English

BarTender 2021
PRODUCT REFERENCE GUIDE

EASE
REL
NEW
BarTender® product reference guide

Summary
This document provides the “standard” definition for describing BarTender editions, product features,
value propositions.

Version Date Notes

. October  First Release (includes BarTender  Preview )

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Contents
Summary ________________________________________________________________ 
Overview ________________________________________________________________ 
Unique value proposition _________________________________________________________ 
BarTender capabilities ___________________________________________________________ 
Label design _________________________________________________________________________ 
System automation ____________________________________________________________________ 
System integration ____________________________________________________________________ 
Label workflow and production control ____________________________________________________ 
Optimized printing ____________________________________________________________________ 
Comprehensive document storage and management __________________________________________ 
Advanced label and printing security_______________________________________________________ 
Reliability and disaster recovery __________________________________________________________ 
Flexible deployment options _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender global support _______________________________________________________________ 

Bartender edition portfolio __________________________________________________

BarTender suite companion applications ________________________________________ 
BarTender Starter Edition ___________________________________________________
Features _____________________________________________________________________ 
WYSIWYG design and print (available in all BarTender editions) ________________________________ 
Dynamic data (available in all BarTender editions) ___________________________________________ 
High-performance printing using Drivers by Seagull™ (available in all BarTender editions) _____________ 
GS Application Identifier Data Source Wizard ______________________________________________ 
Print job logging _____________________________________________________________________ 

BarTender companion applications in the Starter Edition ______________________________ 

BarTender Administration Console _______________________________________________________ 
BarTender History Explorer ____________________________________________________________ 

BarTender Starter Edition licensing considerations ___________________________________ 

BarTender Professional Edition _______________________________________________
Features _____________________________________________________________________ 
Simplified and standardized label designs with templates that vary at print time ____________________ 
BarTender Intelligent Templates™ _______________________________________________________ 
BarTender serialization ________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender full color support ____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender application and document security ______________________________________________ 
Labels with data from external and embedded databases ______________________________________ 
BarTender external database connectivity support _________________________________________ 
BarTender internal database table support _______________________________________________ 
BarTender Data Builder _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender embedded data tables ______________________________________________________ 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Standardized and automated data input for printing _________________________________________ 

BarTender data entry forms __________________________________________________________ 
Support for encoding technologies and more printers ________________________________________ 
BarTender enhanced encoding support _________________________________________________ 
BarTender print to pdf ______________________________________________________________ 
Separate access to label printing capabilities from anytime, anywhere ____________________________ 
BarTender Print Station _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Portal ______________________________________________________________ 

BarTender companion applications in the Professional Edition __________________________ 

BarTender Administration Console _______________________________________________________ 
BarTender History Explorer ____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Data Builder _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Station _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Portal ________________________________________________________________ 

BarTender Automation Edition ______________________________________________ 

Features _____________________________________________________________________ 
Seamlessly integrate automated label and document printing with existing business systems __________ 
BarTender business systems integrations ________________________________________________ 
BarTender Integration Builder ________________________________________________________ 
BarTender .NET SDK _______________________________________________________________ 
Ability to automate processes associated with label printing ___________________________________ 
BarTender Process Builder ___________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Intelligent Form controls (in BarTender Designer) _________________________________ 
BarTender document-level controls (in BarTender Designer) _________________________________ 
Printer code templates (in BarTender Designer) ___________________________________________ 
Reprint options for damaged or defective labels _____________________________________________ 
BarTender Reprint Console ___________________________________________________________ 

BarTender companion applications in the Automation Edition __________________________ 

BarTender Administration Console _______________________________________________________ 
BarTender History Explorer ____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Data Builder _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Station _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Portal ________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Integration Builder __________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Process Builder _____________________________________________________________ 
Bartender Reprint Console _____________________________________________________________ 

BarTender Enterprise Edition _________________________________________________ 

Features _____________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Designer features available in the BarTender Enterprise Edition ________________________ 
Content management for centralized storage and revision control _______________________________ 
BarTender Librarian ________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender workflow orchestration for label lifecycle management ______________________________ 
Access to printing and workflow orchestration ______________________________________________ 
BarTender Librarian Workflow Designer _________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Station _____________________________________________________________ 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Print Portal ______________________________________________________________ 

BarTender Print Portal REST API ______________________________________________________ 
Enhanced security and access logging _____________________________________________________ 
Business continuity and disaster recovery support ___________________________________________ 
Global operations support ______________________________________________________________ 
Multi-language phrase support ________________________________________________________ 
Global database fields _______________________________________________________________ 
Visibility and control over all Windows print service operations _________________________________ 
BarTender Printer Maestro ___________________________________________________________ 

BarTender companion applications in the Enterprise Edition ___________________________ 

BarTender Administration Console _______________________________________________________ 
BarTender Librarian __________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender History Explorer ____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Data Builder _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Station _______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Portal ________________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Integration Builder __________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Process Builder _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Reprint Console _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Printer Maestro _____________________________________________________________ 

BarTender components and services ____________________________________________

BarTender system database ______________________________________________________ 
BarTender services _____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender System service ______________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Integration service ___________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Print Scheduler service _______________________________________________________ 
Printer Maestro service ________________________________________________________________ 

BarTender BTXML script language ________________________________________________ 

BarTender licensing ____________________________________________________________ 
BarTender Licensing service ____________________________________________________________ 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Overview
BarTender® software by Seagull Scientific transforms data into the labels, barcodes, RFID tags, packing
slips and pallet labels that drive business.
BarTender is the world's most trusted software for labeling. BarTender is adaptable and configurable,
providing support and advanced capabilities for integrating with existing and future business systems.

Unique value proposition

BarTender is for organizations of all sizes that depend on accurate label printing operations. With
BarTender, small business and enterprises can turn their label design and printing into repeatable
business processes.
BarTender is built from the ground up to support the complexities of any-scale deployments. It's the
labeling software standard for the world's most dynamic supply chains and manufacturing operations
in every industry — from aerospace and automotive to chemical and pharmaceutical, from food and
beverage to retail and medical devices.
When compared to other labeling solutions, BarTender is more powerful and easier to use.
BarTender offers:

• More built-in and advanced functionality throughout the labeling process.

• Flexible integration ranging from no-coding integration by non-developers to deep
integration using .NET SDKs and REST APIs.
• Customer success through an extensive network of value-add partners

BarTender capabilities

Figure  BarTender capabilities

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Label design

BarTender includes an intuitive, robust application for designing and printing commercial-quality
labels, badges, RFID tags, cards, posters and more. Label and document designers can leverage data
entry forms and BarTender’s Intelligent Templates™ to standardize and simplify the label printing
experience. BarTender includes:

• A % WYSIWYG interface for advanced and straightforward label design without the need
for additional scripting
•  preformatted, ready-to-use barcode components based on  barcode D and D
symbologies and more than a dozen barcode standards
• Support for more than  graphic formats, including AI, PNG, JPG, BMP, TIF, EPS and GIF
• + drawing shapes that can be resized, reshaped and colored in just about any way imaginable
• Over  predefined label templates from common industries and use cases
• Predefined printer stock settings for over  suppliers
•  configurable form controls and eight form-level actions available to designers for responsive
data entry forms

System automation

BarTender system automation provides a robust set of automation tools that reduce or eliminate
manual intervention in the label printing process. With BarTender system automation, enterprises can
reduce errors and streamline printing operations by creating and executing scripts that perform
repetitive tasks. BarTender system automation uses a simple “event/action” concept where designers
can specify actions BarTender performs when predefined events occur. BarTender Process Builder
provides a no-code way for designers to create scripts that automate repetitive steps associated with
label printing. For example, users can build a process to print documents or perform other actions,
such as sending an email message or writing to a database. BarTender offers:

