Creating Address Labels with Draw

Note: when we say "click the mouse" we mean the Select (left) button unless otherwise stated.

1. Before you start , you will need to know the following measurements, in centimetres, about the labels you bought for printing on:

a. Distance from left edge of page to left edge of first label.

b. Distance from bottom of page to top of first label. It may be easier to measure the distance from the top of page to the first label and subtract from 29.7 (length of A4 paper).

c. Width of the labels

d. Depth of the labels

e. The gap between columns of labels (if there is one)

For example, a=0.2, b=27.6, c=6.7, d=2.55, e=0.25cm.

2. Start a new Drawing and ensure the paper limits are set to A4 portrait (Menu > Misc > Paper Limits). Zoom out to a factor of 1:3.

3. Select the open line tool. Choose a light grey colour as the line colour. Draw an accurately-positioned line to mark the left hand margin. Using your measurements from step 1, this will be (a, 0) to (a, 29.7). If you are not sure about accurately-positioned lines, refer back to the tutorial.

4. Draw another vertical line to mark the edge of the first column of labels. This will be (a + c, 0) to (a + c, 29.7).

5. Draw a vertical line to mark the left hand edge of the next column of labels. This will be (a + c + e, 0) to (a + c + e, 29.7).

6. Draw more vertical lines to mark the sides of the other labels. In this example, the right hand edge of the second column of labels is a + 2*c + e = 0.2 + 2*6.7 + 0.25 = 13.85, so the line goes from (13.85, 0) to (13.85, 29.7). The left hand edge of the third column of labels is a + 2*c + 2*e = 14.1cm, and the right edge a + 3*c + 2*e = 20.8 (or 21, the width of A4, - 0.2 = 20.8).

7. Using a similar procedure as described in steps 5 and 6, draw horizontal lines to mark the tops and bottoms of the labels. The first will be at (0, b) to (21, b).

8. Keep subtracting the depth of the label, d, from your previous y value. The second line will be 27.6 - 2.55 = 25.05. The third at 22.5 and so on.

9. Save your finished template with a suitable filename, for example 'label3x10'.

10. Press Control D to zoom to 1:1. Use the scroll bars to move to the top left label. Select the Text tool.

11. Press Menu > Style > Font name. Locate Homerton in the list of fonts and adjust-click to select it. Move the pointer back to the open Style menu and go across to Font size and select a suitable point size for your label, for example10.

12. Click anywhere near the top left of the label. Type the address, pressing Return after each line.

13. Press Control A to select everything. Deselect each line of the address by adjust-clicking. Put your sheet of labels into the printer, and press Menu > Misc > Print (or press the Print Screen button on the keyboard.)

Click here for an example Drawfile template.