Demarc › Answers › How do I print cable labels from the same cable IDs as my test results, without retyping them?
In their own words
“Keeping track of cable identifiers across multiple databases for testers and printers wastes time and cuts into our profitability,”An installer's operations manager, quoted in Cabling Installation & Maintenance (2016) · source
“The standard requires you to link a record for each identifier that is printed on a label,”Brady, on ANSI/TIA-606-C labeling · source
“The on-screen keyboard is cramped, and typing long notes can get annoying.”A 2025 review of a cable certifier · source
What it is
A cabling job has three lists of the same names: the IDs saved on the tester, the IDs printed on the labels, and the IDs on the drawings and records. Each list that is typed by hand is one more place for a name to drift, and a drifted name is a result nobody can tie to a cable.
Labeling standards treat the label and the record as one thing: the TIA-606-C summary we read says a record is linked to each identifier printed on a label. Installers say the same in plainer words: keeping identifiers in separate databases for testers and printers costs time and money, and typing IDs on a tester keypad is slow.
How Demarc does it
Demarc keeps one list per project. It is built from the drops you place on the drawings and from every cable ID in the tester results you import, each ID once. A result whose ID is on no drawing is still on the list, so a tested cable never misses its label.
The project's Export menu gives that list two ways: Cable IDs, a CSV whose first column is the ID (label software and tester ID-set imports read a first-column list), and Cable labels PDF, one label per page sized to 12, 18 or 24 mm tape, which prints from a phone or a computer to any printer that has a driver there.
The bar Demarc is held to
A test imports results, adds drops, and checks that the CSV and the label PDF carry every ID exactly once, the tester-only IDs included, and that the PDF has one page per ID at the tape height. It runs before every deploy.
Where it stands today
Partly met. The ID list and the label PDF are built and tested; a print on each label printer brand has not been tested yet.
- A test print on Brother, Brady and Dymo label printers: the PDF's page size is tested, a real print is not.
What the usual tools leave to you
Without one list, the IDs are typed into the tester, typed again into the label software and typed a third time onto the drawings, or kept in step through one tester vendor's cloud and one printer brand's app.
Print cable labels from your project's cable IDs
- Place each drop on the drawing with its cable ID, or import the tester results first.
- Open the project and choose Export, then Cable labels PDF at your tape width.
- Print one label to check the size on your printer, then print the rest.
Questions
- Which label printers does the label PDF work with?
- Any printer the phone or computer can print to, with the tape loaded at the width you picked (12, 18 or 24 mm). Demarc has not yet tested a print on each printer brand, so check one label before printing a whole job.
- Does a cable that was tested but is not on the drawing get a label?
- Yes. Every cable ID in the imported results is on the list once, marked as tester only, until you place it on a drawing.
- Can I load the same IDs into my label software instead?
- Yes. Export Cable IDs gives a CSV with the ID in the first column, plus floor, type, test status and where the ID came from, for software that imports a list.
Related answers
Do the cable IDs on my test results have to match the labels and the as-built drawings? · Why does a cabling warranty submission get delayed or rejected? · I save the results just in case since I warranty my work: where should they live? · All answers · Warranty programs · Free export checker