Dymo LabelPoint 250 - Electronic Thermal Labelmaker Manual

Figure 1 DYMO LabelPoint 250 Professional Labelmaker

About Your New Labelmaker

With your new DYMO LabelPoint^™ 250 labelmaker, you can create a wide variety of high-quality, self-adhesive labels. You can choose to print your labels in many different sizes and styles. The labelmaker uses DYMO D1 label cassettes in widths of 1/4" (6 mm), 3/8" (9 mm), and 1/2" (12 mm). Label cassettes are also available in a wide range of colors.
Visit www.dymo.com for information on obtaining labels and accessories for your labelmaker.

Getting Started

Follow these instructions to print your first label.

Connecting the Power
The labelmaker is powered by standard batteries or an AC power adapter. To save power, the labelmaker will automatically turn off after two minutes of inactivity.

Inserting the Batteries
The labelmaker uses six AA alkaline batteries.

To insert the batteries

1. Remove the battery compartment cover.
   See Figure 2.
   
   
2. Insert the batteries following the polarity markings (+ and –).
3. Replace the battery compartment cover.

Remove the batteries if the labelmaker will not be used for a long period of time.

Connecting the Power Adapter
An optional AC power adapter can also be used to power the labelmaker. Connecting the AC adapter to the labelmaker disconnects the batteries as a power source.

To connect the power adapter

1. Plug the power adapter into the power connector on the top of the labelmaker.
2. Plug the other end of the power adapter into a power outlet.

Make sure the labelmaker power is turned off before you disconnect the power adapter from the main power source. Otherwise, your most recent memory settings will be lost.

Inserting the Label Cassette
Your labelmaker comes with one label cassette. Visit www.dymo.com for information about purchasing additional label cassettes.

To insert the label cassette

1. Press and release the label cassette cover to open the label compartment. See Figure 3.
   The first time you use the labelmaker, remove the protective cardboard insert from between the print head and pinch roller. See Figure 3.
   
   
2. Set the cassette switch for the size of the label cassette that you are inserting. See Figure 4.
   A notch in the cassette fits over the switch when the cassette is in the correct position.
   
   
3. Make sure the label and ribbon are taut across the mouth of the cassette and that the label passes between the guideposts. If necessary, turn the spool clockwise to tighten the ribbon.
4. Insert the cassette with the label and ribbon positioned between the print head and pinch roller.
   See Figure 5.
   
   
5. Press firmly until cassette clicks into place.
6. Close the label cassette cover and press to turn on the power.

Selecting a Language
You can select from a number of different language options. By default, the language is set to English. The language option you choose determines the default units of measure (inches or millimeters) and the character set that is available.

To select a language

1. Press + .
2. Use the arrow keys to select the language you want and press .

Printing Your First Label
You are now ready to print your first label.

To print a label

1. Enter text to create a simple label.
2. Press .
3. Use the cutter lever to cut the label.

Congratulations! You have printed your first label. Continue reading to learn more about the options available for creating labels.

Getting to Know the Labelmaker

Become familiar with the location of the feature and function keys on your labelmaker. Refer to Figure 1 on the inside front cover. The following sections describe each feature in detail.

Power
The button turns the power on and off. After two minutes of no activity, the power is switched off automatically. The last label created is remembered and displayed when the power is turned back on. The previously selected style settings are also restored.
You can also use the button to cancel printing and return to edit mode.

LCD Display
The labelmaker's LCD display shows a row of 13 characters. However, you can enter up to 99 characters and spaces.
The display window can accommodate 13 characters. As you type more characters, they begin to scroll to the left. (See Figure 6.) The number of characters actually displayed can vary due to proportional spacing.

In addition, feature indicators appear on the display to let you know when a feature is selected. See Figure 7.

CAPS Mode
The key toggles capitalization on and off. When CAPS mode is turned on, the CAPS mode indicator is shown on the display and all letters that you enter will be capitalized. The default setting is CAPS mode on. When CAPS mode is off, all letters entered appear in lower case.

Shift Key
The key, when used in combination with an alphabet key, changes the case of the selected letter. When used in combination with number keys or function keys, the key selects the alternate function shown on the key. For example, when you press , the character to the left of the cursor is deleted; however, when you press +together, the entire label text and formatting is deleted and the display is ready for you to type a new label.

Space Bar
The key inserts one or more blank spaces in your text. Pressing + accesses the built in symbols table.

Clear/Delete
The key removes the character to the left of the cursor. Pressing + clears all label text and formatting.

Navigation Keys
You can review and edit your label using the left and right arrow keys on the Navigation key. Using with the left or right arrows moves the cursor to the beginning or end of the label text.
You can navigate through menu selections using the up and down arrow keys, and then press to make a selection.

Cancel
The key allows you to exit from a menu without making a selection or to cancel an action.