• An intuitive Process Builder application makes it easy for designers to automate repetitive
tasks with process automation scripts
• A pre-built library of over  commonly performed automation actions
• Execution of automation scripts written in PowerShell, BarTender XML (BTXML) and shell
commands (running operating system commands and third-party utilities)

System integration

BarTender System integration seamlessly connects BarTender's printing capabilities with virtually any
enterprise business operation, including ERP, MES, WMS and custom-made systems. BarTender's
system integration includes a powerful no-code Integration Builder application, support for the
broadest range of integration methods, connectors to the industry's most used databases and data file
types and a run-time process to execute integrations automatically. BarTender also includes a rich set
of REST APIs and a .NET SDK for organizations looking to integrate label printing with existing
business systems. BarTender includes:

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

• An intuitive Integration Builder application that makes it easy for designers to configure
integrations between BarTender and any business system
• Support for eight integration methods, including time schedules, web services, databases,
email, message queues, files, network sockets and serial ports
• A pre-built library of over  commonly performed integration actions
• Over  supported native databases and data file connection types

Label workflow and production control

Workflows and production controls standardize and document label design, label approval, label
deployment and label use — a crucial capability for organizations in highly regulated industries with
stringent traceability and compliance requirements.
BarTender provides a comprehensive workflow system that includes a workflow designer and user
tools to review and approve workflow steps.

• A visual workflow designer makes it easy for users to define label review and approval workflows
• Authorized users can review, approve, deploy and use labels from any web browser or
dedicated print stations

Optimized printing

BarTender can print labels and documents to any device with a Windows printer driver. Additionally,
BarTender includes support for optimized Drivers by Seagull™ — enhanced printer drivers for over
, commercial label printers and output devices providing the highest printing and access to
advanced printer features — available as separate downloads from Seagull Scientific.

Comprehensive document storage and management

BarTender provides a comprehensive centralized environment for monitoring and managing templates
and documents across sites and continents, whether in a single facility, in geographically distributed
plants, in the cloud or on-premises.

• BarTender Librarian label document management system provides a secure central repository
of label templates and documents
• Revision control and audit trails

Advanced label and printing security

With BarTender security, administrators and label designers can create built-in protections to guard
against unauthorized or inadvertent label modification and printing.

• Secure document access with role-based security and user permissions

• Electronic signatures
• Document encryption and access controls
• Printing access controls

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Reliability and disaster recovery

Label printing is often a mission-critical capability requiring // availability. With BarTender,
advanced, always-on high-availability options, enterprises can deploy the BarTender License Server in
redundant high-availability configurations designed to be fault-tolerant.

Flexible deployment options

The BarTender architecture is flexible, allowing deployment on-premises, in public, private and hybrid
cloud environments. Authorized users can select and print labels and documents from any location
using any device with a modern web browser or dedicated Windows workstations.

BarTender global support

Seagull Scientific’s global support ensures that users get the most out of their software investment
from small businesses to large enterprises.

• Guaranteed initial reply times during business hours

• An industry-first Service Level Target initiative, establishing support deliverable objectives and
reporting

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Bartender edition portfolio

BarTender is available in four editions, each addressing increasing needs.

Figure  - BarTender edition capabilities

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Starter Edition provides basic business label design and printing with easy-to-use design
tools and essential printing management. BarTender Starter Edition includes features to address three
requirements:

• An easy-to-use tool to design and print commercial-quality labels containing industry-standard

barcodes
• Ability to manually print labels using local spreadsheet data
• Printing that seamlessly works with specialized label printers and label stock
BarTender Professional Edition provides dynamic business printing, enabling sophisticated label and
card designs that leverage content from databases, spreadsheets and other files. With the Professional
Edition, organizations of any size can operationalize their label design and printing operations.
BarTender Professional Edition adds support for features to address five additional requirements:

• Support for complex label designs that vary at print time

• Data from a wide variety of sources (local databases, external databases and cloud data
services)
• Input and output device diversity (scanners, weight scales and cameras, RFID tags, smartcard,
magnetic stripe card printers)
• Standardized printing workstation separated from label design and maintenance
• Anywhere, anytime printing from any device using a modern web browser 1
BarTender Automation Edition provides efficient automated printing for businesses integrating their
business systems (ERP, MES, WMS and custom-made systems) and label printing operations.
BarTender Automation Edition adds support for features to address three additional requirements:

• Flexible integration — without coding — between business systems and printing operations
• Process automation to reduce and eliminate manual operations from the label printing process
• Label reprint for automated print runs where label output may be defective, damaged or lost
BarTender Enterprise Edition provides comprehensive enterprise-wide label management and
printing, adding the security, traceability, reliability and centralized control required by production
label printing operations. BarTender Enterprise Edition is meant for organizations of all sizes who need:

• Reliable // label and document printing operations

• Visibility and control over the document design and maintenance process
• Traceability and logging to meet compliance or regulatory requirements
• Multi-site or globally distributed print operations that are centrally managed
• Web application integration using RESTful web services
• Advanced security to control access to design and print applications, documents and processes
• Redundant high-availability configurations providing business continuity

1
BarTender  Preview 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender suite companion applications

The BarTender suite includes the BarTender Designer application, ten additional companion
applications and two developer resources. During a standard installation, BarTender installs the
BarTender Designer application and all companion applications. Each BarTender edition includes
support for a unique set of BarTender companion applications and edition-specific features within a
companion application.
Description Starter Professional Automation Enterprise

BarTender Administration Console is used by

administrators to control and configure important
aspects of BarTender, such as printers, database    
connections, application integrations, security, licensing,
logging and other local services used by BarTender.
BarTender History Explorer displays BarTender status
messages (print jobs, application messages, security
permission checks and inventory levels). In higher 2 3 4 5
editions, it can reprint labels.
BarTender Data Builder is used to create and manage
BarTender embedded database tables.   
BarTender Print Station is a stand-alone application
used to browse and quickly print BarTender files.   
BarTender Print Portal is a web-based service that users
can use to browse and quickly print BarTender files from 6 7 
any modern web browser.
BarTender Integration Builder is used to implement
highly configurable integrations that seamlessly connect
the printing capabilities of BarTender to virtually any  
enterprise business operation or process without the
need for programming.
BarTender Process Builder is a stand-alone application
that creates customizable process files that run one or
more actions in sequence.
 
BarTender Reprint Console provides an easy-to-use and
configurable interface used to view, select and reprint  
labels.

2
Starter Edition logs seven () days of BarTender Suite messages and print jobs
3
Professional Edition logs seven () days of BarTender Suite messages, print job and security permission checks
4
Automation Edition logs seven () days of BarTender Suite messages, print job, security permission checks and
can reprint labels and documents
5
Enterprise Edition logs unlimited days of BarTender Suite messages, Printer Maestro messages, print jobs,
security permission checks and can reprint labels and documents
6
BarTender  Preview 
7
BarTender  Preview 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Description Starter Professional Automation Enterprise

BarTender .NET SDK allows enterprises to build custom

applications or web front ends to improve print  
operations performance and efficiency.
Developers can use the BarTender Print Portal REST
API to automate Print Portal tasks and integrate Print  
Portal with other applications.
BarTender Librarian is a content management
application that designers, administrators and other
users can use to manage BarTender documents 
collaboratively and securely.
BarTender Printer Maestro application provides a
convenient way to monitor printers, print jobs and
printing-related inventory items, such as toner, print 
media, print heads and memory.
Figure  - BarTender companion applications

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Starter Edition

BarTender Starter Edition provides business label design and printing with easy-to-use design tools,
allowing users to design and print commercial labels quickly and easily. New users can be up and
running in minutes using BarTender's intuitive design tools, wizards and extensive library of sample
label templates.

