Tktem user guide

Tktem designs QR code labels, lays them out on a sheet of paper and creates a PDF that prints at true size. This guide covers the app on Windows. A macOS section will follow once it has been tested on a Mac.

In this guide, bold text is the name of a button, field or section exactly as it appears on screen.

1. What Tktem does

Tktem is made for two kinds of users:

• Template designers draw the label, choose its data and lay it out on the sheet.
• Print operators pick a finished template, enter a code range and create the PDF.

The app has four screens, chosen in the bar at the top:

Tktem works without an Internet connection.

2. Installing and first start

2.1 Installing on Windows

Tktem needs Windows 10 (version 1903 or later) or Windows 11.

1. Open Microsoft Store from the Start menu.
2. Search for "Tktem", open its page and click the install button. No administrator rights are needed.
3. Once it is installed, start Tktem from the Start menu.

Microsoft Store updates Tktem when a new version comes out, like any other app.

If the computer has Tktem installed from a downloaded setup file (Tktem_<version>_x64-setup.exe), uninstall that one first (see 2.4), so that the Start menu has only one Tktem. Leave the "Delete the application data" box unticked: the version from the Store then carries on with your settings, including the language, calibrated printers and print history.

2.2 First start

• The first time, the app uses the language of Windows: Vietnamese on a Vietnamese Windows, English otherwise. Switch it in the top right corner (see 2.3).
• It opens an empty template called New template: 50 × 30 mm, with one QR code and one line of text.
• The app creates the folder Documents\Tktem for your templates. PDF files go to Documents\Tktem\PDF by default.
• The Quick print screen always has a card for the open template, even an unsaved one, so you can try a print right away.

2.3 Language, units, light and dark

• Language: click VI or EN in the top right corner.
• Units: click Units in the bottom bar to switch between mm and inches. Number fields, sizes shown on screen (the Sheet & export screen included) and the numbers in errors and warnings all follow it; in inches, a barcode's X is in mil. Only the Printer calibration dialog always uses mm, because the measuring page is measured with a mm ruler.
• Light and dark: the app follows the light or dark mode of Windows.

The app remembers these choices.

2.4 Uninstalling

Uninstall Tktem like any other app, in Windows Settings → Apps: pick Tktem, click "Uninstall", then click it again to confirm. You can also right-click Tktem in the Start menu and choose "Uninstall".

• The app's settings (language, units, calibrated printers, print history, drafts) are kept inside the app and removed with it.
• The Documents\Tktem folder and the templates and PDF files in it are always kept.
• A computer that had Tktem installed from a downloaded setup file still has its old settings folder, %APPDATA%\com.tktem.desktop, or %APPDATA%\com.temqr.app from the version before the app was renamed. The version from the Store carries on with the settings in it, but uninstalling does not delete these folders. To start from scratch, delete them yourself after uninstalling.

A version installed from a downloaded setup file is uninstalled in the same place. Its uninstaller has a "Delete the application data" box (not ticked by default): tick it to also delete the app's settings. Click "Uninstall", then "Close". The Documents\Tktem folder is kept here too.

3. Key ideas

4. Quick start: your first label in 5 minutes

This example makes 60 × 40 mm labels with codes SB000001 to SB000120, printed on A4 paper.

1. Start Tktem. The Design screen shows New template.
2. Nothing is selected yet, so the panel on the right shows Label size.
3. In Width × height, type 60 and press Enter. Type 40 in the next field and press Enter.
4. Click the QR code on the label. Under QR content, the Content field holds {code}. Type your web address and keep {code} at the end, for example https://example.com/p/{code}, then press Enter.
5. Drag the QR code and the text where you want them.
6. Click Data in the top bar. In Prefix, type SB. In To, type 120. The Data preview shows 120 labels.
7. Click Sheet & export. The paper is A4 by default. The Layout result box shows how many labels fit on a sheet and how many sheets you need.
8. Click Save. The first time, the Save as… box opens. Type a name in the Template field and click Save. A Saved message with the template folder appears.
9. Click Create PDF. The Windows save dialog opens in the PDF folder with the file name filled in. Click its save button.
10. Wait until the PDF is ready. A Created message appears with an Open folder button.
11. Print the PDF at 100 % (see section 9).

5. The Design screen

5.1 Layout

• Top bar:
  • the template name button (opens the Template menu);
  • Save, and the undo and redo buttons;
  • the four screens;
  • VI / EN;
  • the ? button, which opens the Shortcuts, with the app's version and the Third-party notices button below them (section 12).
• Left: the drawing tools and the Layers panel.
• Centre: the label on a background with rulers.
  • Above it: Fit, 100%, 200%, 400%, and the Grid, Snap and Safe area boxes.
  • Below it: the Sample data bar.
• Right: the properties of the selected element, with the Print check panel underneath.
• Bottom bar: the number of errors and warnings (or No errors), the cursor position, grid, snap, units, the template folder, and the printer in use (or not calibrated). With a print shop's die-cut, the printer reads — (print-shop die-cut), because the die-cut PDF is not compensated for any printer (9.3).

5.2 Label size

Click the background right next to the label, or press Esc, to clear the selection. The panel on the right then shows:

The top field of the panel is the template name.

