# Need help conquering labels



## MzMolly65 (Apr 13, 2014)

I'm not a pro .. I'm just trying to make labels because I'm tired of repeating my list of ingredients to every family member or friend I give a soap to.  I'm also tired of writing it out over and over .. so thought I'd give labels a try.  Besides, I wanted my gifts to look a little nicer.

I bought some round Avery labels since most of my soaps are round and I did shaving soap in round mason jars.  

I'm using the Avery Design and Print Online and the problem I'm having, that I can't seem to fix is that each label on the page is landing in a different spot.  So, even though there is a printer adjustment it's not working because when I adjust for one label (I did the centre one) all the rest are off kilter.  I tried printing one label at a time but have to make so many adjustments for one label that I'm wasting test paper out the hoo ha!

I'm so frustrated right now and any help would be appreciated.


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## Saponista (Apr 13, 2014)

Are you putting the label sheets in the right way round? If you have them upside down it can alter all the label positions.


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## neeners (Apr 13, 2014)

instead of printing on the pricey labels, print on plain paper and line in up against the stickers so you're not wasting the stickers....  that's what I had to do for labels at work.....

 good luck with them!


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## jenfrat (Apr 13, 2014)

Is it an hp printer?  Mine would never print on label stock correctly. Since that's what I print the most I ended up getting a new printer. Was so frustrating.


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## cmzaha (Apr 13, 2014)

Round labels are about the only labels I print with my expensive (not favorite) label printer and even then they can be pesky. I have tried and tried rounds with my Epson ink jet and my Oki Digital Laser with no success. Also tried them on my Cannon Laser with no success​


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## Hazel (Apr 14, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> I'm using the Avery Design and Print Online and the problem I'm having, that I can't seem to fix is that each label on the page is landing in a different spot.  So, even though there is a printer adjustment it's not working because when I adjust for one label (I did the centre one) all the rest are off kilter.



I had the same problem with the Avery Design & Print Online. However, the labels came out better aligned when I downloaded a template to my computer and did it as a Word document. Unfortunately, they don't have downloadable templates for all the sizes. 

I still haven't found any label software which is easy to use and prints accurately. It's very frustrating.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 14, 2014)

neeners said:


> instead of printing on the pricey labels, print on plain paper and line in up against the stickers so you're not wasting the stickers....  that's what I had to do for labels at work.....
> 
> good luck with them!



That's what I've been doing but cannot, for the life of me .. get an entire sheet to line up at once.  I can get one label at a time to line up but waste so much paper getting one lined up.  It's just ridiculous.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 14, 2014)

jenfrat said:


> Is it an hp printer?  Mine would never print on label stock correctly. Since that's what I print the most I ended up getting a new printer. Was so frustrating.



Yes, it's an HP.  :shifty:

What is everyone using to print labels?  (Probably something expensive that is only worth buying if you're selling lots of soap.)


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hazel said:


> I had the same problem with the Avery Design & Print Online. However, the labels came out better aligned when I downloaded a template to my computer and did it as a Word document. Unfortunately, they don't have downloadable templates for all the sizes.
> 
> I still haven't found any label software which is easy to use and prints accurately. It's very frustrating.



Thanks for this info Hazel.  Once I had the label all set up in the online printer program it seemed impossible to get it to work in Word.  

I'll have to give that another go and see if I can get that working instead.


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## jenfrat (Apr 14, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> Yes, it's an HP.  :shifty:
> 
> What is everyone using to print labels?  (Probably something expensive that is only worth buying if you're selling lots of soap.)



Thought so.  Your label will probably print up just fine on any other printer.  

I have a printer in my classroom at school and would print my labels there.  Got ridiculous though and my husband actually went and bought me a new printer because like I said, the majority of our printing needs were on label stock.  He got a canon printer (i think for $100 on amazon?)

You could try to call HP to see if there is some kind of fix?


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## shunt2011 (Apr 14, 2014)

Labels are the bane of my existence.   I was using their oval labels with no trouble other than feeding issues on my HP.  My husband bought me a great Laser Printer and now nothing lines up.  I have to adjust each different fragrance or when any changes are made and they are still not perfect.  I need to make some round labels and am going to just print them on a single label page and then cut them out.  I so wish I could afford to pay someone to make them for me.


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## dixiedragon (Apr 14, 2014)

I use the Avery online templates. It works pretty well for me. I do have to allow for a fairly generous margin, though. Have you tried squeezing things towards the center a bit more?


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## Hazel (Apr 14, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> Once I had the label all set up in the online printer program it seemed impossible to get it to work in Word.



I do have some difficulties with Word. I can get a good printing of 2.5" round labels but couldn't get one of 2" round.  That's why I was trying to print from the online template.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 14, 2014)

Well .. after a morning spent pulling my hair out and wasting ink on trial runs I'm about reading to throw in the towel.  This is just ridiculous.  

