Help Centre › Clinical care

Dispensing labels

The medication label for the box or bottle — printing one, what goes on it, choosing label stock, and setting the size and wording for your practice.

When you dispense medication, FastVet prints a label for the box or bottle with your practice details, the drug, the quantity, the directions and the patient.

The one setting to get right is the size of the label, which must match the labels you buy.

Where	What it covers
On a dispensed line	The Print Label button, and a preview of what will print.
What is on it	The details FastVet fills in.
Choosing label stock	Which labels to buy.
Setting the size and wording	Label size, margin, font size, and the label’s text.
When it does not fit	What the preview’s warnings mean.
Setting up the printer	The print settings to use.

Printing a label#

Who can do this

Anyone who can charge the medication.

Labels are printed from a Treatment line on a consultation, or on a hospital or boarding day. Once the line has directions, the label appears beneath them.

Charge the medication as usual, or tap the line to open it.
Fill in Instructions — by hand, or with the Instruction Maker.
A preview of the label appears, at the size it will print.
Press Print Label and choose your label printer.

The label preview on a dispensed line. Check the quantity matches the course — here ten tablets for "1 tablet twice a day for 5 days".

Note

No Print Label button? The line has no directions yet. Write them and the button appears.

Note

Print labels from a computer with the label printer connected. Phones and tablets usually cannot print to it.

What is on the label#

FastVet fills in:

Your practice name, address and telephone number, from Practice Details.
Today’s date, and the name of whoever dispensed it.
The item, and the quantity and unit dispensed.
The directions from the line.
The patient, its details, and the owner’s name.
The line “FOR ANIMAL USE ONLY!”

You can change the wording and the size — see Setting the size and wording.

Choosing label stock#

If you are buying labels or a label printer, choose stock with room for a full set of directions. With a long practice name, a long drug name and long directions:

Label stock	Size	Result
DYMO 99014 / 30256 shipping	54 × 101 mm	Fits on one label at about 7pt. The one to buy for a DYMO LabelWriter.
DYMO 99012 large address	36 × 89 mm	Long directions run onto a second label.
DYMO 99010 address	28 × 89 mm	Most directions run onto a second label.
Standard sheet label on an office printer	120 × 75 mm	Plenty of room.

Note

A DYMO LabelWriter cannot print wider than 56 mm. A label set wider than that is shrunk to fit.

Setting the size and wording#

Who can do this

Administrators only.

Home›Settings›Manage Templates›Dispensing Label

The label is one of your practice's templates.

The dispensing label editor: label size and wording on the left, a real-size preview on the right.

Choose your label stock from the Size list. DYMO sizes are named by the part number on the box.
Not listed? Type the Width and Height in millimetres. The list changes to Custom size….
Adjust the Margin and Font size until the preview looks right.
Edit the wording under Label content. The substitution codes, such as #DIRECTIONS#, are listed above it.
Press Save.

Note

Width is the edge that feeds through the printer. A DYMO shipping label sold as “101 × 54” is 54 wide by 101 tall. The sizes in the list are already the right way round; this only matters for a custom size.

The preview shows the label at its actual size, with sample details.

Tip

Changing the size does not change the font size. If you switch from sheet labels to a DYMO and the preview warns, bring the font down to about 7pt.

When it does not fit#

The preview tells you if the label does not fit:

The preview says	What it means	What to do
Too wide for this label	Text runs past the right edge, and anything past the edge is not printed.	Reduce the font size, or choose wider stock. Fix this before printing.
This runs onto 2 labels	The text is longer than one label. The rest prints on the next label.	Fine if two labels are acceptable. Otherwise shorten the wording or reduce the font.
Fits on one … label	The label fits.	Nothing.

When a label runs onto a second one, every label in the run carries the patient, owner and item along the bottom, so each one still makes sense on its own.

Tip

To get back onto one label, reduce the font by a point, or remove the practice address from the label.

Setting up the printer#

Install the label printer’s driver on the computer as you would any printer.

Press Print Label.
Choose your label printer in the print window.
Set Scale to 100%, not “Fit to page”.
Check the paper size matches the labels loaded.
Print. Your browser usually remembers these settings — check the first couple of labels.

Note

If the browser scales the page, the label comes out too small, often in a corner. Setting Scale to 100% fixes this.

Tip

Print one label onto plain paper and measure it. If a label set to 54 mm wide measures 54 mm, the scaling is right.

If something looks wrong#

What you see	What to do
The label prints tiny, in a corner	Set Scale to 100% in the print window, not “Fit to page”.
The right-hand side is missing	The text is wider than the label. Open the label editor — the preview shows Too wide and by how much. Reduce the font or use wider stock.
It takes two labels every time	Common on address-size labels. See Choosing label stock, or reduce the font.
No Print Label button	Add directions to the line.
“Your browser blocked the print window”	Allow pop-ups for FastVet, then print again.
The practice name or address is wrong	Correct it in Practice Details.
Cannot print from a phone or tablet	Print from the computer the label printer is connected to.