If you need physical barcode labels, Katana can generate the barcode labels as printable PDF pages or you can export the barcode numbers and use third-party tools to print your barcode labels.
How to print barcode labels in Katana
For the best results, we suggest you customize the barcode label template to your desired format, layout, and size. You can also customize your barcode labels for different workflows.
Read more about customizing templates.
3 ways to print barcode labels in Katana:
If you have a single order and want to print the barcode labels for items in that order, you can use the print icon in the order card.
Print options are available in the following views:
Purchase order card
Manufacturing order card
Sales order card
Item card
Stock adjustment
Stock transfer.
If you want to print barcode labels for selected items in your stock, or bulk print barcode labels for multiple orders at once — select the items you want, click the printer icon and select the print template.
If you want to print barcode labels while receiving items on your purchase order, you can select the Print barcode labels checkbox in the purchase order receive dialog. A PDF with barcode labels is created after clicking Receive.
A couple video tutorials in printing barcodes
Printing barcodes from XLS/CSV Files using a standard printer:
Printing barcodes from a PDF file using a label printer:
How many labels are created?
Each barcode label is created as a separate PDF page (every item variant or batch number is created as a separate barcode label).
On the Purchase order, Manufacturing order, and Sales order cards (as well as in the list view), the number of PDF pages created is dependent on the order line quantity:
Quantity to receive in the Purchase order row creates a matching number of PDF pages
MO planned quantity in the Manufacturing order creates a matching number of PDF pages
SO line item quantity in the Sales order creates a matching number of PDF pages.
Exporting barcode numbers to a 3rd party
There are five different areas in Katana where you'll find an option to export barcode numbers to a .csv or .xlsx file:
On the Inventory tab of the Stock screen, items that need a barcode label can be filtered and exported.
On the Batches tab, batch barcodes can be exported with item names and batch expiry dates.
On a Purchase order (PO) card there is an option to export all the items on that PO including batch numbers and expiry dates if applicable.
When receiving items from a PO, the popup box that appears allows you to select a checkbox to export barcodes for the items received - including batch barcodes and expiry dates if applicable.
In a Manufacturing order (MO) card there is an option to export barcodes for the product(s) including batch barcode and expiry date if applicable.
Label printing options
There are several options available on the market and most label printer software supports importing barcode numbers from CSV files and Excel spreadsheets.
Some examples:
Bartender - Widely used within a large variety of industries and known for flexibility and configuration options including API
Zebra Designer 3 - Dedicated to Zebra printers, but has a good reputation for its variety of label options
Avery print templates - a free tool, which has the most simple workflows and is mostly meant for use cases where barcode labels are printed with ordinary office printers on Avery stickers (widely available as office supplies)
This is a good option to start using barcodes with and test workflows
All the barcode data exported from Katana and imported to a label printing software will show up on the sidebar as column names:
Item name
SKU
Supplier item code
Internal barcode
Batch barcode
Registered barcode
Column names can be drag-and-dropped on a label template and defined, whether they should be presented as text/numbers or a barcode. Once saved, a new template can be created for another purpose.
Some examples created using Avery print templates:
1. A simple example of a label created for inventory tracking of an item with the item name, SKU, and barcode
2. Another example of a label created for batch tracking
3. Example of a label that has an item name and internal barcode, but batch/LOT number as a number
With saved templates, every time a new CSV file is imported, there is only a need to select the correct template and print it. All the labels will receive the corresponding barcodes from the file exported from Katana.
The adhesive labels can be applied to an item and items are found by scanning.