Editions, Specifications and Features Summary

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BarTender Editions Summary

BarTender is available in five editions that address a wide range of features and user requirements. This general overview is followed by a more detailed Features and Editions Comparison Chart.

Enterprise Licensing: All three Enterprise editions allow unlimited network users. Licensing is based on the maximum number of printers used by BarTender on the network.

Enterprise Print Server

Our most powerful edition. Includes all of the label design, printing, software integration, and data sourcing features of the Enterprise and RFID Enterprise editions, plus advanced server functions for centralized printing, security and administration. Includes BarTender Web Print Server to print labels from any browser. Contains our most advanced integration features, including TCP/IP triggers, SAP AII, Oracle XML, XML transforms, and XML scripting. Includes full functionality for all of the Companion Applications, including Librarian and logging to centralized databases. Tracks printer parts inventory and in-printer media usage.

RFID Enterprise

Includes - All features of the base Enterprise edition (see below), plus all available RFID design and encoding capabilities.

Enterprise

Includes - All of BarTender's most powerful label design features. Numerous software integration tools, such as ActiveX Automation, enterprise messaging and Seagull's Commander utility for cross-platform integration. All the data sourcing of Professional, plus support for SAP IDocs. Includes all of the Companion Applications except for Librarian, but not all of the features. Logging to local databases only.

Omits - No RFID. Does not offer the enhanced server functions, advanced integration (such as XML and SAP AII), and web printing capabilities of Enterprise Print Server (see above). No Librarian. Excludes some Companion Application features. No logging to centralized databases. No inventory control of printer supplies.

PC Licensing: The Professional and Basic editions are licensed based on the number of PCs.

Professional

Includes - All of BarTender's most powerful label design features. Data access for network databases (using OLE DB and ODBC), as well as spreadsheets and text files. Includes some of the Companion Applications: Batch Maker, Print Station and Printer Maestro. Printer Maestro only manages local and network printers (and print jobs) for which there are drivers installed on the local PC. (All editions are fully network compatible.)

Omits - No control from within other software. (No ActiveX, Commander or command lines.) No SAP or XML support. No job logging or e-mailed error alerts. Cannot export printer code templates. Excludes all features omitted from the Enterprise edition.  Does not include many of the Companion Applications.

Basic

Includes – The most frequently used label design features. Includes all text, graphics, bar code, and most serializing capabilities. Useful for keyboard and scanner-supplied label data only. Print Station is the only included Companion Application.

Omits – No access to external data. No password protection of label formats, no VB Script customization, no string concatenation, and only limited text filtering. No custom-base serialization. Excludes all features omitted from Professional, plus no Printer Maestro and no Batch Maker.

Features and Editions Comparison Chart

The following chart compares the features available in each of the five editions of the BarTender Label Management Suite.

Edition heading abbreviations:

EP = Enterprise Print Server
RE = RFID Enterprise
E = Enterprise
P = Professional
B = Basic

Grid characters used:

= Feature is fully supported
= Partially supported
= Supports shareable centralized databases
= Supports local databases only
= Supports all printers and print jobs on the network
= Works for local and network printers (and print jobs) for which there are drivers installed on the local PC

Current feature comparison mode:

    
    
    

EDITIONS: EP RE E P B
GENERAL  
Licensed based on the number of printers used          
Licensed based on the number of PCs used          
Free phone and e-mail technical support for properly-registered users          
HTML-based context-sensitive help          
User interface translated into 20+ languages          
COMPANION APPLICATIONS (More details...)  
Commander. (Controls BarTender in response to triggers from other programs)          
Security Center. (Provides security features for other applications in the suite, such as user permissions and format encryption)          
Printer Maestro. (Administers to printers and print queues on the network)          
Librarian. (Controls access, manages workflow, and tracks revisions to label formats and other documents within a secure database)          
History Explorer. (Views the logs stored in the BarTender System Database)          
Reprint Console. (Reprints previously printed labels)          
Print Station. (Provides a simple "single-click" interface for selecting and printing label formats)          
Batch Maker. (Defines and prints "batches" of multiple label formats)          
LABEL DESIGN  
True WYSIWYG label design          
Design labels up to 128 inches (3.25 m) long and/or wide (subject to limits of printer and driver)          
"New Label" wizard ensures proper label setup and
optimizes performance
         