Features
WYSIWYG design and print (available in all BarTender editions)

BarTender Designer is the primary application within the BarTender suite. BarTender
Designer is a single, easy-to-use purpose-built label and document design application.
BarTender Designer simplifies and accelerates the commercial label design process by
providing all the tools needed by designers of any experience level. Template
designers use BarTender Designer to create templates and associate template objects
with dynamic data. Additionally, print operators or designers use BarTender Designer
to print labels and documents.

Benefit: BarTender Designer replaces complex general-purpose graphic design applications

with a data-aware application built specifically for commercial label design and
printing. Designers of any experience level can quickly create and print compelling
labels and documents for commercial use.
BarTender Designer includes all the tools a label designer needs to create commercial labels and
documents (badges, signs, posters and more). BarTender Designer includes over  preformatted,
ready-to-use barcode components based on  barcode symbologies and more than a dozen barcode
standards.
Features Description
WYSIWYG template Familiar Office-like tool that makes it easy to design label templates
design for commercial labels and documents
New Document Wizard An easy-to-follow wizard ensures proper document settings for
hundreds of predefined label formats, printer stock by manufacturer
part number, printer setup and printing performance.
Unmatched barcode BarTender includes over  preformatted, ready-to-use barcode
support components based on  barcode symbologies and more than a
dozen barcode standards
Fonts Support for OpenType, TrueType, Symbol Font characters and native
printer-based fonts
Text formatting Familiar, Word-like tools for you to visually create and format text
Transformed Text Add flair to your text objects with a variety of effects, such as fading,
inflating, slanting, and more
Shapes and lines Choose from over  shapes and  line/style combinations
Dynamic text and object Create dynamic text that wraps inside and around shapes, objects,
wrapping document borders and more

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Features Description
Graphics and images Import more than  graphic formats, including AI, PNG, JPG, BMP,
TIF, EPS and GIF
Symbols Choose from a wide variety of included symbols and industry-based
symbol fonts
Tables and grids Create tables and grids to organize text, barcodes, images and other
objects
White-on-black printing Switch objects from black-on-white to white-on-black printing with a
single click
Amazon Transparency Create Amazon Transparency product serialization codes that help
identify individual units and proactively prevent counterfeits

Dynamic data (available in all BarTender editions)

BarTender includes tools and capabilities to dynamically place data directly into any barcode, text
object, table object or encoder object. Examples include serialized numbers (numbers that increment
or decrement), dates and times. Most label documents include data that changes between labels or
print jobs. In addition, users often store data, such as customer records or product information, in files
outside of BarTender.

Benefit: Designers can easily create label templates containing data that varies between print
runs with a point and click interface.

Feature Description
Simple serialization Assign a unique identification number to each printed item in a series,
increasing or decreasing the value by increments of one ()
Date and time Dynamically populate date and time fields using values provided by
Windows or clock-enabled printers
Data validation and Specify data validation rules for fields and either automatically correct
processing data or issue warnings
Concatenate data Create text and barcode objects that combine information from
multiple data sources
Database Setup Wizard Import data from local Excel or RFC  standard CSV files
for basic database
connectivity
NOTE: While the following features are available in all BarTender editions, BarTender Starter
Edition will only support basic database connections to Excel or RFC  standard CSV files.
Named database Identify commonly used database connections by name, allowing easy
connections reuse in multiple label template designs
Database filters Search and filter database records, selecting records that you want to
print
Dynamic graphics and Automatically add images or graphics for printing based on selected
images database records or queries

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

High-performance printing using Drivers by Seagull™ (available in all BarTender editions)

The whole purpose of a specialized labeling solution is to produce and print accurate and timely labels
and marks. BarTender supports any printing device/mechanism that has a Windows driver. Further,
BarTender users who install Seagull Scientific's Drivers by Seagull™ can use high-performance printing
features that are not typically accessible in standard Windows printer drivers. Drivers by Seagull™ —
the gold standard for label printing drivers — includes support for over , commercial label
printers. BarTender and Drivers by Seagull™ users maximize their return on investment (ROI) for
printers by taking full advantage of native printer capabilities.

Benefit: BarTender and Drivers by Seagull™ improve print speed by taking full advantage of
printer-based features such as serialization, barcodes, real-time clock, static data and
graphic caching. Printer owners fully exploit their printer investments by using built-
in optimizations provided by their printer suppliers.

Feature Description
Drivers by Seagull™ Drivers by Seagull™ expand on Windows printing architecture by
improving print speeds and providing access to advanced printer
features such as serialization, barcodes, real-time clock, static data and
graphic caching. Drivers are available for over , commercial label
printers.
Print optimizations When the printer supports optimizations, BarTender and Drivers by
Seagull™ send text, barcode and graphic formatting commands to the
printer at the beginning of a print job. After that, only the variable
character data for each item is sent to printers.
Printer configuration and Using Drivers by Seagull™, you can perform printer management
diagnostics functions that otherwise require you to use the printer's front panel or
custom programs from the printer manufacturer.
Advanced media handling Drivers by Seagull™ support a variety of actions taken at specified
intervals in the print job. For example, in a print job, you can define
printer actions — such as cutting the label stock or detecting label
removal.
Print productivity Print labels and documents to any Windows printer driver
On-demand and batch Print labels and documents on-demand or batch together using one or
printing more BarTender templates
Print preview Review your dynamic print jobs on-screen before printing

GS Application Identifier Data Source Wizard

The GS Application Identifier Data Source Wizard makes it easy to construct barcodes with
application identifiers (AIs) and field separator characters inserted correctly. An AI is a number at the
beginning of a data field that identifies how the data that follows is interpreted. In some cases, it also
specifies the length of the data. The GS General Specifications standard defines numerous AIs, such
as serial number or expiration date.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Print job logging

BarTender logs application information messages, warnings and errors in the BarTender System
Database and/or text files. In a logged message, BarTender also saves relevant information about the
message, such as the time it occurred, the user's response, the message severity and the computer in
use. Later, you can view and audit these logs to evaluate how BarTender performs or identify common
user errors within the application. In the Starter Edition, text logging is configured in the BarTender
Designer application.

BarTender companion applications in the Starter Edition

Only two companion applications are enabled in the Starter Edition: BarTender Administration
Console and BarTender History Explorer.

BarTender Administration Console

BarTender Administration Console application is used to control and configure

important aspects of BarTender, such as printers, database connections, application
integrations, security, licensing, logging and other local services used by BarTender.

Not all BarTender Administration Console features are active in BarTender Starter Edition.
In BarTender Starter Edition, Administration Console users can:

• Setup printers, view printer or fax properties, edit printing preferences, specify redirection and
failover settings, specify advanced driver settings and manage default printer management for
each installed printer
• Manage BarTender licenses and the BarTender License Server
• View, start, stop and restart all the services that BarTender applications rely on to function
correctly, including:
o BarTender Print Scheduler Service, which manages BarTender print engines and
intelligently assigns print jobs to them while maximizing performance and maintaining
print order
o BarTender System Service, which manages the logging of information to the
BarTender System Database and the reprinting of documents
o BarTender Licensing Service, which manages BarTender licenses on the network
o The Windows Print Spooler, which enables applications to print documents by using
Windows printer drivers

BarTender History Explorer

BarTender History Explorer is the companion application displaying information
stored in the BarTender System Database, including print jobs, application messages,
security permission checks and inventory levels. In addition, History Explorer provides
an easy-to-use and customizable interface that you can use to monitor data in the
BarTender System Database

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender History Explorer, when BarTender is operating as a Starter Edition, logs up to seven () days
of BarTender suite messages and print job log entries.

