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Quick mailing question from FusionPro newbie


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Please excuse the fact that this is my first mailing and my question may very well be a simple question, making me look stupid but here goes…I've done a number of mailings (addressing) but this is the first time that we are going in-house and I have to do the Intelligent Mail Barcode myself which I feel comfortable doing. The customer supplied me with a sample that he had done previously and he has also supplied me a "cleaned" mailing list. Here's the question….Above the barcode is a OEL line that has several asterisks and then 3-DIGIT 344. I know the 3-digits are the first 3 numbers of the zip code, but are those numbers generated automatically or are they in a separate field in the CSV file? I looked at the CSV file, but I have to look at it in text format since I don't have Excel and I couldn't see it in that mess. Any help on doing OEL lines would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
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That's not really a question I can answer for you without seeing your data. The easiest thing to do would be to link your csv file to your FusionPro template and examine the fields from there to see if it contains what you need.

 

Alternatively, LibreOffice offers an open-sourced alternative to Excel for viewing/editing CSV files. Though simply opening the CSV in a text editor (such as Text Edit) and doing a "find" (cmd + F) for "several asterisks" (***) will probably take you straight to the OEL line in your data if it exists.

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The OEL is typically generated by the mailing software used to process the list. If the client supplied you the list already presorted, then there should be fields which include the OEL and IMb. If not, when you process the presorted mailing through your software, there should be an option to export a field for the OEL.

 

The OEL contains information regarding the sortation of the mailing. If you know the sortation, you may be able to add it yourself by using the DMM as a reference. But I would not recommend this. If you use an incorrect OEL, it may cause issues in your mailing.

 

Keep in mind that the OEL is Optional (hence, the name, Optional Endorsement Line) so you could leave it out if your customer doesn't require it.

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Thanks for the info! I looked at the CSV file this morning and they did have a field for it, but it was left blank. So that answers that question. I do seem to be having problems with the tracking on the IMB barcode. I'm using the USPS Standard NonAFP font because I can't get the IDAutomation4State font to work and I'm choosing 16pt but I'm getting a tracking error when composing. It appears to look okay, so should I ignore the tracking issue?
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It doesn't sound as if you are using the correct font. The IMb uses a font called USPSIMBStandard which is likely why you are having an issue.

 

You can download the font from the RIBBS Website I downloaded the file named uspsFontsNonAFP-1.4.0.zip for my purposes. You will probably need the same.

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Actually, that's what I'm using. This is the error message I'm getting: "warning: The tracking number is not the correct length of 20 characters in record number 1" etc.. My settings are currently 16pt type and 0% tracking and visually it looks fine. Even if I change it to 5 or 10% I get that error (but the bar code looks bad).

 

Anyways, the customer decided that it was too much for him to fill in the OEL info and decided to print on the press rather than digitally with the addressing but I would like to know how to fix the error for next time. I don't want to have to use mail houses if we can save money in house.

 

I would like to know if a PTI Tech Support person is monitoring this, why I watched a webinar about using the IDAutomation4State font if it doesn't work….or why it doesn't work.

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I would like to know if a PTI Tech Support person is monitoring this, why I watched a webinar about using the IDAutomation4State font if it doesn't work….or why it doesn't work.

Although, I'm sure that there are PTI employees who may work in Tech Support monitoring this forum, this is a community of other users of the app such as yourself. If you feel like your software isn't operating correctly, you should contact support directly (FusionProSupport@PTI.com).

 

As I said in my previous post, it's hard to say why it isn't working for you without some sort of example of what you're working with (i.e. data file, FP template, rules, etc.). The problem could be a number of things from the rule itself, to the font, to what version of Acrobat you're running. You haven't told us the version of FusionPro you're using, what operating system you're running FP on, or what version of Acrobat you have FP installed in. All of that information can be pretty impactful – especially if you have stumbled across a bug in the software. The best location for that information is in your forum signature.

 

This is the error message I'm getting: "warning: The tracking number is not the correct length of 20 characters in record number 1" etc.. My settings are currently 16pt type and 0% tracking and visually it looks fine. Even if I change it to 5 or 10% I get that error (but the bar code looks bad).

To me that sounds like the field that you're passing it is not the correct length. The field that you used for the tracking number needs to be 20 characters. If you're only getting that error on the first record, perhaps you didn't check "First row contains field names" when linking to your data?

 

With that being said, it would be easier to help you if you would collect your template and upload it to the forum for us to see exactly what you're working with. Otherwise, all we can do is guess what the problem might be rather than offer you solutions to resolve it.

 

You collect your template by:

  1. Opening your template
  2. Click "Collect" under the "FusionPro" menu
  3. Make sure "Use ZIP file" is checked
  4. Click "Collect"

 

If you do that, I (or someone else on the forum) would be more than happy to take a look and give you more specific feedback to help you avoid this issue in the future.

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