[Solved] Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
[Solved] Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
I've tried really hard to find a solution to this problem since the normal technique for removing empty fields/lines in labels doesn't work for this purpose.
The reason that I want to do this is to save pretty expensive labels sheets when I just need to print 2 or 3 labels. (That way I can print on them again from the opposite side.)
It seems like there are no linking commands for the empty labels, so I can't check for empty fields. One possibility is to only write the logo when there are linking instructions, but I have no idea how to do that.
Also...if the last "controlled" label lacks the logo, no more logos are printed, but if the last "controlled" label has a logo all the remaining labels on that sheet will get it.
I hope that made some sense...
The reason that I want to do this is to save pretty expensive labels sheets when I just need to print 2 or 3 labels. (That way I can print on them again from the opposite side.)
It seems like there are no linking commands for the empty labels, so I can't check for empty fields. One possibility is to only write the logo when there are linking instructions, but I have no idea how to do that.
Also...if the last "controlled" label lacks the logo, no more logos are printed, but if the last "controlled" label has a logo all the remaining labels on that sheet will get it.
I hope that made some sense...
Last edited by thomasjk on Thu Jun 12, 2014 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Mark thread [Solved] and add green checkmark
Reason: Mark thread [Solved] and add green checkmark
OpenOffice 4.1 on Windows 8.1
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
A label sheet consists of tiles of frames. Before printing you can delete the unwanted frames. Then close the document without saving. Better you create a template (File>Templates>Save) so you always get a fresh copy of the same file for the next set of labels.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Welcome to the forum
I am not sure of the significance of the logo as I have never used logos with labels.
However, I think you can use a workaround based on creating a copy of the data and, if you have used five labels, you delete all the text (or insert spaces) for the data in the first five fields. These five labels get printed, but nothing is printed.
You might need to separate printing the logos and printing the addresses. So, first print just the logos on all the labels on a sheet, with "blank" text. You now have "labels with logos" which only need the text to be added. Now print the text, using no data for the text in the "used" label positions.
If this solves the problem, please edit your post [Solved].
I am not sure of the significance of the logo as I have never used logos with labels.
However, I think you can use a workaround based on creating a copy of the data and, if you have used five labels, you delete all the text (or insert spaces) for the data in the first five fields. These five labels get printed, but nothing is printed.
You might need to separate printing the logos and printing the addresses. So, first print just the logos on all the labels on a sheet, with "blank" text. You now have "labels with logos" which only need the text to be added. Now print the text, using no data for the text in the "used" label positions.
If this solves the problem, please edit your post [Solved].
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Thanks John!
Well, getting the second print of the sheet correct is a separate problem, which should solve itself if I could make Writer to not print the logo on empty labels.
In that case I could just print from the other direction, assuming that I have enough labels left on the sheet.
Printing the logo separately is the only/best solution yet.
In Word this feature was extremely hard to find, but very easy to use when you figured it out. I was kind of hoping that the same feature was hidden deep down in Writer somewhere...
BTW I'm trying to print shipping labels, that's why that logo (which also contains our address) is important.
Hmmm…is there a way to hide the logo, by default, and then actively add it when there is content…? That would be like attacking the problem from the opposite direction!
Well, getting the second print of the sheet correct is a separate problem, which should solve itself if I could make Writer to not print the logo on empty labels.

Printing the logo separately is the only/best solution yet.
In Word this feature was extremely hard to find, but very easy to use when you figured it out. I was kind of hoping that the same feature was hidden deep down in Writer somewhere...
BTW I'm trying to print shipping labels, that's why that logo (which also contains our address) is important.
Hmmm…is there a way to hide the logo, by default, and then actively add it when there is content…? That would be like attacking the problem from the opposite direction!

OpenOffice 4.1 on Windows 8.1
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
I can't think of an automatic way to do it.webDing wrote:Hmmm…is there a way to hide the logo, by default, and then actively add it when there is content…? That would be like attacking the problem from the opposite direction!
A manual workaround would be to add a rectangle which covers the logo. Set the rectangle area to be No fill, with the line to none, and you have a "white" or invisible rectangle. If you now set Wrap to In background, it is as though the rectangle is the closest to the paper surface, and the text is written on top of the white rectangle. If you set Wrap to Wrap through, the rectangle is positioned "above" the text and covers what is beneath it and the logo etc disappears.
