Labels

Many people need to print labels at the Beaty. I've developed a system for designing labels, available now at:

apps.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/labels

Today, I will motivate the system, demo it, and run a tutorial.

Why care about labels?

Labels are used all over the museum.

Label Design Considerations

Labels have different material considerations:

1. Size of print
2. Paper stock
3. One- or two-sided

Label Design Considerations

Labels have different process considerations:

1. Who prints the labels and how often?
2. How are the labels assembled and processed?
3. How do we get the data from Specify into a label template?

Specify System

Specify uses a layout engine called "JasperSoft" which is a dedicated business report creation software.

Jaspersoft issues

Jaspersoft is powerful, but complex. Many Beaty users reported being able to use it effectively.

First Pass: InDesign Data Merge

Last year, I built a label creation system for Karen G.'s team using InDesign. When I first worked at the Beaty, I used this to make hundreds of labels.

First Pass: InDesign Data Merge

However, InDesign is expensive. So Linda asked me to come up with a system that would work for less money.

Requirements: Web App

A web application for automatic label generation would help the Herbarium offload design work to collectors. Alternatively, it could be used internally by museum staff.

Requirements: Expressive and Minimal

Using CSV/XLSX as exchange formats, the system needed to do basic layout, but not be a full design program. Importantly, the data merge logic needed to be robust.

E.g., conditionals like:

If "variety" column has data, print "var."

Demo: Prepping Data

Create a query with all of the columns you would like to appear on your label.

E.g., you can go to the following example:

database.beatymuseum.ubc.ca/specify/query/625/

Demo: Downloading Data

Click Query and then Create CSV: