Barcodes, labels and scanning

Give your products barcodes, print barcode stickers, and scan items straight onto sales, purchase and other documents.

Barcodes let you add an item to a bill by scanning it instead of searching for it. Arthlekha can use the barcode printed on the maker's packing, or give an item its own code that starts with ARTH-.

Before you start

• Barcodes are off for a new business. Open Settings > Configuration, click the Barcodes section and turn on Use barcodes in this business. See Configuration.
• When the switch is on, a Barcodes menu appears with Coverage, Print Labels and Stock Audit.
• A USB barcode scanner works like a keyboard and needs no setup. You can also scan with a phone camera.

Give a product a barcode

1. Open the product in Products.
2. In Barcode (optional — auto-assigned if blank), scan or paste the code from the packing, such as an EAN-13.
3. Check the line under the box. It tells you if the code's check digit is right, and a preview of the barcode shows when it is valid.
4. Leave the box empty if the item has no printed barcode. Arthlekha gives it an ARTH- code when you save.
5. Save the product.

To see past changes, open the product and click Show barcode history.

Check barcode coverage

1. Open Barcodes > Coverage.
2. The big number shows what share of your products have a barcode. Below it you see how many are manual EAN/UPC, how many are auto-assigned (ARTH- codes) and how many are missing.
3. To give a code to every product that has none, click Auto-assign all ... missing and confirm.
4. Regenerate all ... auto codes gives every product a new ARTH- code. Old stickers with the previous codes will no longer scan, so use it only when you are starting fresh.
5. Recent barcode changes lists the last changes. Use From, To and Source to narrow the list. Click a row to open that product.

Print barcode labels

1. Open Barcodes > Print Labels. You can also click Print labels on the Products page.
2. In Add product to print list, pick a product. Only products that have a barcode are listed. Click Add all (up to 50) to add many at once.
3. For each product, set Qty to the number of stickers you need. Click the bin icon to remove a product.
4. Pick your sticker size in Layout. A4 layouts fit many stickers on one sheet for a normal printer. Thermal layouts print one sticker at a time on a label roll.
5. Click Name or MRP to show or hide the product name and price on the sticker. A tick means it will print.
6. Click Print to open your printer window, or Download PDF to save a file.

The price on the sticker is the product's sale rate. If a product shows No MRP, click it to set the price on the Products page.

After you save a purchase, open it again and click Print labels to print stickers for every item in that bill, with the quantities already filled in.

Print on a thermal label printer

1. Pick a Thermal layout. A Thermal printer setup note appears.
2. In your printer's properties, set the paper size to exactly the size shown in the note.
3. In the print window, set the scale to 100% or actual size, not "fit to page".
4. In Chrome or Edge on a computer, you can click Direct USB to send labels straight to a Zebra-type printer. Pick your printer's DPI first. The first click asks you to choose the printer.

Scan items onto a document

A scan box with a barcode icon sits above the item lines on Sales, Purchase, Credit Note, Debit Note and Delivery Challan.

1. Click in the scan box.
2. Scan the item, or type the code and press Enter.
3. The item is added as a line. Scan the same item again to add 1 to its quantity.
4. To use a phone camera, click the camera icon at the end of the box and point the camera at the barcode.

On a sales invoice, a scan reads the product's sale rate as an MRP that includes GST. If the product has no sale rate, Arthlekha asks you for the MRP once and saves it on the product.

Common problems

• No product with barcode '...' — no product has this code. Click + Create new product with this barcode to make one, or Dismiss.
• Already used by "..." — another product already has this barcode. Click View existing to open it, or use a different code.
• MRP enabled but ... have no MRP set — fix on Products page — those stickers will print without a price. Set a sale rate on the product.
• Popup blocked — allow popups for arthlekha.com to use Print, or use Download PDF. — allow pop-ups for the site in your browser.
• Direct USB print is only available for thermal layouts. — pick a thermal layout, or use Print.
• WebUSB not supported in this browser. Use Chrome / Edge on desktop. — use Print or Download PDF instead.
• Camera unavailable — allow camera access for the site in your browser.
• Stickers do not scan or are cut off — the paper size or scale is wrong. Follow the thermal printer steps above.

Related

• Products
• Stock audit
• Configuration
• Create a sales invoice
• Record a purchase bill

More in Inventory