5.3 Drawing and editing elements

Tools (left column, or the shortcut key):

Moving and resizing:

• Drag an element to move it. Drag the small squares on its corners and sides to resize it.
  • A QR code always stays square.
  • Hold Shift to keep proportions, Alt to resize from the centre: the edge you drag follows the pointer, and the opposite edge moves as far the other way.
  • Sizes stop at the limits of their number fields, for example 1 to 3000 mm for rectangles and images, 5 to 300 mm for QR codes. With proportions kept, the side you drag stops when the other side reaches its limit, so the shape is never distorted.
• The arrow keys move the selected element by 0.1 mm; with Shift, by 1 mm.
• With Snap on, elements snap to the label's edges and centre, and to other elements' edges and centres; pink guide lines appear. When you drag a square to resize, the edge you drag snaps the same way, except a barcode's X squares (X changes one dot at a time). With Grid on as well, they also snap to the grid, and so does the first point you click when drawing or placing text. Hold Ctrl while dragging, drawing or clicking to place text to switch snapping off for a moment; with Snap off, drawing and text start exactly where you click.
• You can also type exact numbers in the panel on the right. Press Enter to apply a value, Esc to drop what you typed. In a number field, ↑ ↓ step the value up or down. A number beyond the field's limits is pulled back to the limit when applied.
• Double-click text, a QR code or a barcode to edit its content.

Zoom:

• Ctrl + mouse wheel, or the Fit, 100%, 200%, 400% buttons.
• Ctrl+0 fits the label to the window, Ctrl+1 shows it at 100 %.

Aligning: with an element selected, six buttons move it to the left, centre, right, top, middle or bottom of the label. With Safe area on, it is aligned to the edge of the safe area instead.

Buttons at the bottom of the properties panel: Duplicate (Ctrl+D), Bring forward, Send backward, Delete (Delete). After a delete, the message has an Undo button.

Selecting with the keyboard: click the label, then press Tab / Shift+Tab to select one element after another. Past the last one nothing is selected and the panel on the right shows Label size; press Tab again to go into its fields. Esc clears the selection.

5.4 QR codes

Select a QR code to edit it.

• Position:

  • X · Y is the top left corner.
  • QR size includes the quiet zone.
  • The Add QR frame button adds a 4-corner frame around the code (see 5.8).

• QR content:

  • Under Type, choose VietQR for a Vietnamese bank transfer code: pick the Bank and enter the Account number (at most 55 characters). The app builds a standard VietQR string.
  • Or choose Text / URL and enter the Content, for example a web address.
  • The small buttons such as {code} and {seq} insert a placeholder at the cursor.
  • The grey box underneath shows the exact content encoded in the QR of the label being previewed.

• QR style:

  Field	Meaning
  Error correction	L / M / Q / H. A higher level copes better with dirt and damage, but needs more modules. Use H with a logo.
  Modules	The module shape: Square, Rounded or Dots.
  Finder eyes	The style of the three big squares in the corners: Square or Rounded.
  QR colour, QR background	Colours of the code and of its background. Tick Transparent for no background.
  Quiet zone	The number of white modules around the code. The standard is 4. The dashed line around the QR turns red when something overlaps it.

• Logo in the QR:

  • Tick Add a logo: a file box opens. Choose an image and the logo appears in the middle of the code; cancel and there is no logo.
  • Click Choose logo image… to switch to another image.
  • Logo size is a percentage of the QR area. Keep it at 15 % or less.
  • Adding a logo switches Error correction to H.

The quiet zone on the label: the dashed line around the QR always lies 4 modules out from the code, whatever the Quiet zone is set to. It turns red when something prints between the dashed line and the code:

• an element above the QR (higher than the QR in the Layers panel), such as text, a line or a label border;
• a dark image or fill under the QR, where the QR background does not cover it. The background covers exactly the QR size, so with a Quiet zone below 4 it does not cover it all; a Transparent background covers nothing.

A QR frame does not count as overlapping, even with a Clearance of 0 mm.

5.5 Barcodes

Pick the Barcode tool (key B) and drag on the label. The app makes a Code 128 of {code} and picks X so that the longest code of the batch fills the width you dragged; the rest of the height goes to the bars. X never goes below the Code 128 minimum, so a drag that is too narrow gives a code wider than the drag.

A barcode's box includes the quiet zones on both sides and the line of text under the code. The quiet zones show as a dashed line that turns red when something runs into them or when they leave the label. An element above the code (higher in the Layers panel) that prints into the quiet zones always counts; anything under the code is hidden by the Code background, unless it is Transparent.

• Symbology and content:

  • Symbology, in groups:

    Group	Symbologies	Used for
    Retail	EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8	Goods sold at a checkout. Enter 12, 11 or 7 digits and the app adds the check digit; enter all of them and the app checks it. Use only numbers your GS1 member organisation assigned to you: the app checks the structure, not whether you may use the number.
    Logistics	GS1-128	Carton and logistics labels: (AI)value pairs, for example (01)08934567890120(10){code}. The app checks check digits, lengths and dates.
    In-house	Code 128	Serial numbers and assets: letters without accents, digits, symbols.
    2D codes	DataMatrix, GS1 DataMatrix	A square code for small parts. DataMatrix takes accented text.

