Create a Custom Tag

Printing a price tag just requires you to create a fillable PDF form. You can use any PDF editing software to create a PDF form. Note this is different than a PDF viewer which are widely available for free. Most PDF editors such as Foxit PDF editor, Nitro PDF, or Adobe Acrobat Editor are paid products and are very high quality. Some free options include OnlyOffice, Libre Writer and PDFill. OnlyOffice is a high quality free option so we will use that option for this guide.

Each of the options below walk you through the process of creating a new PDF file and adding fields to the file with the correct names so OrderTrac knows what data to place in each field. Here are the list of available fields names which can be referenced when following the instructions for the different PDF editors:

item_title
item_description
item_qty
item_sku
item_sku_barcode - adds astricks before & after id, for use with Code39 barcode font
item_originalprice
item_msrp
item_price - will show the sale price if available, otherwise the regular price will be displayed
item_vendor
item_vendorcode
item_id
item_id_barcode - adds astricks before & after id, for use with Code39 barcode font
item_ponumber
item_posent - date the PO was sent (if available)
item_stockid
item_stockid_barcode - adds astricks before & after id, for use with Code39 barcode font
item_option:<option> - sets the value of an item option in the item description. For example, if you have an option called Stain, set the field name to item_option:stain .This allows you to pull just the value of that option.
date - sets the current date (ie 7/4/2026)
datetime - sets the current date and time (ie 7/4/2025 11:56 am)

When Print Qty option is selected:
item_customer - will show customer name for customer items, and will print INVENTORY for inventory items
item_salesorderid - will only print a value for customer items
item_salesorderdate - will only print a value for customer items

Using OnlyOffice (Recommended)

Only office is a free and easy to use office software, very similar to Microsoft office. Of all the tools tested below, this is the easiest and there the recommended option.

When you first open OnlyOffice, you can create several different file types. Select the PDF option:

This creates a brand new PDF file. First, set the document size by selecting the Layout tab, then select the Size menu, and from there you can pick a standard size, or select a custom size. Here we selected the custom option and entered 4"x6".

Now we are ready to add fields to our PDF form. Select the Forms tab. First we will add a text field by selecting the Text Field button, and select Fixed:

This will add a input field to the PDF. You can now drag it anywhere on the page and even resize it. Next, make sure the field settings box is displayed on the right. Click the input field icon as highlighted below to make the settings appear if you don't already see it.

The first thing you need to do is name the input. This is how OrderTrac knows what data to put in this field. Enter one of the allowed names into the Key field as shown below. The key you enter must be one of the allowed values specified at the top of this article.

Next, you can format the text of the input using the font size and style inputs on the Home tab, or you can use the settings found in the input settings box on the right, such as the AutoFit field which will make the text fit in the box so it is as big as possible while still fitting.

Once you have the input field formatted how you like it, you can right click and copy and paste that field to duplicate it and create another, or you could just create another field from scratch using the same steps as above.

You can even insert static text on the label for text that does not change, such as a $ sign in front of a price field, or even your logo at the top. Here we used Insert > Text Art for the dollar sign, and Insert > Image for the logo. You may have to update the wrapping style to Behind Text as highlighted below in order to freely move the image anywhere on the page. We also checked the Multiline checkbox in the input settings box for the description field to allow the text to wrap to a new line in that field.

Once you have the label how you like it (and ALL text fields have an allowed name), click File > Save As and give the tag a name and save it in a location you can remember. You may want to edit it later.

Follow the steps in the Printing a tag in OrderTrac section at the bottom of this page for instructions on how to upload this PDF file to OrderTrac and print a tag.

Instructions for other PDF editors

Using PDF Fill+

PDFill is a great free tool to create custom tags. PDFill can be downloaded here. The free version includes all the features you need to create a tag. Once installed, create a new tag by clicking File > New Project with Blank Page

You will then see the page setup dialog where you can specify the size of your tag. Letter is selected by default, but if you want to create a custom size, choose Custom from the PDF Page Size dropdown, then enter the width and height, and click OK.

Once the new document is created, select the Text Form button from the toolbox and click and drag on the document to create the new text field.

Once the field has been created, the field properties dialog will show. If you check the Show PDF Form Field’s Name checkbox, each field will be easily identifiable while editing the tag. This will not show on the final printed tags. The Field Name (1) field MUST be one of the allowed values specified at the top of this article.

Use the Font Properties (2) section to customize the field font size, color, style etc. Click on the Options tab at the top to view more options such as text alignment and the ability to enable Multiple line text which you will probably want to do for the description field.

Click OK to finish adding the field. You can move and resize the field. Resize by selecting the field and dragging the white dots on the border. You can move the field by dragging the border or by using your arrow keys.

Once finished, you should have a tag that looks something like this:

You may want to add more text fields as labels such as a dollar sign for the price or a “Qty” label for the qty field. Don’t worry about the background being pink, this will not show on the printed tag.

Once all your desired fields have been added to the tag, you are ready to export it as a PDF file. Click File > Save the edited PDF as (or click the blue PDF button on the main toolbar) to save your tag.

The Export options dialog will display. Click the Save PDF as … button to save the PDF.

You will then need to enter a name and a location to save your tag. Choose a name of your choice for your tag and place the new pdf in a location you can remember.

You will also want to click File > Save project for later editing to save the project in case you want to modify the tag later without having to start over from scratch.

Using Libre Writer+

Libre Office can be downloaded from their official website. Libre Office is a free open source alternative to Microsoft Office, and includes a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), and other office applications. The version used in this article is 6.2.8, which is the latest stable version at this time. Once installed, we will open Libre Writer by clicking Start > Libre Office > Writer.

Create Custom Tag

Once you have Writer open, the first step will be to verify the form editor toolbar is visible. To enable the Form Editor toolbar, select View > Toolbars > and verify the Form Controls option is selected. This will display the Form Control toolbar if it is not already shown.

Next, you will want to set up your page settings. If your tag is a full size sheet of paper, you can skip this step. However, if your tag is smaller, select the Page Settings icon on the right side of the screen to display the page settings options. Set the page width and height to the desired size.

Now we are ready to add fields. Watch the following clip to see how to add text fields to the tag. Select the Edit Mode icon in the top right of the Form Control toolbar, then select the Text Box option to add a text box. Drag the desired text box size onto the tag. Double click the newly created field to edit the field properties. Set the field name to one of the allowed values specified at the top of this article.

OrderTrac will replace the entire contents of each field with data from OrderTrac. So if you would like for there to be a label before a field, such as Price: $123, you cannot enter Price: in the price field, as it will get overwritten with the price. You will need to add a separate text field for the price label. You can either use a Textbox field or the Label field (the icon that looks like a price tag) for this.

Once all fields have been added to your tag with the desired formatting and the correct names set, you are ready to export the tag as a PDF file. Click File > Export As > Export as PDF… to display the export options dialog.

Select the following options. Verify Create PDF form is checked, and verify Archive PDF/A-1a is not checked, and click Export. Choose a name for your tag and place the new pdf in a location you can remember.

Adding a barcode to your tag

To add a barcode to your tag, just select a barcode font for the field in your form that show display as a barcode, like the item_id_barcode field. You can download the Code 3 of 9 (also called Code39) font here or here. NOTE: The font downloaded includes 2 fonts: 3 of 9 Regular (free3of9.ttf) and 3 of 9 Extended (fre3of9e.ttf). Install the 3 of 9 Extended option, as this allows lower case text characters in your barcode (ideal for SKU's).

Once downloaded, open the downloaded Zip file and double click the contained .ttf font file. This will show you a preview of the font, with a Install button at the top. Click Install to install the font onto your computer. You may now need to close your pdf editing program (Libre Writer, PDFill, etc) and restart in order for the new font to be available.

Then set the field to the new barcode font (you may need to restart your PDF application to pickup up the new font):

Printing a tag in OrderTrac

Now that you have created a custom tag, you first need to upload it to OrderTrac. Navigate to Account > Tag Templates and click on New Template. Enter a name for the template and select the file you created in the steps above. Click Save to save the template.

Now you can navigate to the Items page, select the options menu next to an item, and click Print Tag.

A dialog will show with all the fields pre populated. You can make any changes to any of the fields. Once ready, click Print.

A preview of the tag will display on a new tab. You can click the print icon on that tab to print the tag to your printer.

That is it! This functionality allows you to use pre printed tags that have blank spaces left for the tag values. This will place the values in the correct location on the tag so they are ready to display.