BarTender Starter Edition licensing considerations

BarTender uses printer-based licensing to control the maximum number of printers BarTender
supports. Available printers can be connected to a local computer or located anywhere on a LAN or
WAN network. BarTender Starter Edition supports a maximum of three () printers.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Professional Edition

BarTender Professional Edition provides dynamic business printing with data entry forms, Intelligent
Templates™, database connectivity, security, encoding and on-demand printing. BarTender
Professional Edition is for organizations small and large that need to standardize and operationalize
their label printing operations.
BarTender Professional Edition includes all the features and capabilities present in the BarTender
Starter Edition. Unlike the BarTender Starter Edition, the BarTender Professional Edition can support
an unlimited number of licensed printers.
BarTender Professional Edition adds features centered around five requirements:

• Simplified and standardized label designs with templates that vary at print time
• Labels with data from external and embedded databases
• Standardized and automated data input for ad hoc printing
• Support for encoding technologies and more printers
• Separate access to label design and label printing capabilities from anytime, anywhere

Features
Simplified and standardized label designs with templates that vary at print time

The following features are enabled in BarTender Designer with a BarTender Professional Edition
application license:

• Intelligent Templates™
• Advanced serialization
• Full color support
• Application and document security
• GS Application Identifier Wizard
• External database connectivity
• Internal database support
• Data Entry Forms
• Enhanced printing and encoding support

BarTender Intelligent Templates™

BarTender Intelligent Templates™ increase the productivity of label designers and print operators by
reducing the design and maintenance of individual label templates. Users with hundreds of existing label
templates can reduce the files they manage to just a handful of flexible documents. Intelligent
Templates™ automatically trigger the printing of design layers and even specified objects based on a
single data source, database field, or multiple conditions — all without scripting. With Intelligent
Templates™, BarTender can adjust on the fly to handle changes in the data source or label “look and
feel.” Print operators do not need to pre-sort or stage print output by data or label type — critical when
the production environment is a blend of different products, configurations, brands or customers.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Benefit: BarTender Intelligent Templates™ eliminates the need to create and maintain
hundreds of separate templates.

Feature Description
Label templates Design and automation tools that leverage data to reduce the number
of label files you manage
Layers Template objects may be stacked, hidden and reordered when created
on uniquely identifiable layers
Conditional printing Create data-driven automation rules that specify when different
objects, layers or templates in your document will visibly print or
become hidden
Template selector Conditionally print one or more specific templates when multiple
templates are available in a document
Suppression Ignore the content of a data source under certain conditions
Automatic face detection Automated image capture creates perfectly cropped photos for ID
and cropping badges and card printing
Scriptable object Modify the look and feel of template objects by using powerful Visual
properties Basic scripts
Data sourced color Dynamically change the color of a template object using values stored
in database fields

BarTender serialization

Many industries, including pharmaceutical, food and medical device manufacturers, use serial numbers
and serialization schemes to track their products after leaving the factory or packaging plant.
BarTender Professional Edition supports advanced capabilities to add serialization to text, barcode and
encoder objects.
Feature Description
Custom methods Use alphabetic, numeric, alphanumeric, hexadecimal or custom
serialization sequences
Configurable values Set serial number values using predefined constants, database fields or
shared named data sources
Print controls Control how many serial numbers or copies per serial number are
printed
Serialization frequency Define serialization based on events and data changes
Multiple data sources Build complex sequencing patterns using data from multiple data
sources
Full color support Design commercial quality labels using PANTONE and data sourced
colors
Role-based security Assign user and group permissions to applications and functions using
Windows Active Directory users and groups, or local Windows users
Document and print Require a password to design and/or print a document
password
Visual Basic scripting Create scripts for custom data processing

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender full color support

BarTender Designer Color Picker makes it easy to design and reuse colors throughout BarTender
documents. The Professional Edition includes support for PANTONE® color selection.

BarTender application and document security

BarTender includes application-based security measures that are easy to activate and require little
administrator input or continued administration. BarTender Professional Edition adds three security
measures to secure the design and print environment.
Feature Description
Print-only passwords At an application level, require a password to perform any action
other than print. Print-only passwords cause BarTender Designer to
automatically start in “print-only” mode to prevent accidental design
changes
Document passwords At a document level, protect specific aspects of selected BarTender
documents from malicious or accidental modification and optionally
prevent unauthorized printing
User and Group Control — allow or limit — which aspects of BarTender a user or
permissions group can access

Labels with data from external and embedded databases

BarTender external database connectivity support

With BarTender database support, BarTender can populate labels using data stored in external data
sources at print time, separating the label design from the data printed on the label.

Benefit: BarTender external database integration connects BarTender to the critical business
data needed for accurate label production, eliminating manual data entry, reducing
errors and improving efficiency.
Feature Description
Database setup wizard Tool to enable connections to a variety of relational databases and
data file types
Online service Connect to Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel online and QuickBooks
connectivity online
External database Connect document designs to over  data sources including text
connectivity files, XML, JSON, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL
Server, Oracle, Firebird, IBM DB, IBM Informix, Microsoft Azure SQL,
MySQL, MariaDB, PostgresSQL, SAP IDoc, SAP HANA 8, OLE DB and
OLE ODBC to print dynamically
Write back to databases Write back to SQL-based databases to keep track of printed records,
serial numbers and much more

8
BarTender  Preview 

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender internal database table support

With BarTender internal database table support, users can create and manage database tables with
records and fields linked to BarTender objects and conditionally accessed at print time.

Benefit: BarTender internal database table support eliminates the need for external database
access for text and images used in labels, reducing complexity and improving
designer and operator efficiency.

Feature Description
BarTender Data Builder Build and manage a local database without the need for external
applications like Excel or Access
Embedded data tables Create database tables that travel with BarTender document designs
Database sourced tables Easily create label templates containing tables that draw their data
from a database or external file

BarTender Data Builder

Data Builder is the companion application in the BarTender suite used to create and
manage BarTender embedded database tables, which can include the following items:
• One or more data tables that include text, numbers, images, dates or times
• One or more phrase libraries — specialized data tables — containing frequently
used text content (Enterprise Edition only)

With Data Builder, users create data tables containing text, images and phrases used in label and
document templates. Data Builder eliminates the need for external applications (text editors,
Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel and others). Users connect to database tables in BarTender
Designer, importing data into a BarTender document or any other application in the BarTender suite
where a database connection is used.
Data tables built with the Data Builder application are shareable between BarTender documents.
BarTender embedded data tables
BarTender embedded data tables are database tables built using BarTender Designer. BarTender
embedded data tables become part of a specific BarTender document.
Data tables built with the BarTender Designer embedded data table editor are not shareable between
BarTender documents.

Standardized and automated data input for printing

BarTender data entry forms

BarTender data entry forms provide a structured user interface for standardized label and document
printing. Users access data entry forms to select or enter data required for the label or document at
print time.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Benefit: With BarTender data entry forms, designers can create dynamic, easily accessible
forms that standardize the data capture and label print process.

Feature Description
Powerful form controls Make data input and selection easy by leveraging over  highly
configurable form controls
Keyboard and mouse Use keyboard and mouse commands to select or enter data into forms
input at print time
Data validation Reduce user input errors by introducing data validation and error
checking
Database record selection Select or query the correct database records at print time using helpful
form controls
Scanner input Use a barcode scanner to input information to data-entry forms at
print time
Weighing scale input Populate the weight of an item at print time by connecting your
weighing scale to BarTender
Image capture Capture images at print time for ID cards or event badge printing
Kiosk mode Lockdown specific data entry forms for print operators

Support for encoding technologies and more printers

BarTender enhanced encoding support

With BarTender labeling software, creating an RFID tag, a magnetic stripe or a smartcard is just as easy
as printing a barcode label.