  • The small text under Symbology says where that symbology is used.

  • Content works like a QR code's content, with placeholders, for example 893456789{seq:03}.

  • The grey box below shows the exact content of the code, check digit included, for the label on screen. Content that cannot be encoded shows as a red message.

• Barcode size:

  Field	Meaning
  Module X	The width of the narrowest bar, in mm (in mil when you work in inches). The whole code grows with X; it is never stretched freely.
  Bar height	1D codes only. EAN/UPC must not be cut shorter than the standard asks.
  Width with quiet zones	Read only: the width of the code plus its quiet zones.

  • The hint under X gives the size as a % of nominal size (EAN/UPC, where 100 % is 0.33 mm). When printing on standard paper (7.1), it also gives the number of dots of the chosen printer if it has a resolution (9.2), for example 4 dots at 300 dpi.
  • When X is not a whole number of dots, a Use … button sets the nearest X that is, for example 0.339 mm. The X it suggests is never below the symbology's minimum, nor below 2 dots.
  • With a print shop's die-cut, there are no dots and no Use … button: the die-cut PDF is not rounded to dots (9.3).

• Text under the code: tick Show the text under the code, then choose the Font and Font size. EAN/UPC put the digits under their groups of bars, as the standard does; other symbologies centre the text under the code.

• Colour: Bar colour and Code background; tick Transparent for no background. Print the bars in a dark colour: scanners use a red light, and under it red or orange bars disappear.

• Position: X · Y is the top left corner of the box. Rotation 0°, 90°, 180° or 270°.

On the label: drag the squares at the two ends of the code to change X, one dot of the chosen printer at a time (0.01 mm when the printer has no resolution, or with a print shop's die-cut), never below the symbology's minimum (and, on standard paper, never below 2 dots); drag the squares on the other two sides to change the bar height. A 2D code stays square, and every square changes X.

The whole batch: every label gets the same code size, that of the longest code in the batch; shorter codes sit in the middle of the box. The app checks the content of every label in the batch, not only the one on screen.

5.6 Text

Select a line of text to edit it. Each text element is one line.

• Content: fixed words, placeholders, or both, for example Batch {wwyy}.

• Text:

  Field	Meaning
  Font	Fonts installed on the computer. The font marked ★ comes with the app, so every computer has it.
  Bold, Italic	The type style.
  Font size	In points (pt).
  Text colour	See 5.9.
  Alignment	Left, Centre or Right of the anchor point.
  Letter spacing	Extra space between characters, in pt.
  Rotation	0°, 90°, 180° or 270°.

• Position:

  • Anchor X is the horizontal point the text is aligned to.
  • Baseline is the line the text sits on, shown as a pink dashed line. Positioning by baseline keeps text in place when the font or size changes.
  • The QR centre button puts the anchor at the centre of the QR code and centres the text.

• Shrink to fit:

  • Tick Shrink to fit width and set the Max width.
  • The app finds the longest content in the whole batch and shrinks the text on every label by the same amount, so all labels share one font size.
  • While text is shrunk, the panel shows the real size, for example Shrunk to 6.5 pt for the whole batch.

5.7 Images and logos

1. Click the Image / logo tool (key I) and choose a PNG or JPG file.
2. The image is placed in the middle of the label. The panel shows the file name, its size in pixels and its print resolution (DPI). Aim for 300 DPI or more. Set position and size under Position and size.
3. Buttons and boxes:
   • Change image… swaps the image. If the image file is missing, this button reads Load image….
   • Fit to label makes the image cover the whole label, for a background.
   • Keep proportions when dragging keeps the image from being distorted, also when you type numbers. A side typed too large or too small stops where the other side reaches the 1–3000 mm limit.
   • Lock (not selectable on the canvas) prevents moving it by accident, useful for a background. A locked element can still be selected in the Layers panel.

An image chosen from outside the template folder is copied into the template's assets folder when you save, so moving or deleting the original file does no harm. An image already inside the template folder is used where it is.

For a Print shop CMYK PDF, the app converts PNG and JPEG pictures to CMYK inks like the other colours (5.9). A converted JPEG is no longer JPEG-compressed, so the PDF gets larger; save logos as PNG.

5.8 Rectangles, borders and lines

Rectangles:

• Colour:

  • Fill sets the fill colour.
  • Tick No fill for an outline only.

• Border:

  Field	Meaning
  Colour	The border colour. Tick No border to remove it.
  Thickness	In pt.
  Line style	Solid, Dashed, Dotted, Double or Corners. The stroke lies inside the frame. Dashes and dots stretch slightly so every corner gets one.
  Dash · gap	Dashed only: dash and gap length.
  Gap	Dotted and Double: space between dots, or between the two lines.
  Inner line	Double only: thickness of the inner line.
  Corner length	Corners only: length of each corner.