I've gotten pretty good at rotating one piece of paper around and knowing where the test will land, so I'm not wasting that much paper any more but I still print close to 10 test runs before finally being able to print 1 label, that's a lot of ink wasted and that stuff isn't cheap.

I'll be bald before long if I keep this up.


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## jules92207 (Apr 14, 2014)

Hazel said:


> I had the same problem with the Avery Design & Print Online. However, the labels came out better aligned when I downloaded a template to my computer and did it as a Word document. Unfortunately, they don't have downloadable templates for all the sizes.
> 
> I still haven't found any label software which is easy to use and prints accurately. It's very frustrating.



^^ That - I always create a word document so I can align each one individually and I can print from the same sheet multiple times by using the doc over and over as I move down the labels.


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## neeners (Apr 14, 2014)

yea....can you create a table in word and just align everything that way?  i can't deal with labels that don't line up either, so i just make my own.  takes a while, but totally worth it in the end (plus, it feeds my OCD...lol)


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## dixiedragon (Apr 14, 2014)

I'm really surprised so many of you are having such difficulty! I have an HP printer and I've been printing fine from the Avery site. I have a Mac, maybe that's the difference???

Possibly a dumb question, but are you sure you got the right labels for your print - Inkjet or Laser? I made a mistake one time and Laser labels tend to be troublesome in Inkjet printers.


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## Hazel (Apr 14, 2014)

I know I got the correct labels. The problem isn't with all labels. It's the 2" round that I can't get lined up. Plus there are things I can't do with Word like creating circular text.


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## ca_soap (Apr 14, 2014)

I use online labels.com for my labels and use their templates in my HP Officejet Pro 8600 inkjet printer.  While it takes some tweaking it hasn't been too big of a nightmare.  They will send you free samples to try as well and it is hard to beat their prices.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 15, 2014)

Hazel said:


> Plus there are things I can't do with Word like creating circular text.



That's why I didn't want to use Word.  I tried and it didn't have the font I wanted, couldn't do the circular text .. basically nothing I wanted.

At least the on-line software has what I want.  I'm having some luck with writing down the alignments I made to individual labels and printing one at a time and I'm happy with the final results but wouldn't want to have to print a lot of them.


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## navigator9 (Apr 22, 2014)

Printing labels can be a challenge. Every printer works differently. I also use onlinelabels.com, and if I remember correctly, you can download a template of any of their labels before you buy them to see if you can get them to work with your printer. They also have their own software that allows you to design your labels. I haven't used that, but I know many people do. Good luck to you, I know what a headache it can be!


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## la-rene (Apr 22, 2014)

Couple things I check with my labels.  Is the printer software/driver set to fit the border to the paper or any other type of fitting/scaling?  Or does your printer do borderless and is that on?  Is your document 8.5x11? Mine is set to no scaling, no borderless printing and I ignore all warning that the image will not fit on the printer. I print out of Illustrator or Photoshop depending upon label though.  Never tried to do it through anything else.  

I have an HP printer HP4860.  It handles most things though the feeder wheels slip a lot.  Are your labels off uniformly, side to side or top to bottom?


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## Belinda02 (Apr 22, 2014)

I've never been much good at labels. Wouldn't even try if round ones were needed. I'd probably print info on one sided sticky paper and then use a round craft punch for punching out info.


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## Seawolfe (Apr 22, 2014)

I use Gimp and it holds truer than Avery or Word in my experience, and you can make any sort of guides you want for whatever labels you want, and it's east to make changes to content once those are set.  Plus it's like Photoshop in that you can really do any kind of 2D thing, you just have to figure out how.

 Oh and tell the printer settings to ignore margins, and print the full page. Hey might want to check that in whatever you're using, would be an easy fix.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 22, 2014)

la-rene said:


> Are your labels off uniformly, side to side or top to bottom?



No, each one seems to be off in a different direction and it makes no sense at all.

The only luck I'm having is manually adjusting the printer settings for each label and printing one label at a time.  It's annoying as heck but at least I'm getting somewhere.

This would not be a solution if I had to print a lot of labels.


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## Carty812 (Apr 22, 2014)

Just a suggestion but at the rate you are wasting ink it will probably save you in the long run. I take my label to the library and have them do them. It is 15c for black and white and 50c for color but if all labels don't print correctly they don't charge you. Also, because they can't charge you if it is not all right, those people at my library are printing pro's. They may mess up one page but fix it quick. All I do is make the label look like I want it to and they take care of the rest. Also here office max and Office Depot do printing relatively cheap! Hope this helps!


