LabelPro® by Avery®
For Macintosh or IBM Compatibles
   
Avery Software
P.O. Box 5244
Diamond Bar, CA 91765-4000
1-800-462-8379
   
Suggested Retail $39.99
   
   Installation *****
User's Guide *****
Features/Software *****
Performance *****
Price *****
Overall *****

Labels, labels, labels. What would we do without them? Address labels, diskette labels, shipping labels, file folders, parts bins, labels on canning jars--we use labels all over the place.

This issue's software package will make almost any kind of label you could ask for; from half-inch by 1-3/4 inch up to 8-1/2 by 11 and round dots. And, if that isn't enough, you can use the software to create business cards, greeting cards, post cards, name badges and a host of other goodies to make running your business easier and save you time and money to boot.

The toughest part of getting LabelPro® by Avery® up and running on my computer was wrestling it out of the box. Once I had the CD in hand, the rest was easy. The LabelPro® package I evaluated came on CD, but you can call the Avery customer service toll-free number and they'll ship you a set of diskettes. Be aware that the CD has 24 megabytes of clip-art to only eight megabytes on the disks.

LabelPro® is available for either Mac or IBM compatible. Mac operating systems must be version 7.5.2 or lower. The IBM version is for Windows 95, NT 3.51, Windows 3.1 or higher.

The software will soak up nine megabytes of hard drive space unless you load all the clip art--then it jumps up to 24 megabytes. You can always pop the CD back in and grab the artwork as you need it--that's why I did the minimum load.

Even stopping to jot notes during the installation, the process took less than five minutes. An Install Wizard does all the work. All you have to do is make choices--the type of printer you use, European or American paper size, full or partial load of the graphics. Pretty easy stuff.

The User's Guide that comes with LabelPro® is one of the best I've seen. With this guide on the library shelf, you will hardly ever use the online help feature that's just a mouse click away. The book rates a full five stars.

A sample package of labels comes with the kit. Sixteen different kinds, including note cards (with envelopes) and transparent shipping labels, just to name two. You may not be able to use all the samples--some are for laser printers, others for ink-jet. I have both and use the ink-jet mostly for doing color.

There were no glitches in the software that I could find. I imported a name list from a database file and printed a page of labels using the mail merge feature. I made a sheet of business cards incorporating my own company logo. And just for the heck of it, I imported a thumbnail size photo of my wife and made her a batch of business cards.

You can, by the way, import darn near any graphics picture. For example, your shipping labels could have a picture of your business printed in a corner or as background.

Speed and performance were up to par with my Pentium class machine. But I also tried it out with an old beat up 386 machine in the back room and didn't see any degradation in performance there. Remember that RAM is important--you'll need 8 MB, absolute minimum.

Avery Dennison's customer support is a toll-free 800 number but, depending on where you are, technical support might be a toll-charge into the 972 area code. You can also find them on the Internet at http://www.avery.com. A trial version, good for ten operations, can be downloaded from the web site. In addition, the web site has links that let you click your way into getting free downloads and advanced tips on using LabelPro®.

There are more features available in the package than I could find uses for. At $39.99 in either Mac or IBM compatible formats, it's a real time saver value. LabelPro® is one package I have no problem giving a perfect score.

Casey Wilson is a freelance writer/editor from Ridgecrest, CA. He is a recent recipient of the California Writers Jack London Award.