobs on the network
= Works for local and network printers (and print jobs) that have drivers installed on the local PC

EDITIONS:  
GENERAL  
Licensed based on the number of printers used    
Licensed based on the number of PCs used    
Free phone and e-mail technical support for properly-registered users
HTML-based context-sensitive help
User interface translated into 20+ languages
COMPANION APPLICATIONS   
Commander. (Controls BarTender in response to triggers from other programs)    
Security Center. (Provides security features for other applications in the suite, such as user permissions and document encryption)    
Printer Maestro. (Administers to printers and print queues on the network)    
Librarian. (Controls access, manages workflow, and tracks revisions to BarTender documents and other files within a secure database)      
History Explorer. (Views the logs stored in the BarTender System Database)    
Reprint Console. (Reprints previously printed jobs)    
Print Station. (Provides a simple "single-click" interface for selecting and printing BarTender documents)
Batch Maker. (Defines and prints "batches" of multiple BarTender documents)  
TEMPLATE DESIGN  
True WYSIWYG template design
New Document Wizard ensures proper printer selection and allows maximum printing speed
Two-sided (“duplex”) design and printing
Point and click creation of all objects, including text, barcodes, lines, boxes, shapes, and graphic images
To simplify conversion from legacy systems, import and lighten photographs of old labels, cards, or tags for use as a design aid  
Unlimited undo / redo command
Resize and reposition objects using a choice of methods: Mouse, arrow keys, typed in values
Functions for automatic alignment of multiple objects
Programmatically modify template objects during print jobs    
One-tenth degree rotation of lines, shapes, text, and graphics
"Move to Front" and "Send to Back"
Group and Ungroup multiple objects
Live database view in objects in template design area  
Export barcodes to other programs  
Full color, pattern, and gradient support for all template objects
Optional automatic borders for text, barcodes and graphics
Combine multiple template objects into reusable components
Library of "ready-to-print" label, card, and tag templates
Thumbnail previews of saved BarTender documents, viewable both in BarTender and Windows explorer
Metric and US measurements
LABEL STOCK AND OTHER MEDIA  
Design templates up to 128 inches (3.25 m) long and/or wide (subject to limits of printer and driver)
Any number of labels, cards, or tags, arranged in any number of rows and/or columns per sheet
Page Setup Wizard assists with properly specifying media dimensions
Database of thousands of name brand label, card, and tag sizes
Rectangular, circular and elliptical media supported
TEXT  
Versatile font support: OpenType, TrueType, Adobe, PostScript, downloadable, and built-in printer fonts
On-screen text editing and sizing
Powerful Rich Text formatting using on-screen WYSIWYG editor
Stretch text horizontally or vertically
Automatic on-the-fly resizing of text to fit within predefined height and width
Paragraph Formatting: Multiple alignment methods, line spacing control, indenting, and inter-paragraph spacing
Kerning and inter-character spacing control
Outline fonts
Arc and circular text
User-definable tab stops
White-on-black text printing (specified with a single mouse click)
Support for RTF, HTML, and XAML  
BAR CODES  
Numerous 1 and 2 dimensional symbologies
Extensive library of industry-standard barcode formats
Option to display start / stop characters
Variable and unlimited width and height
Minimum width limited only by printer resolution
GS1 (formerly UCC/EAN) Application Identifier Data Source Wizard
Automatic check digit capability
Sequentially numbered barcodes
Place "human readable" text anywhere in relation to barcodes
Customizable "human readable" character template
Independently suppress or display characters from different sub-fields
GRAPHICS, IMAGES AND SYMBOLS  
Draw lines, circles, ellipses, rectangles, rounded rectangles, triangles, polygons, arrows, arcs, stars, and many other shapes
Multiple dashed line styles and compound line styles
Fill options for lines and shapes include solid color, multi-point gradient, pattern, and bitmap
Import more than 70 graphic formats, including BMP, DCX, DIB, DXF, EPS, GIF, IMG, JPG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIF, WMF, WPG, PDF, and more
Integrated, online clip-art search and import
TWAIN and WIA support for image scanners and cameras
Basic image processing: Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, sharpness, smoothing, cropping and more
Industry-specific graphic symbol font libraries
Linked graphics allow external graphics to change dynamically
Specify background images and colors for templates
PRINTING  
More than 3,000 industrial printers supported
True Windows drivers, can be used by other programs
Seagull drivers with status monitor display printer status in the standard Windows spooler
Two-sided (“duplex”) design and printing
Multiple templates per document
Integrated job separator templates  
Batch Maker defines and prints "batches" of multiple BarTender documents  
Print Station supports "single-click" document selection and printing
Conditional printing of templates    
Export printer code templates to XML enabled printers    
Advanced on-screen print preview
Advanced on-screen print preview  
Set starting position on pages of partially used labels, cards or tags
Supports printer-based barcodes, serial numbers,
time, date, and copies
Speed optimization reuses repeating data instead of resending it
Local and network printer support
Print quantity can be set from keyboard or data source  
CARD PRINTING & ENCODING  
Print-time image capture, supporting WIA and VFW webcams
Automatic face detection and cropping      
Magnetic stripe encoding
Encoding of smart cards (both contact and non-contact)      
SERIALIZATION  
Basic serialization: Numeric (base 10), alphabetic (base 26), and concatenated numeric and alphabetic sequences with increment / decrement by any interval
Advanced serialization: Alphanumeric (base 36), hexadecimal (base 16), and custom base serialization
Separate rollover / rollunder and value reset options
Preserve or expand field length when rolling over
DATA SOURCING  
Design print-time data entry forms for keyboard and barcode scanner data
Data from weighing scales supported by data entry forms    
Microsoft OLE DB and ODBC support, including drivers for:  Access, AS/400, Btrieve, dBase, Excel, Informix, Interbase, MySQL, Oracle database, Pervasive.SQL, PostgreSQL, Progress, SQL Server, Sybase, and more  
Read Excel files  
Read ASCII & Unicode text files (quote & comma, fixed width, and user-defined delimitation)  
SAP-certified interface to AII (Auto ID Infrastructure) XML documents      
Read data from SAP IDocs    
Oracle-certified interface to XML print requests      
Drag and drop data linking  
Versatile multiple-table data access  
Import variable graphics from databases  
Data query wizard and custom SQL assistant  
Individual record-picking at print time  
DATA PROCESSING  
Full-system Unicode support (field names, files,
servers, printers, etc.)
Visual Basic scripting for document open, close, save, and print-time events  
Print-time search and replace function    
User-definable min and max field lengths
Use and/or exclude select portions of database fields  
Customizable data-entry filters and error checking  
Custom configure the handling of individual messages and alerts    
Multiple data sources concatenated per template object
Source data with keyboard, time and date (from PC or printer)
Easy entry of special and "unprintable" control characters
Shareable data fields
Data type support, including: text, date, time, number, currency, percentage, and fraction
STANDARD INTEGRATION  
Can be run as "background" application    
Control from other programs using ActiveX    
Control from other programs using command lines    
Commander Integration Utility: senses incoming data, then starts print jobs and logs results    
Specify both the BarTender document and the data to print from within other programs    
Automated printer selection    
Log to file: Errors and events  
Log BarTender print job details to a database    
Custom error, event and status e-mails    
Export printer code templates for SAPscript-ITF, keypads, printers that accept XML, and more    
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION AND SECURITY  
"Security Center" manages user permissions and encrypts label formats    
"Security Center" supports electronic signatures and logs permission requests      
Lock down documents with passwords  
Lock down BarTender into a password-protected "print-only" mode  
History Explorer audits past print jobs and other events    
Log images of all printed output      
Log revision number and change descriptions into the document file  
Librarian manages document publishing, revision tracking, and rollback within a secure database      
ADVANCED INTEGRATION  
SAP Certified for AII      
Read data from SAP IDocs    
Oracle certified for WMS and MSCA      
Oracle XML integration using a TCP/IP socket      
Supports IBM WebSphere Sensor Events      
Commander processes file, e-mail and serial port triggers    
Enhanced version of Commander supports TCP/IP triggers and data transmission      
Commander optimized to receive, launch, and monitor new print jobs without waiting for existing jobs to finish      
Commander can return XML status response as a file or through a TCP/IP port      
Detailed print job status available to other programs using ActiveX      
.NET SDK to control one BarTender at a time. (C# & VB.NET examples included)    
.NET SDK to control multiple instances of BarTender at once      
.NET SDK for BarTender System Database allows automated review and reprinting of past print jobs    
.NET SDK for Librarian allows automated file add, remove, rename, check in and out, etc.      
ASP.NET sample application for customizable web browser printing      
Automated conversion of different XML formats using XSL style sheets      
BarTender XML Command Scripts speed up automation and simplify remote control      
RFID SUPPORT  
Full-featured native RFID objects  
Encode EPC Gen2, EPC Class 1, ISO 18000-6b, ISO 15693, Tag-It,
I-CODE, TagSys, My-d, and Picotag tag types
 