You could probably write a macro to check if there was text in the label, and if so, reveal the logo, but it would probably take longer to write and debug it than you would save time doing each manually.
If you could upload an example file it would help as we could see exactly what you are doing (or trying to do).
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
I think the simplest way to handle this would be to set up a template based on a table (rather than the frames used by the built-in File > New > Labels). The table makes it dead simple to copy/paste the label content (text/grpahics/merge fields) wherever you want on the sheet, and leave all the other label cells empty. It can be a bit fiddly to get the layout just right and manually moving the content around is a nuisance, but none of it is really hard.
Also, with a situation like this, I often use the data source panel (View > Data Sources), select the data record(s) I need and click "Data to Fields" to merge the data. Then I'm ready to print and I can see exactly what's going to come out.
Also, with a situation like this, I often use the data source panel (View > Data Sources), select the data record(s) I need and click "Data to Fields" to merge the data. Then I'm ready to print and I can see exactly what's going to come out.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Thanks for all the input!
If you guys don’t know of a built-in way to do this, I’m pretty sure there isn’t one.
Is there a wish list where I could ask for this type of functionality..? (I’m new to OO so I don’t know these basic things yet.)
I’m going to take your solutions for a spin and see how time consuming they are, it will be interesting to see how the time/money ration will turn out! It’s not like we’re losing huge amounts of money on this, but it’s annoying to have to throw away 60%, or more, of the labels.
Thank again for your ideas!
If you guys don’t know of a built-in way to do this, I’m pretty sure there isn’t one.
Is there a wish list where I could ask for this type of functionality..? (I’m new to OO so I don’t know these basic things yet.)
I’m going to take your solutions for a spin and see how time consuming they are, it will be interesting to see how the time/money ration will turn out! It’s not like we’re losing huge amounts of money on this, but it’s annoying to have to throw away 60%, or more, of the labels.
Thank again for your ideas!
OpenOffice 4.1 on Windows 8.1
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
There are many request for various improvements to the whole merge feature.
There's at least one open request for this specific feature:
Issue 96231: Print Labels On Part-Used Sheet
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.
There's at least one open request for this specific feature:
Issue 96231: Print Labels On Part-Used Sheet
You can register there and add your vote (up to two) or comment.
AOO4/LO5 • Linux • Fedora 23
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Another sneaky trick is to set the font colour to white. Again, its gets printed, but not printed. Stupid things, PCs - the trick is letting them do what they must do, so they think they are in charge; while making them do what you want.John_Ha wrote:These five labels get printed, but nothing is printed.
LO 6.4.4.2, Windows 10 Home 64 bit
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
See the Writer Guide, the Writer FAQ, the Writer Tutorials and Writer for students.
Remember: Always save your Writer files as .odt files. - see here for the many reasons why.
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Thanks again everybody!
This is how I solved it.
I put a frame, with a white background and no border, over the logo.
Then I used the ”hide paragraph trick”, but with a twist.
With the excel file I have (your milage may vary) I must put a space in the field (that I'm testing) of the first empty record.
I couldn't make any logic operator work, other than !=” ”. (Hence the space mentioned above.) This is probaby due to that testing seems to fail when there is no content at all.
So I'm hiding the white overlay until Writer finds the the first (test) field with only a space. All labels after that will automaically be treated the same way (even though there is no content).
In other words the logo (in my case) will be covered by the frame.
Please excuse the broken english, I'm Swedish...
This is how I solved it.
I put a frame, with a white background and no border, over the logo.
Then I used the ”hide paragraph trick”, but with a twist.
With the excel file I have (your milage may vary) I must put a space in the field (that I'm testing) of the first empty record.
I couldn't make any logic operator work, other than !=” ”. (Hence the space mentioned above.) This is probaby due to that testing seems to fail when there is no content at all.
So I'm hiding the white overlay until Writer finds the the first (test) field with only a space. All labels after that will automaically be treated the same way (even though there is no content).
In other words the logo (in my case) will be covered by the frame.
Please excuse the broken english, I'm Swedish...
OpenOffice 4.1 on Windows 8.1
Re: Avoid printing logo on empty/blank merged labels.
Thank you for sharing this creative solution.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice
Ubuntu 18.04 with LibreOffice 6.0, latest OpenOffice and LibreOffice