Label borders and QR frames:

• A label border (the Add label border button):
  • has Follow the label edge and Inset: the distance from the cut line to the outer edge of the border;
  • follows the label when its size changes.
• A QR frame (the Add QR frame button):
  • has Follow the QR, Clearance and Corner radius;
  • keeps its stroke at least the Clearance away from the quiet zone, rounded corners included, so it never hurts scanning. A large corner radius makes the frame grow outward; a very large one turns it into a circle around the code;
  • moves and resizes with the QR.
• Untick Follow the label edge or Follow the QR to turn the frame into an ordinary rectangle that stays where it is.

Lines: under Coordinates, set the Start and End; under Stroke, set the Colour and Thickness. The stroke stops exactly at the start and end points, so a line from one edge of the label to the other is not reported as outside the label; only the thickness spreads out on both sides of the line.

5.9 Colour

The PDF colours section in the Sheet & export step (7.6) chooses how colours go into the PDF, saved with each template:

• Print shop CMYK (default): every colour and picture becomes CMYK inks, as described below. The file name ends in _CMYK.
• Design colours: RGB colours and pictures stay as in the template, CMYK stays CMYK. Use it for office printers or digital presses that convert colours themselves; the printer or print shop converts RGB its own way.

Print shops print with four inks only, C, M, Y and K, so a Print shop CMYK PDF writes every colour as inks:

• A CMYK colour prints exactly as you enter it.
• An RGB colour (what designers usually supply) is converted to CMYK by Tktem when it exports the PDF, for offset printing on coated paper, FOGRA39 (ISO Coated v2, at most 300 % ink in total). The template keeps the original RGB values. RGB greys and black use black ink only, so #000000 becomes K 100.
• PNG pictures are converted to CMYK too, transparency kept. A picture with only black and greys (a black logo, a greyscale PNG) prints in black ink only. In a colour picture, black and greys print in four inks as in any photo software, so do not put small black text in a colour picture: make it a text element. RGB JPEGs are converted the same way. CMYK and greyscale JPEGs go in unchanged (a greyscale JPEG prints in black ink).
• The PDF names the FOGRA39 standard, so the print shop knows what the CMYK values were made for. If your print shop uses another standard, ask them for the CMYK values of your key colours and enter them.
• Such a PDF still prints on an office colour printer (the PDF reader converts the colours); for colours closest to the design choose Design colours.

Every colour setting has:

• a Pick colour box that opens a colour picker;
• a HEX colour field, for example #0E5E6F;
• a CMYK button:
  • For a CMYK colour it shows the inks, for example C0 M0 Y0 K100. For an RGB colour it shows the inks a Print shop CMYK PDF prints it with: #006B68 shows RGB → C84 M31 Y52 K28; in a template set to Design colours it shows RGB · printer converts.
  • Click it to open the CMYK (0–100) box and enter exact ink values, for example from your brand guide or your print shop. For an RGB colour the box is filled with the converted inks; click OK to make the colour CMYK.
• quick swatches: the template's saved colours, black (K 100) and white. The + swatch saves the current colour in the template's swatches with its values unchanged (RGB stays RGB, CMYK stays CMYK). Right-click a saved colour to remove it from the swatches.

While a colour is CMYK, picking a colour or typing a HEX value keeps it CMYK, converted by the same FOGRA39 standard; black and greys use black ink only.

The HEX value of a CMYK colour is only close, except for black and greys in black ink only, which convert back exactly (K 100 is #000000). To reuse the exact inks on another element, save the colour with the + swatch instead of copying the HEX value.

On screen, CMYK colours look almost as they print (the same as Exact print preview): cyan C 100 is less vivid than on a screen, black K 100 is slightly grey like real ink. RGB colours show their RGB values; to see how an RGB colour prints, open Exact print preview.

Use black K 100 for small text, thin lines, QR codes and barcodes:

• Black K 100 prints in one ink, so it stays sharp. A colour of several inks (such as the brand teal above, four inks) prints several times on top of itself, and a slight misregistration blurs it. The Print check panel warns about this.
• In the PDF, text, QR codes, barcodes, lines and borders in black K 100 (RGB black too, in a Print shop CMYK PDF) overprint the background under them, so misregistration shows no white edge. Fill areas and white do not overprint.
• For a deep black over a large area use C60 M40 Y40 K100. A colour with more than 300 % ink in total is reported: thick ink dries slowly and smears.

5.10 The Layers panel

• The top row is the topmost layer.
• Click a row to select its element, even a locked one.
• The eye button toggles Hide / Show. A hidden element is not printed and not checked, not even for a misspelled placeholder. The padlock toggles Lock / Unlock.
• Drag a row up or down to change the layer order. The element takes the place of the row you drop it on.

5.11 Previewing with real data

The Sample data bar under the label shows each label of the batch:

• Previous label and Next label (◀ ▶) step through the labels;
• Longest label jumps to the label with the longest content, to check for text overflow and module size.

5.12 The Print check panel

The panel in the bottom right corner checks the label while you edit. Its figures are about the selected QR code or barcode; with nothing selected, about the first QR code.

• Below is the list of errors and warnings. Click a row to select the element concerned, or to open the screen concerned.
• When there is nothing to report, the panel says Ready.
• Click the Print check title to collapse or expand the panel.

What each message means and how to fix it: see section 11.

6. The Data screen

6.1 Number range

Under Data source, choose Number range, then fill in:

6.2 Code formula

The Formula field decides each label's code. For example {prefix}{seq:06} gives SB000001, SB000002, … The buttons underneath insert placeholders:

A misspelled placeholder is reported in the preview and stops the PDF from being created. For anything more complex, such as calculations or lookups, prepare the data in Excel or a script and use a CSV file.

6.3 Custom variables

A custom variable is a named formula, worked out for every label. Set it once and use it in several places: the label code, texts and QR content.

For example, a label needs the text S/N: SN432600001 and a QR code holding http://test.io?ref=SN432600001.

1. Under Custom variables, click Add variable. A new row appears: the variable name on the left, its formula on the right.
2. Rename it to sn and type the formula SN{wwyy}{seq:05}.
3. In Design, set the text to S/N: {sn} and the QR content to http://test.io?ref={sn}. A {sn} button is also offered under the content fields.

Rules:

• A variable name has only letters without accents, digits and _, and does not start with a digit. It cannot repeat another variable or a built-in name such as seq, code, wwyy. An invalid name gets a red border and the app keeps the old one.
• A variable can use {seq}, {wwyy}, the date, CSV columns and the variables above it. It cannot use {code}, but the code Formula can use variables, for example {sn}.
• When the CSV file has a column with the same name as a variable, the app takes the column.
• Click the bin at the end of a row to remove the variable.
• The preview table gets a column for each variable so you can check the result.

6.4 CSV files

Use a CSV file when the codes are not a simple number range, for example an existing list of serial numbers.

Preparing the file:

• In Excel, choose Save As and the type "CSV UTF-8". A plain CSV file (not UTF-8) breaks accented letters; the app says so right under the file name when it meets one.
• The first row holds the column names. Each following row is one label.
• Columns may be separated by commas, semicolons or tabs.
• Quotes are read as Excel does: a cell that starts with " runs to the closing ", so it can hold commas and line breaks; a " inside a cell is an ordinary character, as in Speaker 12" black. If a cell opens a " and never closes it, the app gives the line number.

Choosing the file:

1. Under Data source, choose CSV file.
2. Click Choose CSV file…. The app shows how many rows and columns the file has.
3. Under Map columns:
   • Label code {code}: pick the column that holds the codes, or (use the formula) to build the codes with the formula.
   • Each QR code, barcode and line of text: pick a column to take its content from, or (as in the template) to keep the designed content.
4. Column names become placeholders, for example the column model becomes {model}, usable in text and QR content.

When you choose another file that lacks a mapped column, the element mapped to it goes back to (as in the template), and Label code takes the file's first column. Each time you change the file, check Map columns again.

When you open a template whose CSV file no longer has a mapped column (for example the column serial was renamed Serial Number), the app keeps the mapping and never takes another column instead. That box in Map columns still shows the old column name, and the app reports The CSV file has no column “serial”, which the template needs. and cannot print yet. Fix it in one of two ways: pick the right column again in Map columns; or fix the CSV file so it has that column again, then click Choose CSV file… and choose the file again.

A CSV file outside the template folder is copied into the template's assets folder when you save; the template uses that copy. A file already inside the template folder is used where it is. If you change the original file after choosing it, click Choose CSV file… and choose it again.

When the template's CSV file is no longer where it was (deleted, renamed, or the template was copied to another computer without it), the file box reads No CSV file chosen with a red line below it, for example: CSV “data.csv” not found. Click Choose CSV file… and choose the file again.

6.5 Data preview

• The table on the right shows the first 10 and the last 2 labels.
• Above it are tags: the number of labels, No duplicate codes or the number of duplicates, empty rows, and the length of the longest code.
• With no labels at all (no CSV file chosen, the file is gone, or To is below From), a red tag replaces No duplicate codes: No label data yet. Enter a number range or choose a CSV file in the Data step.
• Each mapped column the CSV file lacks adds a red tag, for example: The CSV file has no column “serial”, which the template needs. See 6.4.
• Duplicate codes are highlighted in red. Duplicates and rows without a code are errors: fix the data before printing.
• Each barcode has a column with the exact content of the code, check digit included. A red cell is content that cannot be encoded.

7. The Sheet & export screen

7.1 Standard paper

Under Layout, choose Standard paper:

The labels are laid out in a grid, centred on the sheet.

7.2 A print shop's die-cut PDF

When your print shop sends a die-cut PDF showing where the labels go:

1. Under Layout, choose Print-shop die-cut PDF.
2. Click Choose die-cut PDF… and choose the print shop's file.
3. The app reads the first page, shows Reading the die-cut…, then reports the boxes it found, for example Found 18 60.0 × 40.0 mm boxes.
4. Each label is placed in the middle of a box, at its designed size.

Until a die-cut file is chosen, the preview is a blank A4 sheet, the app reports No die-cut file chosen. and the PDF cannot be created yet. Click that error in the Print check panel to go straight to the Choose die-cut PDF… button.

As with images, a die-cut chosen from outside the template folder is copied into the template's assets folder when you save; a die-cut already inside the template folder is used where it is.

A label with a Corner radius above 0 only takes rounded boxes from the die-cut. A square-cornered label (Corner radius 0) takes square boxes too.

When the die-cut file cannot be read, the reason shows in red under the file name, in the Print check panel and under the Create PDF button, and no PDF can be created yet:

• A locked die-cut file (password-protected or encrypted): the app says The die-cut file is locked: ask the print shop for an unlocked file, or print it to PDF and choose the new file. The app cannot place a locked file as the background of the PDF. The easiest way is to ask the print shop for an unlocked file. To print it to PDF yourself: open the file in a PDF reader, print it to PDF at 100 % on a paper size equal to the die-cut's size, then click Choose another… and choose the new file; the die-cut size shown under the file name must match the print shop's die-cut.
• A damaged file, not a PDF, or no longer on this computer: the app says Could not read the die-cut PDF: … with the reason. Click Choose another… and choose the file again, or ask the print shop to send it again.

Settings:

• Detection tolerance: a box in the die-cut counts when its size differs from the label by no more than this amount.
• Cover die lines: the die-cut prints as the background of the PDF; the app paints white around each box, this far past its edge, so the die lines do not print.

Print-shop die-cut layouts are always exported uncompensated. The print shop calibrates its own printer. To use another file, click Choose another….

7.3 Numbering order and marks

• Numbering order:

  Option	Order
  By row	Left to right, row by row.
  By column	Top to bottom, column by column.
  Cut & stack	After guillotining the whole pile, every stack is a continuous run of numbers.

• Marks:

  • None or Outline.
  • With standard paper there are also Crop marks.

• Tick Print page numbers to print the page number, for example 3/10, in the bottom-right corner of the sheet.

  • The page number prints in grey, at 7 pt, in the Be Vietnam Pro font that comes with the app. The font is inside the PDF, so every printer prints it the same.
  • The sheet preview shows it in the same place, at the same size and in the same font as the PDF.
  • In that corner, labels, crop marks and die-cut boxes must stay at least 6.6 mm above the bottom edge of the sheet, so the number is 1 mm away from them. The more sheets, the longer the number and the wider the corner it needs.
  • When that corner is too close to a label, a crop mark or a die-cut box, the PDF leaves the number out and the Print check panel warns.

7.4 Sheet preview

• The middle of the screen shows the sheet. Previous sheet / Next sheet step through the sheets. Above it is the sheet shown, for example Sheet 2 / 5; with no labels yet it reads Sheet 1 / 1, the sheet being drawn.
• Number in a box = label number: the big number on each label is for the preview only and is not printed.
• The Layout result box shows labels per sheet, the grid, total labels, sheets to print, the share of paper used, and the Orientation (standard paper) or the Die-cut size (die-cut).

7.5 Exact print preview

Click Exact print preview to see the real PDF page of the current sheet, exactly as it will print. Colours look almost as they print too, in the chosen PDF colours: with Print shop CMYK, RGB colours and pictures are already converted to CMYK (5.9).

7.6 Creating the PDF

1. Under PDF colours, choose Print shop CMYK (the file name ends in _CMYK) or Design colours for office printers, see 5.9. The choice is saved with the template.
2. Under Export:
   • Folder is where the PDF goes; click Change… to choose another folder. This folder is shared by all templates. Only for a template that has a PDF folder of its own, Change… changes that template's folder, as a change to the template: it can be undone and the template needs saving;
   • the line below it is the file name.
3. Click Create PDF. The Windows save dialog opens in that folder with the file name filled in. Click its save button, or pick another place first.
4. The Creating PDF… box shows progress sheet by sheet. Click Cancel to stop; the app reports: Cancelled. No file was written.
5. When it is done, a Created message appears with an Open folder button.

Create PDF is greyed out when:

• there is no data;
• the template has errors: they are listed in red right under the button;
• the app is still reading the die-cut.

One PDF can hold up to 200 000 labels. Split bigger runs into several PDFs.

8. Quick print

The Quick print screen is for everyday printing. The design cannot be changed here. The code range typed here and a CSV file chosen here are for this print only: the template does not change and needs no saving.

1. Template: click the card of the template to print. The cards are the templates in the templates folder and the recently opened ones. The open template always has a card and is already selected; an unsaved template comes first and prints just as you see it.
2. Code range:
   • Type From and To. The app fills in the range that follows the highest number printed with this template, with as many labels as that print. Reprinting an older range does not move the filled-in range back.
   • A new range shows This range has not been printed yet.
   • A range that overlaps an earlier print shows a yellow warning, for example: Codes 101–120 were printed on 20/10/2026. Click Start from … to jump to the next unprinted number.
   • For a template that uses a CSV file, the app prints the template's CSV file. To print another file, click Choose CSV file…: that file is for this print only, and the template keeps its own file and its Map columns. That file must have every column the template maps, with the same names; if one is missing, the app reports an error naming the column and cannot print yet. Going to another screen or opening another template brings back the template's file.
3. Check and create PDF:
   • Tags show whether the template has errors (Template has no errors), whether the printer is calibrated (Printer not calibrated), the template's PDF colours, labels per sheet and the number of sheets.
   • Errors that stop printing are listed in red.
   • Click Create PDF. Open folder opens the folder the PDF will go to, as the Folder box in 7.6.