Return
The key inserts a new line on your label.

Extra
The key displays the Format Break, Set Units, Set # Copies, Preview, Set Tab Length, Insert Tab, and Set Print Contrast submenus. These features are described later in this User Guide.

Formatting Your Label

You can choose from a number of formatting options to enhance the appearance of your labels.
The labelmaker remembers the last selection made so that each time you enter one of the feature menus described in this section, you are positioned at the last item selected from that menu.

Changing the Font
Four fonts are available for your labels: Arial Narrow, .
When you select a font, that font applies to all characters on a label. If you want to use more than one font, you must insert format breaks. See Using Mixed Formats for more information.

To set the font

1. Press the key.
2. Use the arrow keys to move to the desired font and then press .

Adding Font Styles
You can choose from seven different font styles:

When you select a style, that style applies to all characters. Styles can be used with alphanumeric characters and symbols. See Using Symbols and Special Characters for more information on printing symbols.

To set the font style

1. Press .
2. Use the arrow keys to select a style and press .

Adding Box and Underline Styles
You can further highlight your text by choosing a box or underline style.

A label can be underlined or enclosed in a box, but not both together.

To add an underline or box style

1. Press the key.
2. Select underline or a box style and press .
   On multi-line labels, both lines are underlined. In box style mode, all the lines are enclosed in one box style.

Creating Multiple-Line Labels
You can print a maximum of two lines on 3/8" (9 mm) and 1/2" (12 mm) labels.

To create a multiple-line label

1. Type the text for the first line, and press . A new line character is displayed at the end of the first line, but will not print on the label.
2. Type the text for the second line.

Using Mixed Formats
You can apply different fonts and format styles to the text on a label by inserting format breaks to divide the label into blocks or sections of text. You can add two format breaks allowing you to apply three separate formats per label.
Alignment, underline, and box styles cannot be mixed on a label. These styles are common to the entire label.

To add a format break

1. Enter and format text for the first section.
2. Press .
3. Select Format Break and press . A new section character is displayed at the end of the first section, but will not print on the label.
4. Continue entering and formatting text for the next section of the label.

Using Tabs
You can add tabs to a label to align text on multi-line labels. Tabs are left justified and the default spacing is 2.0"(50 mm).

To change the tab spacing

1. Press .
2. Select Set Tab Length and press .
3. Use the up and down arrow keys to increase or decrease the tab setting, and then press .

To insert a tab

1. Enter your text.
2. Press and select Insert Tab.
3. Press and continue entering text.

Using Symbols and Special Characters

Symbols and other special characters can be added to your labels.

Adding Symbols
The labelmaker supports the extended symbol set as shown in Figure 10.

To add a symbol

1. Press + . The first row of symbols shown in the table appears in the display.
2. Use the arrow keys to move to the desired symbol. The left and right arrows move horizontally along a row of symbols. The up and down arrow keys scroll vertically through the rows of symbols.
   To quickly see a row of symbols, you can press the letter corresponding to the row you want.
3. When you locate the symbol, press to add the symbol to your label text.

Adding International Characters
The labelmaker supports the extended Latin character set using RACE technology. Similar to using a mobile phone keypad, if you type a letter multiple times within a very short time, you will scroll through variations on that letter.
For example, if French is selected as the language and you repeatedly press the letter a, you will see and so on through all the variations available. The character variations and the order in which the variations appear depend on the language you have selected to use.

Currency Symbols
The currency key also uses RACE technology to scroll through a number of currency symbols:

The order these symbols appear depends on the language you have selected.

Printing Options

You can print multiple copies of a label at one time, print serialized labels, print fixed-length labels, review label text and format, and adjust the printing contrast.

Printing Multiple Copies
You can print up to 16 copies of a label at one time. When printing multiple copies, a dotted cut-line is printed between each label.

To print multiple copies of the label

1. Press .
2. Select Set # Copies and press .
3. Use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the desired number of copies and press .
4. Press to begin printing.
   When printing is finished, the number of copies to print returns to the default value of 1.

Serializing Your Labels
You can print a series of labels with the last number incremented by one number. The number of labels serialized depends upon the number of copies you selected to print. Only the last series of numbers that follows any letter, space, or punctuation will be serialized. For example, abc123 will print as abc123, abc124, abc125; and 123-998 will print as 123-998, 123-999, 123-1000, and so on.

To serialize your labels

1. Enter the text for your label.
2. Select the number of labels to print as described in Printing Multiple Copies.
3. Select + .

Printing a Fixed-Length Label
Normally, the length of the label is determined by the length of the text entered. However, you may wish to make a label for a specific purpose that is a fixed length regardless of the length of the text.
You can specify a fixed length for a label in 0.1" (2 mm) increments between 1.5" (40 mm) and 15.0" (400 mm). The preset fixed length is 4.0" (100 mm). Any change you make to the fixed-length setting remains in effect until you change it.

To set the label length

1. Press +.
2. Select ON to turn on Fixed Length, then press .
3. Press the up arrow to increase the length.
4. Press the down arrow to decrease the length.
5. Press to set the fixed length.
6. After printing the label, repeat step 1 and turn Fixed Length OFF; otherwise, all subsequent labels will print with this fixed length.

Previewing Your Label
You can preview the text or format of your label prior to printing. A two-line label is previewed as a singleline label.

To preview your label

1. Press .
2. Select Preview and press .
3. Select Text or Format and press .
   If you select Text, the text of the label scrolls across the display. If you select Format, the format selected displays briefly.

Aligning the Text
When you print a fixed length label you can choose to align the text at the left, center, or right side of the label. For multi-line labels, all lines of text are aligned left, center, and right relative to each other.

To align the text

1. Press + .
2. Select the desired alignment and press .
   The alignment setting remains active until you reset the alignment.

Adjusting the Print Contrast
You can adjust the print contrast to fine tune the print quality of your label.

To set the contrast

1. Press .
2. Select Set Contrast and press .
3. Select a contrast setting and press .

Using Labelmaker Memory

The labelmaker has a powerful memory feature that stores text and formatting as follows:

• Automatically stores the last nine labels printed.
• Allows you to store the text of up to nine labels you use frequently.
• Allows you to name and store up to nine commonly used label formats.

Storing Label Text
The labelmaker automatically keeps the last nine labels printed in a text buffer. In addition, you can store up to nine specific labels you use frequently.

To store the current label text

1. Press + .
2. Select Save and then Label.
   The first of the memory fields is displayed.
3. Use the arrow keys to move through the fields. You can store new text in any of the memory locations, however, if you select a location that is filled, the previous label text will be overwritten.
4. Select a memory location and press .
   Your label text is saved and you are returned to the label.

Storing Formats
In addition to label text, you can store up to nine specific label formats you use frequently. This feature stores only the formatting information not the label text.

To store the current format

1. Press + .
2. Select Save and then Format.
   The first of the memory fields is displayed.
3. Use the arrow keys to move through the fields. You can store a new format in any of the memory locations, however, if you select a location that is filled, the previously stored format will be overwritten.
4. Select a field and press . The word Name? appears in the field.
5. Enter a name for the format and press . The label format is saved and you are returned to the label.

Recalling Labels and Formats
You can easily recall labels and formats stored in memory to use at a later time.

To recall labels or formats

1. Press + .
2. Select Recall and then Label, Format, or Last Printed.The first memory location is displayed similar to storing a label or format.
3. Select a label or format to recall and press .

Caring for Your Labelmaker

Your labelmaker is designed to give you long and trouble-free service, while requiring very little maintenance.
Clean your labelmaker from time to time to keep it working properly. Clean the cutter blade each time you replace the label cassette.

To clean the cutter blade

1. Remove the label cassette.
2. Press and hold down the cutter lever to expose the cutter blade.
3. Use a cotton ball and alcohol to clean both sides of the blade.
4. Release the cutter lever.

You can also follow this procedure if the cutter blade becomes lodged in the forward position and will not move.

To clean the print head

• Clean the print head using the cleaning tool located inside the label compartment lid.

Troubleshooting

Review the following possible solutions if you encounter a problem while using your labelmaker.

Problem/Error Message	Solution
No display	Ensure the labelmaker is turned on. Replace discharged batteries.
Poor Print Quality	Replace discharged batteries or attach power adapter. Ensure label cassette is installed properly. Clean the print head. Replace the label cassette.
Poor Cutter Performance	Clean the cutter blade. See Caring for Your Labelmaker.
Printing	No action required. Message disappears when printing is finished.
Too many characters Exceeded maximum number of characters in buffer.	Delete some or all of the buffer text.
Too many lines Exceeded maximum number of lines allowed.	Select another format.
Insert Tape Cassette Label cassette missing or empty.	Insert a new label cassette
Battery low Batteries almost discharged.	Replace batteries or connect AC power adapter.
Tape Jam Motor is stalled due to label jam.	Remove jammed label and replace label cassette. Clean cutter blade.
Too many pages Exceeded maximum number of format breaks allowed.	Change label layout.
Page not empty	Delete all content on the page.
Tape size too small	Change label size or change the formatting on the label.
Set Fixed-length label selected and the length necessary to print the label exceeds the selected length.	Following this message, a fixed-length value is displayed which indicates the minimum label length necessary to fit the text. Do one of the following: Adjust the fixed-length label setting appropriately, or Select a narrower font size.

If you still need assistance, contact DYMO Customer Support. Refer to Contacting Customer Support at the back of this User Guide to locate the contact number for your country.