# Suggestions for Having Labels Printed & Design Help?



## McLasz (Sep 10, 2018)

Good Morning My Fellow Soapy Friends!
I am at that stage where I have been printing my labels myself but now need to graduate to the next level of having them printed professionally. Could also use some design help. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can get this done without losing my shirt? I have been looking at different options but all are so expensive! I'm willing to put the money out, but I'm just curious as to what others do...


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## Lin19687 (Sep 10, 2018)

I print mine.  I did clear sticky labels at a huge $$$ and now I am not using them.


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## McLasz (Sep 10, 2018)

Hmmm. Yes, good point. I guess I'm thinking my printer isn't good enough. I did buy a laser color printer for this purpose but maybe I just don't have the right labels. I'll have to investigate further.
Thank you!!!


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## shunt2011 (Sep 10, 2018)

Depends on where you live but I get my labels from Online Labels and the are great quality and quite affordable.   I too print my own as it's really cost prohibitive to have someone else print them for me.  I have too many scents and products.


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## Lin19687 (Sep 10, 2018)

shunt2011 said:


> .  I have too many scents and products.



THIS !


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## McLasz (Sep 10, 2018)

So meaning you buy you're blank labels from online labels? 
Must be, then you print them at home. 
Thanks for the feedback!!!


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## shunt2011 (Sep 10, 2018)

McLasz said:


> So meaning you buy you're blank labels from online labels?
> Must be, then you print them at home.
> Thanks for the feedback!!!


Yep, that's exactly what I do.   I use either Maestro (free with purchase) or Avery online design & Print.


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## OldHippie (Sep 10, 2018)

The problem with having labels printed is the high cost per label of short runs.  To get a decent price, you have to print a lot of labels for a pile of dough.  That's okay until you find a mistake.  So many ways to make a mistake.  Misspellings, ingredients out of order, or missing something.  Is it compliant?  Is the weight still accurate?  You find yourself not making necessary recipe changes because you can't change the label.

I use a 1 1/2 in. wide band that I wrap around the soap the long way, and glue-stick together.  I print my logo, the description, and the required weight on the front.  The ingredients are on the back along with the required business name and location.  On one edge I print the description again so the soaps can be packed on a shelf tighter and still identified.  On the remaining edge I print the UPC barcode.  I cut the shrink-wrap so it leaves this end open for easier scanning and smelling.

Five bands will fit on a letter sized sheet (landscape) of whatever kind of paper that you want.  No need for expensive stick-on labels.  Print only what you need at any given time.  Make changes at will.  Nominal up front costs.

Get a free graphic program like Gimp (gimp.org).  Invest the time to learn only enough to do what you need to.  Your return will be outstanding.


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## cmzaha (Sep 10, 2018)

I do the same as Shunt, Way to many scents and oils combinations for me. My daughter used to have labels, actually stickers printed from Print Runner. For our lotion labels she would list the main ingredients with a clause of what else it could contain. Most of her labels were designed by her using Pic Monkey,  but we did have a graphic artist that designed some of our graphics for very little cost. I do not know how she found him but I do know it was online and he did graphics on the side, his 5yr daughter even helped him a few times! It was nice because he signed over full rights to the graphics, so they belong to us. One graphic I love is my little soap cuppy holding a beer stein for my beer soap labels.

She found having stickers instead of actual labels made to be more cost effective. They are glossy and water proof. I still have them make lotion labels.


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## suitedreemz (Sep 10, 2018)

I also buy blank labels from onlinelabels.com and print them myself.  I buy full size sticky sheets and have made templates in Pages (mac) for each type of product I package.  I sit down with a nice beverage and create the batch label as soon as I'm finished making the product, altering any ingredients necessary while I make batch notes in my soap notebook.  It's a nice post-cleanup ritual for me, and it keeps me from procrastinating and then dreading the packaging process.  In the past I have used maestro and avery software and they worked fine.


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## cmzaha (Sep 10, 2018)

I use Microsoft Publisher because I can get more tweaking opposed to using Avery


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## amd (Sep 10, 2018)

I use online labels also. I looked into having them print my labels for me but it was $16 per sheet.


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## shunt2011 (Sep 10, 2018)

Shelby Johnson said:


> I use vistaprint, which has been the cheapest option for me. My business cards look very professional from them and I know they offer different printing options.



They are expensive for labels. Business cards they are great. Also, banners. He’s looking for labels.


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## McLasz (Sep 10, 2018)

Thank you so much everyone! I have lots of things to consider, but I like the idea of the cigar band... Now just to design. I just got a professional logo made so maybe I will create a label and post it for you all to see to get feedback?
Thank you again!!!


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## Lin19687 (Sep 10, 2018)

I do as @OldHippie does.  This way I can change the name for the "season"


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## Karens62 (Sep 10, 2018)

I use Online Labels, both printing my own and having them ring, depending on the product. Their weather proof labels are wonderful. Cost decreases significantly with quantity so I have them print the basic label so no smudging or ink running and then I print the scent labels to add on.