On the right are the Sheet 1 preview and Recent prints (the last six prints; at first it says: Nothing printed yet.).

9. Printing at true size

9.1 Print the PDF at 100 %

• In the print dialog of your PDF reader, choose Actual size or 100 %. Do not choose Fit.
• The paper in the tray must match the paper size of the PDF.

9.2 Printer calibration

Every printer is slightly off. Calibrate each printer once, so that labels print at their true size (within about ±0.2 mm).

1. On Sheet & export, choose Standard paper and the paper Size you will print on, then click Calibrate printer… in the Print size box.

2. Print the measuring page at 100 %:

   • Click Create measuring page (PDF) and save the file. The measuring page is Letter when the Size is Letter or Legal, and A4 for every other size. The picture on the left of the dialog shows its paper size.
   • Print it on paper of the same size (Letter or A4) at 100 %. The margins C and D depend on the paper in the tray, so measure on the paper you will print on.

3. Measure with a ruler and enter the values:

   Field	What to measure
   A	The length of the horizontal line with tick marks (nominal 150 mm).
   B	The length of the vertical line with tick marks (nominal 150 mm).
   C	From the left edge of the paper to the short vertical line near it (nominal 10 mm).
   D	From the top edge of the paper to the short horizontal line near it (nominal 10 mm).

4. The app accepts A and B from 140 to 160 mm and C and D from 0 to 20 mm. A typing mistake turns the field red and blocks saving. These fields are always in mm, even when the app is set to inches.

5. Computed compensation shows:

   • Horizontal, Vertical: how much the app enlarges or shrinks the page to make up for A and B.
   • Top-left shift X · Y: how far the app moves the top-left corner of the page to make up for C and D. A positive X moves it right, a positive Y moves it down. For example, C measured as 10.3 mm (the printer is 0.3 mm to the right) gives an X of −0.3 mm; D measured as 9.8 mm (the printer is 0.2 mm too high) gives a Y of 0.2 mm. When A or B is not 150, the shift includes the enlarging or shrinking, so it can be other than 0 even when C and D are exactly 10.
   • 50 mm label before and After: the size of a 50 mm label printed on this printer without and with compensation.

6. Barcodes (optional):

   • The printer's Resolution: 203, 300, 600 or 1200 dpi, or Unknown. With a resolution, when printing on standard paper, the app suggests an X of whole dots, warns about an X between dots, and makes every bar whole dots in the PDF.
   • Ink spread: printed bars usually come out thicker than designed. Print a test, measure how much thicker, and enter it; the app makes the bars that much thinner. Leave 0 until you have measured.

7. Type the Printer name and click Save for this printer.

After that:

• The Printer field in the Print size box selects the printer you calibrated. The box shows its name and the compensation, for example: Horizontal +0.12% · vertical −0.05% · tolerance ±0.2 mm. With a resolution it also shows, for example: 300 dpi · ink spread 0.02 mm.
• Every PDF you create is compensated for that printer, and its file name gets the printer's name.
• A sheet lying sideways (Orientation is Landscape in Layout result): the printer turns the page when printing, so the app compensates the page's width by B and its height by A, and does not shift it by C and D. Labels keep their true size; the whole sheet can be off by as much as the printer's margins are.
• Such a PDF is only right for that printer. To send a file to another print shop, choose No printer selected for an uncompensated PDF.

9.3 With a print shop's die-cut

Die-cut layouts never use printer compensation, nor the barcode ink spread, and do not make bars whole dots of the chosen printer, so there are no suggestions or warnings about X in that printer's dots either; the squares at the two ends of a barcode change X 0.01 mm at a time. The print shop calibrates its own printer.

10. Saving and managing templates

10.1 Saving and opening

Click the template name button in the top left corner to open the menu:

• A template with unsaved changes has a dot ● next to its name. An action that leaves the template as it was, such as dragging an element and dropping it back where it was, clicking the option already chosen or typing the same value again, adds no ● and no undo step.
• Each template is a folder named after the template, without accents: a template called "Tem đầu tiên" lives in the folder Tem dau tien.

10.2 Closing with unsaved changes, drafts

• When you close the app, open another template or start a new one while there are unsaved changes, the app says, for example: Template “Demo 60x40” has unsaved changes. Choose Cancel, Don’t save or Save.

  

• The app keeps a draft 3 seconds after every change. If the app or the computer stops suddenly, the next start asks whether to restore it:

  • Restore reopens the draft. The template stays unsaved.
  • Discard draft deletes the draft.
  • The box only closes with one of these two buttons.

• Files chosen from outside the template folder since the last save (images, die-cut, CSV file) are not in the draft. After restoring, choose them again.

  

10.3 Copying a template to another computer

1. On the old computer, click Open templates folder and copy the template's whole folder.
2. On the new computer, paste it into Documents\Tktem.

The template folder already holds its images, die-cut PDF and CSV file. Fonts must be installed on the new computer, except fonts placed in the template's assets\fonts folder (see 10.4).

