Basic
Possibly the most user friendly labelling application on the market. The Basic edition of LabelDirect has many features such as text, a modest range of shapes, images and 15 types of barcodes. It also has the ability for a user prompt at the time of print so data can be changed without physically altering anything in the label design itself. In addition to the fixed fonts available in the printer this software can introduce into your label any of the fully scalable fonts provided by Windows, making artistic layouts possible with the same ease as more businesslike layouts like the one shown below, which can be useful in the retail environment. [See update below regarding this section] Like most labelling applications, LabelDirect can export labels to the printer's flash memory where they may be accessed from a separate keyboard to make stand-alone printing possible. Even with a "dumb" keyboard like the KDU4350 it is possible for labels to include variable data fields which prompt the user for information at print time.
Professional
The professional edition includes all the features of the basic but also has database and spreadsheet connectivity. With this feature you can design a standard label template that will import the data from the selected source to print into the variable fields. A batch of labels may consist of the entire database may be printed as Either all or just the selected rows (records) by way of the "Print List" function. The print quantity for each label can be chosen at print time or controlled by a field in the database, the latter allowing full automation. It's very convenient, when compiling a Print List, that you can use Shift+click to select a contiguous block of records and Ctrl+click to make a non contiguous selection.
The sample below illustrates a fictional courier dispatch label that is sent with our LabelStation packs. It shows how a complex label can represent data in various formats and configurations, such as barcodes and text rotated through 90 degrees or reversed white-on-black.
LabelDirect Professional has the useful ability to format variable data text boxes to currency or weight, which eliminates alignment frustrations caused by the £ sign or Kg symbol having to be placed in an adjacent box. Update: Image Computer Systems has dropped the support of exporting to a printer keyboard with LabelDirect Basic and Professional. Their SOLO system is required which is more intelligent as it supports databases but at a cost.