Benefit: When the corresponding Drivers by Seagull™ are installed, BarTender supports
several RFID, magnetic stripe and smartcard standards on capable printers — making
it easy to produce identification labels containing encoded information.

BarTender print to pdf

BarTender software can generate electronic documents, such as PDFs (by BarTender’s PDF engine or
others) and Microsoft’s MS XPS Writer. BarTender treats all electronic document printing as if it were
printing to a physical printer, using one of the available printer licenses. A printer license can support
the electronic printing of up to , items or “labels” per seven-day period. This feature is available
for Professional and above editions.

Separate access to label printing capabilities from anytime, anywhere

In many environments, print operators work at different stations than label designers or users require
access to printing from remote locations. In addition to the main BarTender Designer application,
BarTender Professional Edition includes two applications providing dedicated printing services —
BarTender Print Station application for printing from Windows-based workstations and BarTender
Print Portal service for printing from devices running a modern web browser — either local or remote.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Print Portal and Print Station share the same look and feel, delivering a similar printing experience to
users printing from any device, anywhere.
BarTender Print Station
BarTender Professional Edition includes the Print Station companion application — a simple, efficient
interface for selecting and printing BarTender documents.

Print Station provides a user-friendly interface for selecting and printing BarTender
documents. When you use Print Station, you eliminate the need to open and print
documents through BarTender or external applications. Print Station runs on a
Windows workstation and has access to locally installed devices — weighing scales,
for example — and local Windows printer permissions.

BarTender Print Station's simple interface makes it easy for users to do the following:

• Find and print BarTender documents using groups, sorting and search
• View document comments and file information
• Preview BarTender documents as they are printed
• Print documents with a single click
• Access printing from a kiosk (Windows  kiosk mode)
• Custom corporate branding
BarTender Print Portal

BarTender Print Portal is a web-based application that provides an interface that

makes it quick and easy to locate and print BarTender documents. Users can print
documents by browsing to the web page URL hosted by a server that has BarTender
installed. Because Print Portal runs on top of the Windows IIS web server, you can
access BarTender documents from any modern browser connected to the network.
Using Print Portal, anyone can print BarTender documents remotely, no matter what
kind of device, operating system, or modern web browser is being used.

BarTender Print Portal supports:

• Find and print BarTender documents using groups, sorting and search
• Print documents with a single click
• Secure printing from any operating system or device
• Driverless printing — no printer drivers required on the server
• Print to PDF support
• Custom branding (logo and colors) to reflect the host organization
• Custom corporate branding

BarTender companion applications in the Professional Edition

BarTender Administration Console

Not all BarTender Administration Console features are active in BarTender Professional Edition.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

In BarTender Professional Edition, Administration Console users can:

• Setup printers, view printer or fax properties, edit printing preferences, specify redirection and
failover settings, specify advanced driver settings, and manage default printer management for
each installed printer
• Manage BarTender licenses and the BarTender License Server
• View, start, stop and restart all the services that BarTender applications rely on to function
correctly, including:
o BarTender Print Scheduler Service, which manages BarTender print engines and
intelligently assigns print jobs to them while maximizing performance and maintaining
print order
o BarTender System Service, which manages the logging of information to the
BarTender System Database and the reprinting of documents
o BarTender Licensing Service, which manages BarTender licenses on the network
o The Windows Print Spooler, which enables applications to print documents by using
Windows printer drivers
The following security features are enabled in the BarTender Administration Console with a BarTender
Professional Edition application license:

• Role-based security
• Turn on/off document design and/or and printing passwords

BarTender History Explorer

BarTender History Explorer logs seven () days of BarTender Suite messages, print jobs, and security
permission checks in the Professional Edition.

BarTender Data Builder

Designers use Data Builder to create and manage BarTender embedded database tables.

BarTender Print Station

Print Station provides a user-friendly interface for selecting and printing BarTender documents.

BarTender Print Portal

Print Portal is a web printing service used by local and remote users to find and print labels and
documents from a modern web browser.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Automation Edition

BarTender Automation Edition provides efficient automated printing for enterprises integrating
label printing with business applications and fully automating their label and document printing
operations. BarTender Automation Edition includes tools that enable production-oriented printing
driven by process and task automation, business system integration and printing resilience.
BarTender Automation includes all features and capabilities present in BarTender Starter Edition and
BarTender Professional Edition. BarTender Automation Edition adds features centered around three
requirements:

• Seamlessly integrate automated label and document printing with existing business systems
• Ability to automate tasks and processes associated with label printing
• Reprint options for damaged or defective labels

Features
BarTender Automation includes all the features and capabilities present in BarTender Starter Edition
and BarTender Professional Edition.

Seamlessly integrate automated label and document printing with existing business
systems

BarTender business systems integrations

BarTender business systems integrations streamline print operations with straightforward integration
between enterprise applications and label print operations.

Benefit: BarTender business system integration ties enterprise applications and data — ERP,
MES, WMS or homegrown systems — to label printing functions. BarTender business
system integration supports mission-critical print processes, increases labeling
accuracy and improves efficiencies throughout the label printing process.
With BarTender integrations, you can access data from external systems and run tasks automatically
without ever needing to start BarTender Designer or any other application.
Three BarTender applications are involved in the design and deployment of an application integration:

• BarTender Designer is used to create the document layout and configure the variable data
fields updated through the integration
• BarTender Integration Builder is used to build, configure and test integrations
• BarTender Administration Console is used to deploy, monitor and manage integrations using
the BarTender Integration Service

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Integration Builder

BarTender Integration Builder is used to configure integrations that seamlessly

connect the printing capabilities of BarTender to virtually any enterprise business
operation or process without the need for programming. When you create an
integration, you define a trigger event that you want the BarTender Integration
Service to monitor. When a trigger event occurs, the BarTender Integration Service
performs the actions you configured in Integration Builder.

With BarTender’s configurable and robust application integration features, you can automatically
perform integration tasks, including:

• Initiate the print process automatically at “trigger” events, such as a database modification, the
arrival of an email message, a saved file, or a web service request
• Connect to and communicate with clients over TCP/IP, UDP or HTTP
• Perform basic file operations, such as move, rename, delete, or copy
• Integrate directly with business systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP),
warehouse management systems (WMS) or manufacturing execution systems (MES).
For example, suppose that your ERP system routinely saves a data file to a specific network folder
location or a cloud data store. Using Integration Builder, you configure an integration that monitors
the folder and automatically performs one or specified actions when a new file arrives. Actions can
include data transformation, document printing, email generation, and many others.

Feature Description
Integrate with business Seamlessly integrate automated label and document printing with any
systems business system (ERP, WMS, or MES), including SAP, Oracle, Infor,
Körber, Microsoft Dynamics, Epicor, NetSuite, Sage and more.
Integration actions Enable label printing, database queries, network communications and
much more with over  action types
Integrate using Use standard data structures and formats such as XML, JSON, SAP IDoc,
standard data formats Oracle XML, ASCII & Unicode coded text-based data for data
interchange
Run integration actions Files on any supported file system including local, network and cloud-
using multiple methods based folder locations (Amazon S, Dropbox, FTP/SFTP)
and sources Bidirectional TCP or UDP network socket
Data RS- Serial COM port
Email reception and print according to received email contents
RESTful web services to exchange data in real-time to run actions
Microsoft Message Queue according to a time schedule or posted
message
SQL database or data file field changes
Defined time schedule

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender .NET SDK

For advanced process automation and integration scenarios, the BarTender .NET SDK
allows enterprises to build custom applications or web front ends to improve print
operations performance and efficiency.

