Printing with preinstalled printer software
Most label printers come bundled with their own proprietary software, such as ZebraDesigner for Zebra printers, CABlabel S3 Lite for CAB printers, and LabelWriter for DYMO printers. These programs provide a basic set of printing options, giving you simple printing templates. Some printers offer additional features, such as ZebraDesigner and LabelWriter, that allow you to generate barcodes. However, barcodes designed in this way are often simple with limited customization possibilities.
Another way to print labels is to use Microsoft Word. Most scientists have access to Microsoft Word through the university or the company they work for, but for those who don't, Word may incur additional costs when purchasing a lab label printer. With Word, you can only provide templates for worksheet labels and allow you to enter label data from an Excel worksheet. Barcodes can also be generated using Word with the help of third-party plugins.
With so many options, choosing printing software for your label printer can seem complicated. The choice ultimately depends on your laboratory needs; you may need a specific type of barcode, or you may have to transfer large data sets directly into your software to print a large number of labels. It's important to understand what and how you're going to print, and to evaluate whether the program you ultimately choose is compatible with your choice of lab labels, printers, and LIMS (if you're using one of those, of course).