Supports DoD, Wal-Mart, and other EPC data formats, including SGTIN, SSCC, GIAI, GID, GRAI, SGLN  
Support for many single and double-byte codepages, including Asian languages, UTF-8 and UTF-16  
Able to duplicate either the text or hexadecimal representation of the RFID data in text and barcode form  
Supports optional write protection  
Segment and Start Block support, including writing to multiple blocks  
Able to configure printer's RFID options (e.g., Transponder Offset and Maximum Retries)  
Display antenna, chip, and substrate on label. Select predefined or specify custom antenna bitmaps  
ENTERPRISE PRINT MANAGEMENT  
Optimized for high-volume label requests from numerous network users to one or more servers      
Browser-based network and internet printing      
Windows Cluster Server supported      
Reprint Console lets you search for and reprint previous jobs    
Configure security, spooler and other selected driver settings for multiple printers at once.    
Printer Maestro displays status of all Windows print jobs in one window    
Printer Maestro tracks printer media usage and inventory of printer parts. Generates custom alerts.      
Log printer events for Windows print jobs other than just those from BarTender      
Specify custom alerts for printer events and low inventory levels      

International Language Support

BarTender is available in international editions that support on-demand switching of the displayed user-interface language between the following:

Chinese
(Simplified & Traditional)
German Portuguese
(European & Brazilian)
Czech Greek Polish
Danish Hungarian Russian
Dutch Italian Spanish
English Japanese Swedish
Finnish Korean Thai
French Norwegian Turkish

Bar Code Support

BarTender has the power and flexibility to design just about any barcode or label standard. But why create your own designs from scratch if you don't have to? BarTender comes with:

Over 400 preformatted, ready-to-use barcode components based on:

59 different barcode symbologies
additional barcode standards

16 sample compliance label designs

Barcode Symbologies:

Linear Barcodes
2D, Matrix, and Stacked Symbols
Postal and Shipping Barcodes

"Symbologies" vs. "Standards": Many barcode symbologies are used in more than one barcode and/or label standard. The standards listed below (which are included with BarTender) are listed by some other software companies as separate "symbologies." This is misleading, because these are standards and not symbologies.

Included Standards:

Barcode Standards
Label Standards
Data Format Standards

Supported RFID Tag Types and Data Formats

The Enterprise Automation and Automation editions support the EPC Gen2, EPC Class 1, ISO 18000-6b, ISO 15693, Tag-It, I-CODE, TagSys, My-d, and Picotag tag types. All EPC data formats are supported, including DoD, Wal-Mart, SGTIN, SSCC, GIAI, GID, GRAI, and SGLN, among others.

Supported Printers

BarTender supports any printer with a Windows driver. In addition to virtually all laser, ink-jet and dot-matrix printers, this includes the following, for which Seagull has developed its own enhanced Windows printer drivers:

3M
Gitech POSTEK
AccuMax Godex Pressiza
AMT Datasouth Graphic Products Printronix
Argox GSK PROTON
ASTECH HellermannTyton QuickLabel Systems
Automated Packaging Systems IBM Rebo
Autonics ICE Ring
Avery Dennison IDENTjet RockWest
Bematech InfoPrint Solutions Samsung
Birch Intermec SATO
Bitek ISG SII
BIXOLON K-SUN Stratège Print
Brady Kemtek Sumitomo
bsc Klic-N-Print System Wave
C.ITOH KROY Tally Dascom
cab LabelPod TallyGenicom
Century Systems Linx TECLABEL
Citizen Magicard Tharo
COBRA Markem-Imaje Thermopatch
CognitiveTPG MAX ThermoTex
Compuprint Max Meyer TNA
Comtec Mectec TOSHIBA TEC
Creative MELTH TSC
Datamax-O'Neil METAPACE Tyco
Datasouth Meto Unimark
Dedruma Metrologic Valentin
Domino METTLER TOLEDO Videojet
Dynamic MICROPLEX VIPColor
Eltron Monarch WAGO
enjoyid Novexx Wasp
ETISYS Okabe Marking Systems TNA
Evolis OKI Worldwide Ticketcraft
Fargo OPAL Zebra
General Code Pitney Bowes  

System Requirements and Compatibility

Supported Operating Systems:

The latest release of BarTender supports:
Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, Server 2008 and 2008 R2, Server 2003 (SP1 and higher)
Windows 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP (SP3 and higher)
Includes all 32-bit and 64-bit (x64) editions.

Older versions of Windows: Click here to view compatibility information for legacy versions of Windows.

Hard Disk:
  • Minimum 400 MB free space required for English-only version of BarTender.
  • Up to 1.1 GB free space required for full, multilingual BarTender Application Suite.
  • Additional free disk space required to enable optional logging of print jobs and event messages to a database.

CPU: 1 GHz or higher

Memory: 512 MB or higher

Display Resolution: 1024 x 768 or higher recommended

.NET Framework:

The .NET Framework 3.0 (SP2) is required. The BarTender installer will automatically install all required .NET Framework components. The 32-bit versions of the required .NET components are included on the CD. For older 64-bit operating systems (XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 pre-R2), the installer requires a live internet connection to download the required .NET components. Newer 64-bit operating systems (Vista, Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Server 2012, and Windows 8) all ship with the required components.

Optional Database:

Logging of print jobs and event messages requires either Microsoft SQL 2005 Express (included with BarTender) or Microsoft SQL 2005 (or higher) Server (purchased from a database vendor).

Web Browser:

Microsoft Internet Explorer v6 or higher required for History Explorer and BarTender help system.

(Note: TCP/IP network protocol is required for both the Automation and Enterprise Automation editions.)