Benefit: Enterprises can develop custom applications that automate BarTender operations,
integrate with existing business processes, reduce manual operator interaction and
improve print operations’ performance and efficiency.
The .NET SDK includes a set of APIs, example projects and documentation on controlling most aspects
of BarTender programmatically using modern Windows programming. The .NET SDK includes the
following APIs:

• Print Engine API: a set of classes to launch and control a single BarTender print engine
• Print Scheduler API: a set of classes to programmatically control the Print Scheduler Windows
service of the BarTender software
• Librarian API: a set of classes to perform content management and revision control
programmatically (instead of using BarTender Librarian and its workflow designer capability)
• System Database API: a set of classes providing access to log data (for generating reports) and
reprint of logged print jobs

Ability to automate processes associated with label printing

BarTender process automation is a collection of tools and capabilities used to simplify and streamline
print operations. With BarTender process automation, designers and developers can:

• Create process files — using a no-code process builder — to automate repetitive print-related
workflows and tasks
• Improve print accuracy and efficiency with intelligent forms and documents that automatically
perform tasks and actions
• Build templates for portable printers and terminals that merge user input information into the
final printed output

Benefit: BarTender process automation improves print operations accuracy and consistency,
reduces print process time and eliminates manual process errors.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Feature Description
BarTender Process Builder An easy graphical UI to build label and document printing processes
without the need for application development
Intelligent form controls Intelligent forms trigger processes and actions based on user
selections or predefined events
Document-level actions Automatically perform tasks or actions when the status of a
document changes
Printer code templates Create exportable printer code templates used by print systems and
applications that merge local data into final documents sent to
printers.

BarTender Process Builder

Process Builder is a stand-alone companion application used to create customizable

process files that run one or more actions in sequence to automate repetitive
operations. Additionally, Process Builder can be used as an alternative to programming
interfaces such as the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK, the command line interface, or
BarTender XML (BTXML) scripts. The supported actions for Process Builder include
many of the same actions that are available in Integration Builder.

BarTender Process Builder process files can execute various actions on multiple BarTender documents
in a single operation. BarTender process file actions include:

• Print actions to print BarTender documents or execute BTXML scripts

• Transformation actions to manipulate data associated with a print job or process
• Input actions to read data or files
• Output actions to send information elsewhere (write files, send emails, send a web service
request, send data to a serial port or network socket, add a message to a message queue)
• Execute actions to control process execution flow
• File actions to manipulate files and folders
• Database actions to handle database record sets
You can use a process file when an event in a business process requires repetitive steps. For example,
whenever an order is received, you might need to:

• Print one copy of DocumentA.btw to printer X

• Print one copy of DocumentB.btw to printer Y
• Insert a record into a database
• Send a task completion email
With a BarTender process file, each time an order is received, you can automatically open and print the
documents, update the database and send a task completion email —all in one operation.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Intelligent Form controls (in BarTender Designer)

Designers can use Intelligent Form controls to create sophisticated automated print operations
without coding. With Intelligent Form controls, actions or groups of actions can be associated with
forms when they are opened, closed after data has been entered or canceled. Actions can include:

• Transform actions that manipulate data

• Input actions that read data from a directory, file, port or socket
• Output actions that write or send data elsewhere or display a message or web page
• Execute actions to control the flow of actions
• File actions to manipulate files and folders
• Database actions to interact with databases
• Form actions to manage forms and print jobs
BarTender document-level controls (in BarTender Designer)
Like Intelligent Form controls, document-level controls associate actions or groups of actions when
document events occur. Events include the start, completion or cancellation of a print job and the
reading of file records and data entry completion. Document-level actions allow designers to create
sophisticated automated print operations without coding. Actions can include:

• Transform actions that manipulate data

• Input actions that read data from a directory, file, port or socket
• Output actions that write or send data elsewhere or display a message or web page
• Execute actions to control the processing flow of the document, including shell and
PowerShell commands
• File actions to manipulate files and folders
• Database actions to interact with databases
• Form actions to manage forms and print jobs
Printer code templates (in BarTender Designer)
In some printing situations, portable devices or terminals are used to print items. These portable
devices and terminals typically merge user input information, such as lot number and expiration date,
into the printer code for a template and then send the completed printer code directly to the printer.
Other systems might use software printing applications that merge user information into the printer
code for an item. These applications might be running on a non-Windows computer. Taken
collectively, these devices and merge applications are called “print systems.”
With the Automation Edition of BarTender, you can create a document template and then export the
document to a printer code template — a data file containing printer commands and placeholders for
data on your template. You can then merge and print the printer code template by using your print
system.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Reprint options for damaged or defective labels

BarTender print recovery provides print operators peace of mind. With BarTender print recovery, printed
output can be reprinted on-demand — a critical requirement for highly automated environments when
print problems are discovered or encountered hours or days after the original print run is executed.

Benefit: For unforeseen problems discovered after the original print run, print operators can
rerun completed jobs without recreating the original data. BarTender print recovery
provides print operators peace of mind, knowing that time-dependent output can be
recovered and reprinted on-demand.
In the Automation Edition, BarTender includes two methods to access print history and reprint jobs:
BarTender History Explorer and BarTender Reprint Console.
BarTender Reprint Console

The Reprint Console companion application provides an easy-to-use and configurable

interface that compliance and production managers can use to view, select and reprint
items that might have been lost or damaged. A BarTender Automation license allows
unlimited reprints of print jobs logged over the preceding seven days.

BarTender companion applications in the Automation Edition

BarTender Administration Console

Not all BarTender Administration Console features are active in BarTender Automation Edition.
In BarTender Automation Edition, Administration Console users can:

• Setup printers, view printer or fax properties, edit printing preferences, specify redirection
and failover settings, specify advanced driver settings, and manage default printer
management for each installed printer
• Manage BarTender licenses and the BarTender License Server
• View, start, stop and restart all the services that BarTender applications rely on to function
correctly, including:
o BarTender Print Scheduler Service, which manages BarTender print engines and
intelligently assigns print jobs to them while maximizing performance and
maintaining print order
o BarTender System Service, which manages the logging of information to the
BarTender System Database and the reprinting of documents
o BarTender Licensing Service, which manages BarTender licenses on the network
o The Windows Print Spooler, which enables applications to print documents by
using Windows printer drivers
o BarTender Integration Service, which enables execution and management of
BarTender integrations
• Deploy, start and stop integrations that are running on a server

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

• Monitor integrations, including integration status, type and run time

• Define cloud storage locations for integrations
• Define print job logging parameters for reprint
• Set permissions and permission check logging (up to seven days) for BarTender companion
applications
o Log BarTender activity for auditing purposes
• Administer role-based security
• Turn on/off document design and/or and printing passwords

BarTender History Explorer

BarTender History Explorer in the Automation Edition logs up to seven () days of suite messages,
print job logs and security permission checks. Additionally, the History Explorer supports reprinting of
print jobs that are logged.

BarTender Data Builder

Designers use Data Builder to create and manage BarTender embedded database tables.

BarTender Print Station

BarTender Print Station, when BarTender is operating as an Automation Edition, can run process files
that you created using BarTender Process Builder, legacy Batch Maker files, and BarTender XML
(BTXML) script files.

BarTender Print Portal

Print Portal is a web printing service used by local and remote users to find and print labels and
documents from a modern web browser.

BarTender Integration Builder

BarTender Integration Builder is used to implement integrations that seamlessly connect the printing
capabilities of BarTender to enterprise business applications without the need for programming.

BarTender Process Builder

Process Builder creates customizable process files that run one or more actions in sequence to
automate repetitive operations.