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 22, 2014)

Thanks Carty .. I'm in a small town and I doubt they offer that service but I'll ask anyway, it's a really good idea.  As for having Office Max or anyone else print them .. I don't think I'm printing enough to justify it, especially when I have to change the name and ingredients every so often.

I'm really just mucking around for my own fun, not producing tons of labels for market sales.


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## la-rene (Apr 22, 2014)

MzMolly65 said:


> No, each one seems to be off in a different direction and it makes no sense at all.
> 
> The only luck I'm having is manually adjusting the printer settings for each label and printing one label at a time.  It's annoying as heck but at least I'm getting somewhere.
> 
> This would not be a solution if I had to print a lot of labels.



Have you tried cleaning your printer feed rolls? They could be slipping.  It might help to stack a few sheets of something else underneath your labels in the feeder tray too.  That seems to keep things a little tighter for me.


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## neeners (Apr 23, 2014)

another idea - getting full sheets of sticker paper, and printing one full sheet and punching it out with one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DN65OCW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


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## shunt2011 (Apr 23, 2014)

I use the oval labels and am having the worst time trying to get them centered.  I had an HP inkjet and had to get a new printer and now have a Dell Laserjet.  I can get them fairly close but every time I make a change I have to re-set the stupid thing up. I think making labels is the worst part of my business.  I print on regular paper and then when I think it's close I put the label in.  I still have a lot of waste and it's really frustrating.


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## LanaBanana (Apr 23, 2014)

I second what neeners said. Paper punches come in different sizes and can be found at michaels. 

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2


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## Krazekelly (Apr 23, 2014)

I started buying full sheet labels from Online Labels and use a 2" hole punch for my round labels. Much easier than trying to align them. They don't cut through the waterproof labels that I use on my sugar scrubs and body butters though so I changed all those over to square so I could just cut them out.


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## Forsenuf (Apr 23, 2014)

Nobody has mentioned Microsoft Publisher yet- I use it for all of my labels, and I find it very user-friendly. It might be worth checking your computer- it comes as part of the basic Microsoft package a lot of the time.


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## whiskandbowl (Apr 24, 2014)

My HP (before I killed it) didn't like to print straight either. I have an Epson now, but it still isn't perfect.
I usually keep a tad extra room on my labels to account for any crookedness. I think it's how the paper feeds in. So frustrating though


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## anani (Apr 24, 2014)

Krazekelly said:


> I started buying full sheet labels from Online Labels and use a 2" hole punch for my round labels. Much easier than trying to align them. They don't cut through the waterproof labels that I use on my sugar scrubs and body butters though so I changed all those over to square so I could just cut them out.



I too completely gave up on the Avery site. :x  I print most of my labels using print shop deluxe and love it...most of the time. Round ones do give me some grief so I also just started buying full sheet labels and using a large punch. I have a pretty large collection of them in different shapes and sizes. I buy them at Michael's when I can get a 40% off coupon. Fiskars are my favourite brand.


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## Jencat (Apr 29, 2014)

I was having major problems getting my labels to line up using the Avery site and then I realized that the label PDFs were opening in some sort of viewer that was not Adobe.  Once I clicked the button in the viewer to download them and open them in a different viewer (Adobe), they lined up perfectly. Printing from the default viewer was throwing them off.


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## Hazel (Apr 29, 2014)

I'll have to check whether it's Adobe. If so, I'll follow anani's tip and use full sheets and a punch.


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## MzMolly65 (Apr 30, 2014)

Jencat said:


> I was having major problems getting my labels to line up using the Avery site and then I realized that the label PDFs were opening in some sort of viewer that was not Adobe.  Once I clicked the button in the viewer to download them and open them in a different viewer (Adobe), they lined up perfectly. Printing from the default viewer was throwing them off.



When I tried downloading them and printing them from Adobe all my font was changed .. the font only stays the same for me when I print right from the Avery site.

I'm using Gasoline Alley (love that font).  Is there a way for me to load that font to my computer so I could print from Adobe?


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## Jencat (Apr 30, 2014)

I just googled Gasoline Alley font and found quite a few hits.  Pretty font!  You can download it from one of the font sites and load it on your computer.  I'd run it through a virus checker before opening it just to make sure it doesn't have any nasty friends along for the ride.


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## darcybanks (May 23, 2014)

I had that problem. Called Avery and they said I couldn't use Firefox. Switched to Google Chrome
 and it worked great.


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## amyg (May 23, 2014)

I purchase my labels from Online Labels.com.  They are much cheaper and they come with a downloadable template!  I have a HP Printer and have no problem with my labels.  You also might want to try using Publisher.  If you go to the label section on Publisher, they offer some of the Avery templates.


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## Hazel (May 24, 2014)

I wouldn't have thought of the browser effecting it. I'll have to try Chrome. Thanks for mentioning it. :grin:


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