Drag and drop creation of all objects, including lines, boxes, ellipses, and graphic images          
To simplify conversion from legacy systems, import and lighten photographs of old labels for use as design templates          
Unlimited undo / redo command          
Resize and reposition objects using a choice of methods: mouse, arrow keys, typed in values          
Functions for automatic alignment of multiple objects          
One-tenth degree rotation of lines, boxes, text, and graphics          
"Move to Front" and "Send to Back"          
Group and Ungroup multiple objects          
Export bar codes and labels for use in other programs          
Full color support for all label objects          
Customizable print-time prompts for keyboard and scanner data          
Customizable library of reusable components          
Library of "ready-to-print" label formats          
Thumbnail previews of saved label formats, viewable
both in BarTender and Windows explorer
         
Metric and US measurements          
LABEL STOCK  
Any label size          
Any number of label rows and columns per sheet          
Automatic computation of label size from number of rows and columns          
Database of thousands of name brand label sizes          
Rectangular label outline          
Circular and elliptical label outline          
TEXT  
Versatile font support: TrueType, Adobe, PostScript, downloadable, and built-in printer fonts          
On-screen text editing and sizing          
Rich text formatting          
Stretch text horizontally or vertically          
Automatic on-the-fly resizing of text to fit within predefined height and width          
Basic paragraph support: aligning and spacing          
Advanced paragraph support: justifying and indenting          
Arc and circular text          
User-definable tab stops          
White-on-black text printing (specified with a single mouse click)          
BAR CODES  
Numerous 1 and 2 dimensional symbologies          
Extensive library of industry-standard bar code formats          
Option to display start / stop characters          
Variable and unlimited width and height          
Minimum width limited only by printer resolution          
GS1 (formerly UCC/EAN) Application Identifier setup wizard          
Automatic check digit capability          
Sequentially numbered bar codes          
Place "human readable" text anywhere in relation to bar codes          
Customizable "human readable" character template          
Independently suppress or display characters
from different sub-fields
         
GRAPHICS, IMAGES AND SYMBOLS  
Draw lines, circles, ellipses, rectangles, rounded rectangles and filled rectangles          
Import more than 70 graphic formats, including BMP, DCX, DIB, DXF, EPS, GIF, IMG, JPG, PCX, PNG, TGA, TIF, WMF, WPG, and more          
Acquire design-time images directly from scanners and cameras          
Basic image processing: adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, sharpness, smoothing, cropping and more          
Industry-specific graphic symbol font libraries          
Linked graphics allow changes to external graphics without having to edit label formats          
Specify background images and colors to appear "behind" label designs          
PRINTING  
Over 1,900 industrial label printers supported          
True Windows drivers, can be used by other programs          
Seagull drivers with status monitor display printer status in the standard Windows spooler          
"Batch Maker" defines and prints "batches" of multiple label formats          
"Print Station" supports "single-click" label selection and printing          
Export printer code templates to XML enabled printers          
Advanced on-screen print preview          
Advanced cutter control          
Set starting position on pages of partially used labels          
Supports printer-based bar codes, serial numbers,
time, date, and copies
         