Bartender Reprint Console

Reprint Console provides an easy-to-use and configurable interface to view, select and reprint items
that might have been lost or damaged. BarTender Reprint Console in the Automation Edition can
reprint up to seven () days of print jobs.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Enterprise Edition

BarTender Enterprise Edition provides comprehensive enterprise-wide printing with centralized
management, workflow orchestration and revision control, REST API integration, auditing, web and
mobile printing, and added security. BarTender Enterprise Edition includes:

• Content management for centralized storage and revision control

• Workflow orchestration for label lifecycle management
• Web-enabled access to printing and workflow orchestration
• Enhanced security and access logging
• Business continuity and disaster recovery support
• Global operations support
• Visibility and control over all Windows print service operations

Features
BarTender Enterprise includes all the features and capabilities present in BarTender Starter Edition,
BarTender Professional Edition and BarTender Automation Edition.

BarTender Designer features available in the BarTender Enterprise Edition

The following features are enabled in BarTender Designer with a BarTender Enterprise Edition
application license:
• Phrase library editor for embedded data tables
• Global access to data fields stored in a central database

Content management for centralized storage and revision control

BarTender Librarian content management creates a more controlled, consistent and precise label
printing environment for enterprises. BarTender Librarian content management allows groups of
designers, administrators and other users to manage how BarTender documents and files are stored
and revised.

Benefit: BarTender Librarian allows teams to securely manage BarTender documents and files
cooperatively, adding lifecycle management and revision control to the label design
and production process.

Feature Description
BarTender Librarian Track and manage the entire organization's label templates with a single
document management application
Centralized document Store BarTender documents in a centralized storage location
storage
Template files and Manage revisions across the organization — roll out changes in an
revision control instant to all users

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Librarian

BarTender Librarian is a content management application that groups of designers,

administrators and other users can use to manage BarTender documents
cooperatively and securely. Librarian can help you better manage any printing system,
but it is particularly valuable in regulated or secure environments, such as the medical,
pharmaceutical, aerospace and chemical industries.

When you use Librarian, you store files in a centralized database rather than “loose” in the file systems
of various computers, so files are easier to track and manage. File check-in and check-out processes
prevent users from overwriting each other's changes. You can use revision control to retain copies of
all previous versions of a file so that you not only have a history of who made what changes and when,
but you can also retrieve copies of the earlier versions and even revert a file to an older version. You
can use Librarian and Administration Console to control which users can access files in Librarian and
what those users can do with the files.

BarTender workflow orchestration for label lifecycle management

For organizations who require control and traceability of label design and printing processes —
industries with regulatory compliance mandates, for example — BarTender workflow orchestration
enables a controlled and tracked label printing environment. Workflows consist of states that you
configure (for example, Design, Staging, and Production) and transitions between these states that you
update (Submit for Staging and Submit for Production). You can specify the users or groups you want
to access the file for viewing, editing, and moving to the next stage for each state and transition.

Benefit: BarTender workflow orchestration allows teams to define, manage and track the
lifecycle of labels and documents.
In BarTender, three applications manage orchestration:

• BarTender Administration Console Workflow Designer is used to configure workflows and

apply them to the files you want (by creating workflow rules)
• BarTender Librarian is a dedicated application used to send files through the workflow
progression.
• BarTender Print Portal enables web-based access to orchestration workflows.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Feature Description
Define workflow team Increase team accountability during the label revision and publishing process
Workflow designer Speed up label design, review and production process with drag and drop,
visual workflow designer
Workflow email alerts Send notification email messages to specified users and groups whenever
a file goes through a particular transition or enters a particular state
Print Station support Streamline workflows by facilitating document review and approval
processes from a dedicated print application
Print Portal support Streamline workflows by facilitating online document review and
approval processes

Access to printing and workflow orchestration

With BarTender, label designers and print operators can securely access printing and workflow orchestration
from Print Station, Print Portal or REST APIs. Workflows can help organizations automate business processes,
such as reviewing label designs or approving documents for production. With workflows, organizations can:

• Create representations of the life cycle for all files

• Track the status of files from start to finish
• Send notifications to users and groups when a file changes
• Limit the users who have access to the file at each stage in its life cycle
• Create branches at decision points
BarTender Librarian Workflow Designer
The Workflow Designer, accessed from the Librarian Setup page in the BarTender Administration
Console, creates comprehensive labeling workflow processes for BarTender documents and files stored
in BarTender Librarian. The drag-and-drop graphical user interface makes it easy to create workflows
that specify the states that a document can be in, such as “Design,” “Review,” or “Production.”
BarTender Print Station
BarTender Print Station 9 in the Enterprise Edition adds Librarian integration to view and manage
revision history and workflow states. Additionally, root folders — folders Print Station uses to display
available documents — can be stored in a Librarian folder.
BarTender Print Portal
Print Portal is a web printing service used by local and remote users to find and print labels and documents
from a modern web browser. BarTender Print Portal in the Enterprise Edition adds support for:

• Librarian integration to view and manage revision history and workflow states
• Windows authentication and single sign-on (SSO) using Microsoft Internet Information
Services (IIS) and Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 10

9
BarTender  Preview 
10
Not supported on Windows  Home Edition

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Print Portal REST API

Developers can use the Print Portal REST API to automate Print Portal tasks and
integrate Print Portal with other applications. A REST API is a software architectural
style for acquiring and manipulating textual representations of the content of web
resources.

The Print Portal REST API makes it possible for you to automate the following tasks:

• Perform authentication
• List and enumerate root folders
• List and enumerate folders and files per root folder
• List and enumerate printers
• Print documents
Print Portal contains a REST API specification system called Swagger. Swagger can be considered a
REST API help system that explains each function and an execution environment for testing requests.
Automation of Print Portal tasks, using the Print Portal REST API, should be performed by
programmers familiar with REST APIs and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.

Enhanced security and access logging

BarTender enterprise security adds measures to meet access, protection, logging, and complete audit
trail requirements for organizations in regulated industries or organizations concerned about security
breaches. Enterprises can detect access attempts, require per-document user authentication and encrypt
BarTender documents to secure the BarTender environment from unauthorized modification and use.

Benefit: BarTender enterprise security provides additional protection and record-keeping

functions, including complete audit trail capture often required in regulated
industries and compliance use cases.

Feature Description
Electronic signatures Require an electronic signature (or user login credentials) before
users can perform BarTender actions
Document encryption Fully encrypt BarTender documents to stop unauthorized access,
sharing or distribution
Logging permission checks Log permission checks to detect unauthorized access BarTender
document or application access attempts

Business continuity and disaster recovery support

BarTender supports a licensing server redundancy solution that provides automatic failover to keep
print production environments running seamlessly if one license server fails. License servers can be
configured in a backup relationship that uses two servers or a triad relationship that uses three. If a
BarTender client cannot reach the primary server for any reason, the client automatically connects
instead to the other servers in the relationship.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

Global operations support

Multi-language phrase support

Phrase Libraries are specialized data tables containing frequently used content, including multi-lingual
text. A BarTender document can connect to a phrase library, dynamically move the translated phrases
and text into the label design and print the translated fields at print time. The Phrase library editor is
available in BarTender Designer (for libraries accessible only in a single document) and BarTender Data
Builder (globally sharable libraries). The Phrase library editor includes an auto-translate capability to
convert phrases into over  languages and import or export comma-separated value (CSV) or
Translation Memory Exchange (TMX) files.
Global database fields
A global data field is a data source stored in the BarTender System Database, making the data source
available to any document opened in an instance of BarTender connected to the same System
Database. To use global data fields, you must first configure the BarTender System Database.

Visibility and control over all Windows print service operations

BarTender Printer Maestro

The Printer Maestro application provides a convenient way to monitor printers, print
jobs and printing-related inventory items, such as toner, print media, print heads and
memory. Printer Maestro can send email notifications, instant messages, or text
messages for various events, including printer errors or warnings and inventory use
thresholds.

