What's new in Sahl: internal barcodes, item attributes, and barcode labels on any printer

In short: this month's update adds three things to Sahl that used to need outside tools: internal barcode generation from inside the item, free item attributes (model, colour, size and whatever else you need), and a barcode label designer that prints on ordinary printers, label printers and Zebras. All of it is available to every subscriber at no extra cost, and documented step by step in the user guide.

1) Internal barcodes from a formula you define once

Many items arrive with no barcode: produce, bakery goods, local products, clothing and shoes. The usual fix was to invent numbers and type them by hand, where they repeat, collide and get lost. Now you define one formula in Catalog settings: the type (EAN-13, EAN-8 or Code 128) and a prefix. Then in any item you press Generate barcode and a unique, valid number appears with its check digit computed, readable by scanners and scales like any factory barcode.

The sequence lives on the server, so no number repeats even if two employees generate at the same moment, and the generator skips anything already in use. Each barcode also gained a note ("carton of 12", "supplier label") so you know where each code came from when an item carries several. Details in Generating internal barcodes.

2) Item attributes: model, colour and size from your own list

A clothing shop needs colour and size, a phone shop needs model and storage, a perfume shop needs volume. Instead of fixed fields that suit nobody, you define the attribute list yourself: the label and the type (free text or a fixed select list), with four ready to go: model, colour, size and volume. Attributes appear in their own tab inside the item, become filters above the items list, take part in search, and print on the label.

The advice we keep repeating: make colour and size select lists rather than free text, so "red" is never typed three different ways. See Item attributes.

3) Barcode labels you design and print on any printer

This is the big one. The label designer shows the label at its real size in millimetres: drag the name, price, barcode and any attribute into place, change sizes and fonts, and preview with a real item. From the same design you get:

• PDF for any printer: one page per label for label printers with a driver, or an A4 sheet split into a grid for an ordinary printer with adhesive paper.
• ZPL for Zebra and compatible printers: the barcode in the printer's native commands for crisp scanning, and Arabic text drawn with the same font because Zebra's built-in fonts cannot print Arabic.

The Print labels screen collects items with a quantity each and the price list you want the price from, and prints in one click. A "Print label" button sits inside every item too. The full walkthrough is in Printing barcode labels.

4) A simpler subscription invoice

Plan prices are now final and tax-inclusive: the number on the pricing page is exactly what you pay, and your subscription invoice shows the total amount only, with no tax table. Nothing changes in your current subscription or payment method; see the pricing page.

How to start today

1. Open Items, then Catalog settings, define one barcode formula (prefix 200 with EAN-13 is a safe choice) and review the attribute list.
2. Open an item without a barcode, generate one, and fill in its attributes.
3. From Settings, then Print templates create a label template at your roll size and preview the PDF.
4. From Items, then Print labels print your first ten labels and scan them at the register.

Everything above is included in every plan. If you are trying Sahl for the first time, the free trial includes all of it: start from the pricing page.