The QR and barcode creators inside Labels by Zaweba

Two creators are tucked into the Insert menu of Labels by Zaweba. Insert > QR code creator and Insert > Barcode creator open the stand-alone creators from QR by Zaweba and Barcode by Zaweba in a tool window, right beside your label design. When the code is how you want it, the Put on the label button adds it to the design, centred and selected, and shrunk to fit if the label is small.

The designer already has simple QR code and barcode items of its own. The creators are there for the times you want the fuller set of choices those two apps offer, without saving a file in one program and importing it into another.

What the creators add

QR by Zaweba builds codes for web addresses, Wi-Fi networks, contact cards, emails, phone calls, text messages, map locations and plain text. You fill in a few boxes and it writes the exact text phones expect, so a Wi-Fi code joins the network and a contact card saves the contact. It reads every code back as you change it and tells you plainly if something would stop it scanning. You can also put a logo in the middle.

Barcode by Zaweba makes Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, ITF-14 and Codabar barcodes, with EAN, UPC and ITF-14 check digits worked out for you or checked if you type them. Each type explains what it accepts and what it is for, and the live preview reads the barcode back on every change.

Inside Labels you get those same creators, so the checking and the plain explanations come with them.

Putting a code on a label

Open your design on the label designer tab. Choose Insert > QR code creator or Insert > Barcode creator. Fill in the creator as you would in the stand-alone app and watch the preview confirm that it reads back. Then press Put on the label.

The code arrives in the middle of the label, already selected, so you can drag it straight into position, resize it with the handles or nudge it with the arrow keys. On small labels it is shrunk to fit, which saves you hunting for a code that has landed larger than the label. Resize it afterwards if you want it smaller still, keeping in mind that a code printed too small can be hard to scan.

If your QR code has a logo in it, it arrives with a white patch behind the logo. That keeps the logo clear of the code's squares and helps phones read it, even when the label has a coloured background.

Jobs it suits

A holiday let can print a Wi-Fi QR code onto a sticker for the kitchen, with a short line of text above it and a border around the lot. A small shop can make a product label with an EAN-13 barcode, the product name and a price band. A club can add a QR code with its web address to the return address labels on a mailing. An office can tag equipment with a Code 128 barcode and the item's name.

In each case the creator builds a code you can trust, and the label designer handles the layout, the sheet and the printing.

When to use the built-in items instead

Choose the designer's own QR code item when each label needs a different code. It accepts merge fields, so a QR code on a guest badge can carry a link with that guest's name in it, filled in as the labels print. The creator, by contrast, makes one finished code for the design.

For a fixed code that is the same on every label, such as a website link or a product barcode, the creator is the better route, because it explains the options and checks the result.

Before you print a batch

Leave a quiet margin round any code. Crowding a barcode with text or a border can stop it scanning, even though it looked fine in the creator.

Test a printed label with a phone or scanner before printing hundreds. Printers, paper and label sizes all affect how a code reads, and one test sheet is much cheaper than a box of labels.

And remember that real EAN and UPC product numbers have to come from GS1 or your supplier. The creator draws the barcode for the number you give it; it doesn't issue numbers.