Printer Maestro can be used to:

• View inventory information for printer-related items

• View and manage the computers on the network that are running the Printer Maestro
service
• View and manage local and remote printers on the network
• View information related to active print jobs
• Reprint print jobs stored in the BarTender database
• View historical print job-related information, messages and warnings

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender companion applications in the Enterprise Edition

BarTender Administration Console

In BarTender Enterprise Edition, Administration Console users can:

• Setup printers, view printer or fax properties, edit printing preferences, specify redirection
and failover settings, specify advanced driver settings, and manage default printer
management for each installed printer
• Manage BarTender licenses and the BarTender License Server
• View, start, stop and restart all the services that BarTender applications rely on to function
correctly, including:
o BarTender Print Scheduler Service, which manages BarTender print engines and
intelligently assigns print jobs to them while maximizing performance and
maintaining print order
o BarTender System Service, which manages the logging of information to the
BarTender System Database and the reprinting of documents
o BarTender Licensing Service, which manages BarTender licenses on the network
o The Windows Print Spooler, which enables applications to print documents by
using Windows printer drivers
o BarTender Integration Service, which enables execution and management of
BarTender integrations
o BarTender Printer Maestro, which monitors local printer status and enables
network printer management
• Deploy, start and stop integrations that are running on a server
• Monitor integrations, including integration status, type and run time
• Define cloud storage locations for integrations
• Define print job logging parameters for reprint
• Set permissions and permission check logging (unlimited) for BarTender companion
applications
o Log BarTender activity for auditing purposes
• Setup redundant license server relationships
• Set permissions and logging options for Print Portal
• Administer and manage a centralized BarTender System Database
• Create Librarian workflows and workflow rules
• Administer role-based security
• Turn on/off document design and/or and printing passwords
• Set electronic signature policies
• Set document encryption policies

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Librarian

BarTender Librarian is a content management application that groups of designers, administrators and
other users can use to manage BarTender documents cooperatively and securely

BarTender History Explorer

BarTender History Explorer in the Enterprise Edition can centrally log an unlimited days’ worth of
BarTender suite messages, including print job history and security permission checks from all
networked BarTender installations. Additionally, with BarTender History Explorer, users can view and
reprint any logged print job. BarTender documents that you view and/or reprint can reside in the
Librarian database.

BarTender Data Builder

BarTender Data Builder in the Enterprise Edition can be used to create Phrase libraries.

BarTender Print Station

BarTender Print Station 11 in the Enterprise Edition adds Librarian integration to view and manage
revision history and workflow states. Additionally, root folders — folders Print Station uses to display
available documents — can be stored in a Librarian folder.

BarTender Print Portal

Print Portal is a web printing service used by local and remote users to find and print labels and
documents from a modern web browser. BarTender Print Portal in the Enterprise Edition adds support
for:

• Librarian integration to view and manage revision history and workflow states
• Windows authentication and single sign-on (SSO) using Microsoft Internet Information
Services (IIS) and Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS)12
• REST API to programmatically automate Print Portal tasks

BarTender Integration Builder

BarTender Integration Builder is used to implement integrations that seamlessly connect the printing
capabilities of BarTender to enterprise business applications without the need for programming. In the
BarTender Enterprise Edition, BarTender Integration Builder can open and save integrations in a
Librarian folder.

11
BarTender  Preview 
12
Not supported on Windows  Home Edition

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Process Builder

Process Builder creates customizable process files that run one or more actions in sequence to
automate repetitive operations. In the BarTender Enterprise Edition, you can save BarTender process
files in a Librarian folder and edit them using Process Builder. Additionally, process files can refer to
BarTender documents stored in a BarTender Librarian folder.

BarTender Reprint Console

Reprint Console provides an easy-to-use and configurable interface to view, select and reprint items
that might have been lost or damaged. In the BarTender Enterprise Edition, there is no limit to the
number of days’ history that Reprint Console can access. Additionally, BarTender documents that you
view and/or reprint can reside in the Librarian library.

BarTender Printer Maestro

Printer Maestro provides a convenient way to monitor printers, print jobs and printing-related
inventory items (such as toner, print media, print heads and memory.)

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender components and services

In addition to BarTender companion applications, BarTender includes these standard components and
services.

BarTender system database

BarTender system database is the central data store for the Enterprise Edition and the local storage for
other editions. It is required for most of the features included in the Automation and Enterprise
Editions of BarTender. It stores data such as the following:

• Events encountered by any BarTender application, such as error messages and dialogs
• Information about each print job that is sent from BarTender, such as the document that was
printed and the time when the job was sent
• Security settings and permission checks that are defined in Administration Console
• Template designs and preview images (for reprinting items)
• Global data fields
• Librarian files and revision information

BarTender services
BarTender System service

BarTender System service manages the logging of information to the BarTender System Database and
the reprinting of documents. It manages BarTender application messages, print job history and printer
status. It is automatically installed when BarTender is installed and communication to the BarTender
System Database is enabled for BarTender Designer and companion applications.

BarTender Integration service

BarTender Integration service is the core windows service running on the BarTender Print Server. The
Integration Service monitors for integration trigger events. When it detects a trigger event, it runs
actions in response, such as transforming data and printing a BarTender document with that data. In
the case of a file event, the data to be processed might be gathered from the file itself. In the case of a
TCP/IP request or a serial port event, the data might be gathered from what is sent over that
connection.

BarTender Print Scheduler service

BarTender Print Scheduler service manages BarTender print engines — instances of BarTender
Designer automatically launched without a user interface — and intelligently assigns jobs to them
while maximizing performance and maintaining print order and serialization. BarTender Print
Scheduler Service uses a single pool of print engines so that resources are used efficiently. The Print
Scheduler Service ensures the following:

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

• Jobs printed to a specific printer always come out of that printer in the order the requests were
received.
• When documents contain embedded data that can change, such as serialized counters, they
are bound to a single print engine to ensure that they are printed in the correct order.

Printer Maestro service

The Printer Maestro service monitors local printer status, captures print job verification information
and enables network printer management.

BarTender BTXML script language

BarTender XML (BTXML) script is an XML schema created to work with BarTender. BTXML script is
used to control and automate BarTender and print jobs. Third-party programmers can use BTXML to
integrate BarTender into their applications to run BarTender and print jobs. BTXML script uses an
XML-style format to communicate with BarTender to process print jobs. BarTender processes the
code and then performs the task that the code defines.
Developers can create BTXML scripts as a script or as a file and then send them to BarTender by using
any of the following methods:

• Integration Builder integration files

• Process Builder process files
• BarTender .NET SDK

BarTender licensing
BarTender is licensed on a per printer basis. The maximum number of printers depends on the number
of purchased printer licenses.
BarTender allows an unlimited number of licensed printers, except for the BarTender Starter Edition,
which is limited to a maximum of three printers. Available printers can be connected to a local
computer or located anywhere on a LAN or WAN network.
All editions of BarTender allow an unlimited number of users per license.
More details on Printer-based licensing can be found in the BarTender Printer-Based Licensing
Technical Document.

BarTender Licensing service

BarTender Licensing service (BLS) is a Windows system service that runs unattended and enforces
printer licensing by monitoring the printers that BarTender uses. It does not print items or
communicate with printers in any way. BLS must be installed on at least one computer on the network
to print BarTender documents.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.


BarTender® product reference guide

BarTender Licensing Service (BLS) runs unattended on any computer on the network and performs the
following functions:

• Monitors and tracks all printing activity by all copies of BarTender installed on a network,
keeping track of the total number of printers that are being used
• Authorizes BarTender print requests based on the number of printers that are being used.
BLS does not require either a dedicated computer or a server operating system. You can optionally run
a copy of BarTender on the same computer as the licensing service.

©  Seagull Scientific, Inc. All rights reserved.

