In Mozaik, the opening letter is the A/B/C/D letter assigned to each opening (face tab) on a closet product. Adding it to your printed labels lets the shop instantly see which drawer-box front, sides, back, and bottom go to which opening, so parts get assembled into the correct box. Phill Anton Consulting walks through it in the PAC Closet Library: open the Label app, drag the opening-letter variable onto a copy of your label, position it, and make that copy your active label.
What is the “opening letter” and why put it on a label?
On a closet product in Mozaik, each opening has a face tab lettered A, B, C, D, and so on. That letter is the opening letter. Printing it on a part's label means the shop can tell, at a glance, which drawer-box front goes to which box, and where the matching sides, back, and bottom belong. Because some fronts can vary slightly from one another, the letter prevents parts from being assembled into the wrong opening. The PAC Closet Library already has a way to mark the top side of a drawer and whether you're running metal or regular drawer boxes.
How do I open the label editor in Mozaik?
Go to File > Print > Labels to open the Label app, then edit the label. If you've made labels before, you already have one set up. Phill works on a copy of an existing label rather than the original, so you keep a known-good version to fall back on.
Note: Phill mentions the Label app specifically, and says recent Mozaik 14 versions should include it. If you don't have it, you may need to add the Label app or update your install.
How do I add the opening-letter variable to the label?
- With the label open in the editor, look at the variables panel — the list of fields you have access to. Make sure the label's type is set correctly (Phill catches one that incorrectly said it was “nested” when it shouldn't have been).
- Make room on the label for the new field. Phill left-clicks an existing element to free up space; expect a little fiddling with the editor.
- Find “opening letter” in the variables panel (over on the left) and drop it onto the label.
- To clean up the look, right-click the field and use edit text alignment, then set vertical alignment: middle (and horizontal as needed). You can make the text bigger if it looks too small.
- Optionally add a label/prefix like “opening letter:” before it — you don't strictly need the words, since the shop will get the picture from the letter alone; it's just getting fancy.
If you drag the field out, things can look a little messed up until you optimize — after optimizing it looks better. Watch that the opening-letter field isn't placed too close to the part name or cabinet field.
How do I make my edited label the active one?
After editing, go into settings for the Label app and confirm you've selected the copy you just made (the reference copy) as the active label — activate the copy the way you normally would. Once the right label is active, Mozaik prints the opening letter on each part — for example, “opening letter C.”
What gets flagged with the opening letter?
The opening letter ties together the parts of a given opening so they're assembled correctly — the drawer-box front, the sides, the back, and the bottom for each box. Combined with the library's existing marks (top side of the drawer, metal vs. regular drawer boxes, drawer fasteners), it gives the shop everything needed to build the right box for the right opening without guessing.
Get it done-for-you
You can set this up by hand (above). If you build these regularly, the PAC Mozaik Closet Library from PAC has it ready in Mozaik. → phillanton.com
Full disclosure: Phill Anton Consulting makes this product.
FAQ
What is the opening letter in the PAC Closet Library, and why put it on a label?
The opening letter is the A/B/C/D letter assigned to each opening (face tab) on a closet product in Mozaik. Adding it to your label lets the shop see at a glance which drawer-box front, sides, back, and bottom belong to which opening, so parts get assembled into the correct box.
How do I add the opening letter to my Mozaik labels?
Open the Label app from File > Print > Labels, edit a copy of an existing label, drag the “opening letter” variable from the variables panel onto the label, position it, then make that copy your active label in settings. Mozaik then prints the opening letter (for example, “opening letter C”) on each part's label.