Microsoft Word has some features I find useful but I seldom have a use for it apart from them . It can be used to print Avery Labels, It can be used to address envelopes which are two of the most useful for me. I've been rooting around for an alternative that incorporates this features but nothing to date. Google Docs is clumsy for this. Averry software tedious and clumsy. Any suggestions
Libre Office.
It is free and MS Word / office compatible.
It is free, is as bad as microsoft word in terms of being totally overrun with creeping featurism, and is broadly compatible with the simpler files that Microsoft Word produces.
I tend to spend 85% of the time trying to get styles to actually work, and 15% of the time actually writing text.
You've tried this? Compatible is often limited.
Its also clumsy when doing labels. In word I can
How do you do this in Libre Office?
Dave
If I had that problem, I'd write a simple dirty script in some language. Something that has good output control of fonts and positioning.
I bet GitHub has plenty of shared projects of that type of thing if ye search for "label printing"
one at random,
FSVO 'compatible'.
I use FreeOffice and it works well. I don't think it has this exact feature but does have mail merge and a "mailings" tab. Seems like you can set up a whole variety of things. Might be worth a look.
Never used it, but:
Select the address - doesn't need to be in a document, could be on the web or anywhere. Ctrl-C to copy.
File -> New -> Labels
Click in the text box and Ctrl-V to paste.
Set the label size (you can select from Avery, etc standard sizes, including envelopes, cards, etc, or a custom size)
Select Options->Single label unless I want a sheet of repeating labels
Click the New Document button
I get a document with the labels in it, correctly sized.
File -> Print.
No idea if that's the approved way, but it's what appeared from 30 seconds of poking around the menus.
Theo
Two possibles - one use something very simple. For labels I actually use Corel Draw. If you have it and are familiar with it , it works.
Another thing I have or had was some basic web based stuff that used PDFlibLite coupled to some PHP to generate PDFs for downloading labels and invoices.
If you have a linux and C style environment that is very doable.
I see it his no longer available. Good thing I have source,,
Oh, there is an FPDF package for PHP now that dies the same.
If you simply want to generate a downloadable PDF from a bunch of text entered into a PHP web form, and can code, you can make that as customs as you like
Another option is a program I really like, because the basics are really easy and thats scribus. It's really a desktop publishing thing - all text is in text boxes and you can adjust kernings and font sizes and line spacings infinitely, but you *don't have to*. You can open it, select envelope size, chuck a text box in, enter some text and spit out a printable PDF
Another option then.
It all depends on what you are doing. If its generating pre-formatted data into letters and labels and production speed is important, writing a script with a web interface is pretty good really.
I've even interfaced a printer here to a server miles away,
But if its an occasional thing download some of the free word processors and try them all out.
I'm about to print 20 labels 9.5 cm X 2cm each by using the table function in word then printing them on a
1 labed per sheetBut I can have labels of any shape & size I want up to A4.
I'll be laminating these ones (so they'll be printed om plain photopaper) as they are for equipment boxes, sometimes I'll use sticky-back plastic so the ink doesn;t run or to make it more difficult for students to write over them. I also stick this sort of label to envelopes too, rather than print direct on envolopes. With these 1 sheet labels I can use word or any text editor , photoshop or anything really including dumping screen shots .
downside is there's no automation but then again I don't need that.
I've used OpenOffice (and more recently, LibreOffice) as my only office software for about 20 years, there are some minor limitations, which either don't matter to me, or which I'm aware of and can avoid.
Unfortunately v7.3 seems crashy and v7.4 has broken some features.
Google docs have recently added an extension for labels and mail merge. On the extensions menu.
So do I, and it works very well. I've made templates for the various label sizes, with the actual template on a visible but not printable layer. I just open a template and save it with a different name, then type the label text in. Bill
You're not Brian.
Well spotted.
Does make you wonder about 'progress'. Have a prog on the old Acorn called oddly !PrintLbls which allows you to quickly set up any number of labels and size that will fit A4. Allows a choice of the font used on each line too. Only slight snag is the address must be a CSV. And take ages to add a few commas. ;-)
Phew, thanks for that, I'd thought it was just me. (Any time I get frustrated by Word I just open up Libre Office on the Raspberry Pi hanging off the kitchen TV and remind myself what I'm not missing.)
Use an obsolete version of Word and make an obscene gesture in Gates' general direction.
The problem of compatibility means that they have to copy all the flaws in Word as well
The best software is the software that hasn't (needed to be) changed in decades.
Because it ItJustWorks.
A lot of it is written in COBOL...
By the way Joes Own Editor (joe) will do wordstar emulation...for those who hate mice and even cursor keys...
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