Quick Start Guide

Design and print envelopes, postcards, mailing and shipping labels.

The Assistant lets lets you create a label, envelope or postcard in three easy steps. It comes up when you launch Mail Factory.

Step One:

First, click on the Label, Envelope or Postcard button at the top of the window depending on what you're going to create. Then, from the list below, choose the label or postcard paper or envelope size you're going to use. To narrow the search, use the filters above the list, or the search box below. The selected layout will display in the preview area at the right. Once you've found the desired label or postcard layout or the envelope, click Next. To design your document from scratch, click the New Blank button (this will skip following steps).

Step Two:

Here you can choose one of the supplied designs for your label or envelope. Specify a category in the Category drop list at the top left part of the window. The Design list will display the available designs for this category. Click on the name in the list to select the design. It will appear in the preview area at the right. Once you've found the design you want to base on, click Next.

Step Three:

Now it's time to address your label, postcard or envelope. At the Step Three you have access to Sender, Recipient and Print List* databases from corresponding tabs.

• Sender database — embedded database for return addresses.
• Recipient database — persons' data from one of external sources or embedded My Recipients database. It is useful for printing single envelope, postcard or labels with one recipient address.
• Print List* – recipient database for batch printing multiple envelopes, postcards or labels with different recipient addresses. Select a person in Sender database and in Recipient (or Print List*) database. Personal data fields on tabs can be filled manually or you can paste address from the Clipboard using Paste from Clipboard button.

Select a person in Sender database and in Recipient (or Print List) database. Personal data fields on tabs can be filled manually or you can paste address from the Clipboard using Paste As Address button.

Now you click Finish to close the Assistant and edit the label, postcard or envelope. The Edit window will open. In the Edit window you will see recipient and sender address panels will be filled with selected data.

Editing Your Label, Postcard or Envelope

In the Edit window you can modify and move the address panels and other objects (pictures, text, etc.), change colors and fonts.

Selecting and Moving Objects

Click on an object (a picture, an address panel or a text field) to select it and drag the mouse to move it around. Hold down the Shift key to select more than one object. When you select a graphic object (an image), it displays handles on its corners, which you can drag to resize it. To duplicate the selected objects, press Cmd+D. To delete them, press Del. You can change the properties of the selected objects in the Inspector window.

Address Panels

An address panel contains fields, such as Name, Address, City, etc. which can be filled with address information — either manually or from the Address Book. To enter an address manually or edit existing data, click the specific field and type in the text. To use a contact from the contact manager, click on the Contacts toolbar button and choose a name from the list. Contacts window represents Sender, Recipient and Print List* databases. You can also paste an address from the Clipboard (menu Edit -> Paste from Clipboard) — it will be analysed and inserted into the proper fields of the address panel.
To add an address panel click Address Panel button on the toolbar. Using Format -> Refers To menu define what person the selected address panel refers to: Sender or Recipient. Use the Inspector to disable unwanted fields, show or hide the barcode (for US, Canada and UK addresses only), change the font size and color. You can change template of the selected address panel from the Format -> Address Template menu.

Text and Address Fields

To create a text box, click the “A” button on the toolbar. You can also add a text box or a separate address field dragging it from the Design window to Edit window (click the Design button on the toolbar to open the window). Then type the text into field. You can change the text properties, such as font, font size, alignment and color in the Inspector. Or you can call the standard Fonts and Colors windows from the Window menu.

Pictures

You can add images to your label, envelope or postcard — for instance, a company logo. A collection of images already comes with the program. Open the Design window by clicking the Design toolbar button. In the Design window, select the Image Collection or Handling Labels tab. Then click on an image and it will be inserted into the document. To insert your own picture, you can drag and drop it into the program or choose Custom Folder on Image Collection tab. Or you can search and download a picture from the Internet — use Search Images on Internet from the File menu. In the Inspector you can change properties of the selected picture — apply a mask, change opacity, rotate or tint it. You can also crop the image to remove the parts you don't like — choose the Crop Image command from the Edit menu and mark the crop area in the resulting dialog.

Smart Shapes

The Design window has Smart Shape tab. This is embedded source of vector images. Their properties can be changed in the Inspector.

Printing Addresses

You can print your documents on virtually any laser or inkjet printer. Click the Print or Merge Printing* button on the toolbar. The Print dialog will come up. At the left part of the dialog you can see a preview of your document. At the right part you can choose the printer, set the starting position for labels, the number of , envelopes or postcards to print, etc. If you're going to print multiple addresses select Merge Printig* radio button, you can select or edit the print list using the droplist below. Click the Next button and the window with advanced print options will come up. In this window you can choose printer, change number of copies and other settings. Now you can decide whether you want to print, see the preview or save the document as PDF.

If your labels don't line up correctly on the label paper, it means that you need to calibrate the printer. Choose Printer Calibration from the File menu, and follow the instructions in the dialog that will come up.

Registering Program

Once you've received your License Code after the purchase, you need to register the program to remove the limitations of the trial version. Call the License dialog from the application menu or by clicking the License button in the message box that comes up after launching the program. In the dialog, enter your name and the License Code you received.

Additional Information

More information can be found in the Online Help and on the program's Web site:
www.belightsoft.com/products/mailfactory/MFHelp
www.belightsoft.com/mailfactory
www.belightsoft.com/products/mailfactory/factoryfaq.php

If you don't find the answer to your question there, or something is still unclear, please write us to or fill out the form at www.belightsoft.com/products/mailfactory/supportform.php.

* — not supported in Mail Factory Home Edition.

We are always glad to help you,
BeLight Software Team.