Speed optimization reuses repeating data instead of resending it          
Local and network printer support          
Label copy count controllable from keyboard and database          
SERIALIZATION  
Basic serialization (increment, numeric base 10)          
Numeric, alphabetic, and alphanumeric increment / decrement by any interval          
Base 36 and custom base serialization          
Separate rollover / rollunder and value reset options          
Preserve or expand field length when rolling over          
DATABASE OPTIONS  
Microsoft OLE DB and ODBC support, including drivers for:  Access, AS/400, Btrieve, dBase, Excel, Informix, Interbase, MySQL, Oracle database, Pervasive.SQL, PostgreSQL, Progress, SQL Server, Sybase, and more          
Read Excel files          
Read ASCII & Unicode text files (quote & comma, fixed width, and user-defined delimitation)          
SAP-certified interface to AII (Auto ID Infrastructure) XML documents          
Read data from SAP IDocs          
Oracle-certified interface to XML label requests          
Drag and drop data linking          
Versatile multiple-table data access          
Import variable graphics from databases          
Data query wizard and custom SQL assistant          
Individual record-picking at print time          
DATA PROCESSING  
Full-system Unicode support (field names, files,
servers, printers, etc.)
         
Visual Basic scripting for custom data processing          
User-definable min and max field lengths          
Use and/or exclude select portions of database fields          
Customizable data-entry filters and error checking          
Custom configure the handling of individual messages and alerts          
Multiple sub-fields concatenated per label object          
Source data with keyboard, time and date (from PC or printer)          
Easy entry of special and "unprintable" control characters          
Shareable data fields          
STANDARD INTEGRATION  
Can be run as "background" application          
Control from other programs using ActiveX          
"Commander" Integration Utility: senses incoming data, then starts print jobs and logs results          
Control from other programs using command lines          
Specify label formats and data sources from within other programs          
Automated printer selection          
Logs errors and events to a file          
Log BarTender print job details to a database          
Log application errors and events to a database          
Custom error, event and status e-mails          
Generate and export printer code templates for SAPscript-ITF, Oracle XML and more          
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION AND SECURITY  
"Security Center" manages user permissions and encrypts label formats          
"Security Center" supports electronic signatures and logs permission requests          
Lock down individual label formats with passwords          
Lock down BarTender into a password-protected "print-only" mode          
Audit past label jobs and other events using History Explorer          
Include label images when logging BarTender print jobs          
"Librarian" manages label formats within a secure database          
ADVANCED INTEGRATION  
SAP Certified for AII integration          
Read data from SAP IDocs          
Oracle-certified interface to XML label requests          
Oracle XML integration using a TCP/IP socket          
Enhanced version of Commander supports TCP/IP triggers and data transmission          
Commander optimized to receive, launch, and monitor new print jobs without waiting for existing jobs to finish          
Automated conversion of different XML formats using XSL style sheets          
BarTender XML Command Scripts speed up automation and simplify remote control          
Commander can return XML status response as a file or through a TCP/IP port          
Detailed print job status available to other programs using ActiveX          
.NET SDK to control one BarTender at a time. (C# & VB.NET examples included)          
.NET SDK to control multiple instances of BarTender at once          
RFID SUPPORT  
Encode EPC Gen2, EPC Class 1, ISO 18000-6b, ISO 15693, Tag-It, I-CODE, TagSys, My-d, and Picotag tag types          
Supports DoD, Wal-Mart, and other EPC data formats, including SGTIN, SSCC, GIAI, GID, GRAI, SGLN          
Support for many single and double-byte codepages, including Asian languages, UTF-8 and UTF-16          
Able to duplicate RFID data in text and bar code form          
Supports optional write protection          
Segment and Start Block support, including writing to multiple blocks          
Able to configure printer's RFID options (e.g., Transponder Offset and Maximum Retries)          
Display antenna, chip, and substrate on label. Select predefined or specify custom antenna bitmaps          
ENTERPRISE PRINT MANAGEMENT  
Optimized for high-volume label requests from numerous network users to one or more servers          
Browser-based network and internet printing          
ASP.NET sample application for customizable web browser printing          
Windows Cluster Server supported          
Reprint function lets you search for and replace lost and damaged labels          
Configure security, spooler and other selected driver settings for multiple printers at once.          
In one window, see status of all Windows print jobs          
Log printer events for Windows print jobs other than just those from BarTender          
Specify custom alerts for printer events and low inventory levels          
Track printer media usage and inventory of printer parts          

