Internet label production system

A method of producing labels at a remote location in communication with a server and central database via the internet, comprising:

• receiving via the internet one or more orders for labels, the orders identifying variable data to be printed on the labels;
• storing the received orders in the central database;
• receiving a request via the internet to group a plurality of orders together as a printing job;
• generating job data including information representing a type of label to be produced for the job, the variable data to be printed on labels to be produced for the job, and a type of machine to be used in the production of the labels for the job;
• storing a plurality of printing templates for a plurality of label types and a plurality of machine types used in the production of the labels;
• selecting a stored template in accordance with the type of labels to be produced and the type of machine to be used in the production of the labels;
• merging the variable data to be printed on the labels and a selected printing templates to generate image data for the labels in a production data file to be used in the production of the labels;
• storing the production data file in the central database;
• and
• sending the stored production data file to a remote location via the internet.

A method of producing labels at a remote location in communication with a server and database via the internet, comprising:

• storing a plurality of orders for labels in the database, the orders identifying variable data to be printed on the labels;
• generating job data for a plurality of orders to be processed together, the job data including information representing a type of label to be produced for the job, a type of machine to be used in the production of the labels for the job, and the variable data to be printed on labels to be produced for the job;
• storing a plurality of printing templates for a plurality of label types and a plurality of machine types used in the production of the labels;
• selecting a stored template in accordance with the type of labels to be produced;
• and
• merging the variable data to be printed on the labels and a selected printing template to generate image data for the labels in a production data file to be used in the production of the labels, the type of production data file generated corresponding to the type of machine to be used in the production of the labels;
• storing the production data file;
• and
• sending the stored production data file to a remote location via the internet.