A template only reads files inside its own folder. A template that points to a file somewhere else still opens, but the app does not read that file and shows an error (section 11). Choose the file again to copy it into the template folder.

10.4 Fonts

• The Font list holds the fonts installed in Windows and Be Vietnam Pro (marked ★), which comes with the app.
• A font you install in Windows shows up after you restart Tktem.
• When a template uses a font the computer does not have, the app shows a warning and uses Be Vietnam Pro instead.
• A font that does not allow embedding in a PDF is an error: choose another font.
• A template's own fonts: put the font files (.ttf, .otf, .ttc) in the assets\fonts folder inside the template folder. They show in the Font list when the template is open, and travel with the template to another computer, even one where the font is not installed.

11. Errors and warnings

Errors block Create PDF. Warnings still let you create the PDF. The … marks where the app fills in an element name or a number.

In warnings about a minimum or a maximum (modules, strokes, X, contrast, DPI, bleed gap, GS1-128 width), the number is rounded away from the limit, so it always reads clearly below or above it: a 0.398 mm module shows as 0.39 mm, below the 0.4 mm minimum. A value exactly at the limit gives no warning.

The numbers in the messages follow the chosen unit: mm or inches, a barcode's X in mil when working in inches, and stroke thickness always in pt, like the Thickness field. The table below gives the examples in mm.

12. Keyboard shortcuts

Click ? in the top right corner to see this list in the app.

Below the list is a line with the app's version, followed by beta. This means that the app has not yet been printed for real to measure the labels, and its barcodes have not yet been read with real scanners. Before printing many, print one sheet, measure a label with a ruler and scan the codes (section 9).

At the bottom is the Third-party notices button. It opens the list of other parties' software, fonts and colour data that Tktem uses, with the licence of each. The list is a text file installed with the app, and opens in Notepad or the computer's text viewer. If the file has been deleted from the install folder, the app shows Could not open the third-party notices: …. Reinstall Tktem to get the file back.

13. Troubleshooting

Labels print larger or smaller than designed. Print the PDF at 100 % (Actual size), check the paper in the tray, then calibrate the printer (section 9).

The QR code does not scan. Look at the Print check panel: Modules should be 0.4 mm or more, the Quiet zone must be clear and the Scan test must say reads correctly. With a logo, keep the Logo size at 15 % or less and Error correction at H.

A barcode does not scan. Look at the Print check panel: X must not be below the symbology's minimum, the Quiet zone must be clear and the Scan test must say reads correctly. Print a test and scan it with a phone or a scanner. If the bars print thick, measure and enter the Ink spread (9.2).

A phone photo appears sideways or mirrored. The picture carries a rotation flag. Tktem shows and prints it as stored in the file, and shows a warning. Rotate the picture in a photo viewer, save it, then click Change image….

Typing decimals with a comma. In number fields a comma becomes a decimal point: typing 1,5 gives 1.5.

Accented letters in the CSV file come out wrong. Save the file again from Excel as "CSV UTF-8".

Opening a template, the app says it has invalid values. The template file was edited by hand or is damaged. Numbers beyond a field's limits were pulled back to the limit, and text where a number belongs was replaced by the default. Check the template, then click Save.

The app says: This template was made with a newer Tktem. Update Tktem to open it: opening it here would lose what this version does not know. The template was saved by a newer Tktem than the one installed, for example with a kind of element this version does not have. The app does not open it, so that saving cannot lose that part. Update Tktem to the latest version in Microsoft Store, then open the template again.

Create PDF is greyed out. Read the red text right under the button (in Quick print: right above it): those are the errors to fix. If it says Reading the die-cut…, wait until the app has read the die-cut.

The die-cut PDF has no boxes. The label size must be close to the size of the boxes in the die-cut. Raise the Detection tolerance if the boxes differ slightly. The app reads the first page only. A rounded label only takes rounded boxes; a label with a Corner radius of 0 takes square boxes too. If the app says Could not read the die-cut PDF: … or The die-cut file is locked: … do as in 7.2.

Colours print differently from the screen. A screen gives off light and paper does not, so printed colours are less vivid, especially bright greens, oranges and purples. Open Exact print preview to see the colours almost as they print. If an office printer gives odd colours, try PDF colours set to Design colours. If your print shop does not print to FOGRA39, for example on plastic or silver labels, ask them for the CMYK values of your key colours and enter them (5.9).

The app closed unexpectedly. Start Tktem again and choose Restore (10.2).

14. What Tktem does not do

• Barcodes: EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8, Code 128, GS1-128, DataMatrix and GS1 DataMatrix. No ITF-14, Code 39 or PDF417 yet.
• It does not check whether you may use an EAN number: only its structure and check digit.
• It does not print directly: create the PDF, then print the PDF.
• It does not read Excel .xlsx files: save them as CSV UTF-8.
• Each text element is one line. There is no multi-line text and no text along a curve.
• Text and barcodes rotate by 0°, 90°, 180° or 270° only. Other elements do not rotate.
• No freehand drawing, gradients, shadows or element groups.
• RGB colours are converted for one print standard only, FOGRA39. No spot colours (Pantone), no PDF/X files.
• No multi-page labels.
• No thermal roll printers.