International Language Support

BarTender is available in international Editions that support on-demand switching of the displayed user-interface language between the following:

Chinese
(Simplified & Traditional)
German Portuguese
(European & Brazilian)
Czech Greek Polish
Danish Hungarian Russian
Dutch Italian Spanish
English Japanese Swedish
Finnish Korean Thai
French Norwegian Turkish

Bar Code Support

Linear Bar Codes:

AIAG FIM C MSI Plessey
Australia Post GS1-128 (UCC-EAN 128) Royal Mail
Canadian Customs GS1-DataBar (RSS) RSS
Codabar HIBC Primary SCC-14
Code 128 HIBC Secondary SSCC-18
Code 39
(Regular & Full ASCII)
Intelligent Mail Telepen
Code 93 Interleaved 2-of-5 Tri-Optic
EAN 128 ISBT 128 UCC-EAN 128
EAN Bookland ITF-14 UPC-A
EAN-JAN-8 Japanese Post UPC-E
EAN-JAN-13 KIX Code UPS Tracking
FIM A LOGMARS US Postal

Two Dimensional Bar Codes:

Aztec Maxicode TLC39
Data Matrix PDF417 (Micro & Standard)  
EAN.UCC (GS1) Composite QR Code (Micro & Standard)  

Supported RFID Tag Types and Data Formats

The RFID Enterprise and Enterprise Print Server editions support the EPC Gen2, EPC Class 1, ISO 18000-6b, ISO 15693, Tag-It, I-CODE, TagSys, My-d, and Picotag tag types. All EPC data formats are supported, including DoD, Wal-Mart, SGTIN, SSCC, GIAI, GID, GRAI, and SGLN, among others.

Supported Printers

BarTender supports any printer with a Windows driver. In addition to virtually all laser, ink-jet and dot-matrix printers, this includes the following, for which Seagull has developed its own enhanced Windows printer drivers:

Accumax Graphic Products Quick Label Systems
Argox IBM Ring
ASTECH Imaje Samsung
APS Intermec SATO
Autonics K-SUN SII
Avery Dennison KROY Sumitomo
Birch Markpoint System Wave
Brady MAX Tharo
C. Itoh Meto Thermopatch
cab Metrologic ThermoTex
Century Systems MICROPLEX Toshiba TEC
Citizen Monarch TSC
Cognitive Solutions Novexx Tyco
Comtec O'Neil UBI
Datamax Okabe Unimark
Datasouth OPAL Valentin
Dedruma Paxar VIPColor
Eltron Pitney Bowes Wasp
ETISYS Postek Wedderburn
General Code Pressiza Zebra
Godex Printronix  

System Requirements and Compatibility

Supported Operating Systems:

All editions of Windows 2000*, 2000 Server*, Server 2003, Server 2008, XP (SP2 and higher), Vista and Windows 7. Includes 32-bit and 64-bit (x64) editions.

*The Print Station companion application is not supported by Windows 2000 or 2000 Server.

Hard Disk:

  • Minimum 60 MB free space required for English-only version of BarTender.
  • Up to 960 MB free space required for full, multilingual BarTender Label Management Suite.
  • Additional disk space required to enable optional logging of print jobs and event messages to a database.

CPU: 1 GHz or higher

Memory: 512 MB or higher

Display Resolution: 800 x 600 (1024 x 768 or higher recommended)

.NET Framework:

The .NET Framework 2.0 (SP1) is copied automatically from the BarTender CD or from the internet. (If you are installing a downloaded BarTender, and do not already have .NET Framework 2.0 installed, then you will need an active internet connection during the install.)

Optional Database:

Logging of print jobs and event messages requires either Microsoft SQL 2005 Express (included with BarTender) or Microsoft SQL 2005 (or higher) Server (purchased from a database vendor).

Web Browser:

Microsoft Internet Explorer v6 or higher required for History Explorer and BarTender help system.

(Note: TCP/IP network protocol is required for all Enterprise editions and by the Professional edition when Printer Maestro is used.)