The Basics of Label Printing

The product labels that adorn your products are veryexplains pre/post production runs, label design and
important to how well your products sell. The productother label printing services.
label is either the first and only marketing or sales pitchChoose the label material that best works for your
customers see, or it is the last thing a customer seesproduct. If you have a food product or other kind of
and is what makes or breaks the sale for you.short-term product that needs a label, you may want
Therefore, you need to put sufficient time and energyto laminate them to protect the ink. Film product labels,
into designing and printing your labels. Custom labelgenerally called BOPP, work best for packages that
printing can be more complicated than it looks, withget wet, like bath gels. You can also get your label
choices of materials, coatings and glues, as well asstamped with gold or silver foil for a fancy splash of
design and color choices. Here are some key thingscolor with many types of label material. Ask your
you should know before you get started:printer for details.
1. You can search for label printers online and get bidsChoose a label size and shape that complements your
from many printers to compare and get the best price.product. Obviously, the bigger the product, the bigger
2. You don't need to worry about finding the rightthe label. The most common label shapes are
paper or material for your labels; label printingrectangle, square, oval and circle. You can get
companies should have all the different types ofcustom-shaped labels printed for extra costs. Again,
material you could want.checking this out on various printer Web sites is your
3. If you only need a small number of labels printed,best bet.
you can use digital label printing.Get your colors tested. Run a small test batch of
4. You can even do your own label printing on a laserlabels on the material you intend to use to check the
or inkjet printer, although they won't look quite ascolor printing. Many printers use traditional four-color
professional as ones printed by a professional printer.CMYK printing processes that combine cyan, magenta,
If you have an idea of what you want your label toyellow and black to make all colors. Newer digital
look like, here are some resources and ideas to helpprinters are capable of mixing seven colors for a truer
you get started:color. Either way, ask for a printed proof of your
Look online for printers that print labels often. Manyproduct label before paying for a full print run. Ask if
have different sizes of labels and will list their prices foryou can run a small batch so that you can see any
these sizes on their Web sites. has an easycolor variation that is bound to happen. The variation
step-by-step ordering process and a good FAQ pageshouldn't be bad - just a shade lighter or darker is
for people who are new to label printing. Blue Ribbonnormal.
Tag & Label Corp. ( has a great page that