Creating messages with ease

If your message needs to change regularly, SmartDate's optional Composer software can save you time and enhance the look of your message.

Melbourne service co-ordinator Tony Rushton said SmartDate owners are often pleasantly surprised to learn that Composer expands SmartDate's message storage capability dramatically, allowing for the storage of hundreds of graphics or templates and the automatic update of dates and batch numbers.

Some extra tips for Composer:

Logos
To feature your company logo or a graphic as part of your printed message, make sure the file is in Windows "bmp" format.

Best Before Dates, Julian Dates, Packed on Dates. (Auto update)
Use the "Auto Update" function that allows dates to appear in days, months or years that are automatically updated by the internal clock. Dates can also include "real time", represented in hours, minutes or seconds.

Increment or Decrement Facility.
For quality assurance or equipment reports, use Composer's message counter, which can operate in either incremental or decremental mode (ascending or descending).

Text Fields
Be aware that while all SmartDate models can accommodate up to 99 characters of data per line, each has a different print area, ranging the SmartDate 2i at 53mm x 70mm, to the SmartDate 2i/100's large print area of 107mm x 70mm.

Product Manager
If most of your messages have the same layout, where only the text changes, it's beneficial to use Composer's Product Manager facility. This feature will create a database of your messages with only one template file, maximising available memory.