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## MKLonestar (Sep 16, 2018)

McLasz said:


> Thank you so much everyone! I have lots of things to consider, but I like the idea of the cigar band... Now just to design. I just got a professional logo made so maybe I will create a label and post it for you all to see to get feedback?
> Thank you again!!!



I went to Fiverr.com and found a graphic artist that would design my logo for me. For $15 I got the logo, stationary logo, web logo, social media logo, and business card logo. He did 5 designs for me with unlimited changes. All I had to do was write a description of what I was wanting and he came up with it. I was absolutely blown away with what he was able to do for me. I would recommend Fiverr.com to anyone needing graphic arts stuff done. Prices vary and there are so many people willing to do the work you get a huge selection of choices and can choose how much you want to spend.


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## amd (Sep 18, 2018)

I used Fiverr for my logo as well. I had a friend design my logo (hand drawing) and had it converted to a clean copy. Unfortunately the person who did mine wasn't as good about getting all the changes I wanted on it and I finally gave up with that person. It's on my to do list to go back to Fiverr and find a different person to get the changes I want done.


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## MKLonestar (Sep 19, 2018)

amd said:


> I used Fiverr for my logo as well. I had a friend design my logo (hand drawing) and had it converted to a clean copy. Unfortunately the person who did mine wasn't as good about getting all the changes I wanted on it and I finally gave up with that person. It's on my to do list to go back to Fiverr and find a different person to get the changes I want done.



I did have one person do up a set of logos on Fiverr for me, but when we decided to change from "Candles and Gifts" and just go with "MKLonestar Handcrafted", I needed it redone. I had found the first person hard to work with (guess that's what you get for $5), so I we chose to pay a little more and found someone who could take the first logo and use it to make the visions I had for the new one reality. Now, I just have to take all those files and put them to use by actually getting everything set up on the Web (I have a URL, but never set up an actual website), get the business cards made, decide on packaging/labels (I keep flipflopping on this right now), and get the social media pages done. Then, I could actually start putting all the graphic designers hard work to use.


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## Ronda Stika (Sep 21, 2018)

cmzaha said:


> I use Microsoft Publisher because I can get more tweaking opposed to using Avery


I am using stick on labels now and would like to try bands. Is there a template in MS Publisher for that? Or the every software? Any special paper to use?
Thanks,
Ronda


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## cmzaha (Sep 22, 2018)

Ronda Stika said:


> I am using stick on labels now and would like to try bands. Is there a template in MS Publisher for that? Or the every software? Any special paper to use?
> Thanks,
> Ronda


In publisher just format with the size band you want.


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## Misschief (Sep 22, 2018)

I will add one thing to this thread. If you'll be printing them at home, Publisher is fine. If you're going to be taking your file(s) to a print shop, be aware that not all print shops support or even have Publisher installed on their systems. Save as or export to pdf. Actually, it's a good idea to export to pdf anyway, once you have your label finalized.


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## Suzy Knight (Sep 22, 2018)

McLasz said:


> Good Morning My Fellow Soapy Friends!
> I am at that stage where I have been printing my labels myself but now need to graduate to the next level of having them printed professionally. Could also use some design help. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I can get this done without losing my shirt? I have been looking at different options but all are so expensive! I'm willing to put the money out, but I'm just curious as to what others do...


I use Vista print. I get 24 1.5"round product labels for "4 plus shipping. I usually have a bunch of different labels made up at once.


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## BlueIris (Sep 23, 2018)

I have been printing my own on sticky labels, but wanted to try something new. The cigar band idea is good and I have seen it before at craft markets, so I am going to try that with my holiday soaps.


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## SideDoorSoaps (Oct 4, 2018)

McLasz said:


> Hmmm. Yes, good point. I guess I'm thinking my printer isn't good enough. I did buy a laser color printer for this purpose but maybe I just don't have the right labels. I'll have to investigate further.
> Thank you!!!



The thing about printers for home use is that sometimes the printer can’t accommodate the thickness of the paper and the labels don’t come out that great. If you can find a way to adjust your print settings your labels might be just fine. 

I buy blank labels from online labels like a lot of people have mentioned. I also lay out my own labels and save to pdf and then use acrobat to print my labels by page number to maximize my label sheet. Avery online can do this as well with printing a certain number at a time. Check out printplace or smartpress which are better online printers than vistaprint. I work at an advertising agency and we print thousands of brochures and postcards, etc professionally. 





These are my labels printed on kraft paper from online labels from my HP Laser. I trim them down and stick them on muslin bags my soaps are in and they work fabulously. I was so tired of taping the ends of my cigar bands.


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## Ginger Aneshansel (Nov 28, 2018)

Good day friends, I did my cigar bands by following a link on this forum, I am pleased as I am just now learning soap biz., I am so glad that I joined this soap making forum group


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