Different types of labels
Label printers and label makers can be invaluable tools for domestic users. However, they come into their own when used by businesses needing professional-looking, easy to produce identifying labels; organisations such as charities, who regularly send out mass mailings and brochures, and internet companies dealing with a large volume of outgoing mail.
Fortunately, many label printers can deal with several different types of labels, so depending on the printer you purchase, you will not necessarily be restricted in the sizes, shapes and specification of labels you can produce. Label printers can be used to address outsized parcels and packages and bulky envelopes, as well catalogues and brochures.
This makes them particularly useful for eBay and Amazon sellers, who may not have a specific department devoted to shipping, but who want professional, easily-produced postage and address labels. Large, clear labels with a white background are best for this kind of usage, and are ready available, and compatible with most label printers.
If you need something a little more specialist, there is a wide range of labels available for use in label printers, and whatever you need to print labels for, there’s bound to be a shape and size that’s right for you. You might need a sticky label, otherwise known as a self-adhesive label.
Perhaps you will need to print larger labels on stiffer paper or cardboard, for use with name badges. It may be that you’re looking to print off barcodes to attach to your stock or products as they come off the production line. There are labels made for this specific purpose, which will enable maximum use of the surface area available and no unsightly and wasteful empty borders.
Fortunately you won’t have a problem finding labels for all of the above purposes; you can print safety labels, warning labels and identification tags in a matter of minutes.
When it comes to label sizing, there are plenty of different shapes and dimensions on the market. Dymo label printers, for example, often require long narrow label ribbons, supplied on rolls in cartridges. At the simpler end of the spectrum, self-adhesive labels are supplied as sheets, in a vast range of sizes (such as the ever popular Avery labels).
Whether you need long, thin labels for identifying DVDs and CDs; wide, deep labels that can take a maximum amount of information or a specific-sized label to fit an unusual envelope, you’ll be sure to find what you require.
So-called “piggyback” labels are often used on items sent through the mail or by courier; they consist of a normal adhesive label, which sticks straight to the package, and a secondary adhesive label on top of this, which peels off (often to be affixed to another package or surface) leaving behind the original label and its information.
When it comes to more specialist labels, it is possible to find waterproof labels, coloured labels, watermarked, hologram and fluorescent labels, as well as standard labels in a mind-boggling array of colours and finishes. Perhaps you need your labels to blend in with the items to which you’re adhering them.
Whatever the case, you won’t have a problem finding labels finished with a wooden or metallic effect. The glossier labels are thought to give a more polished, professional finish, whilst matt labels give a more traditional look.
Before purchasing a label printer, think carefully about the kinds of labels you’ll want to print. Ensure your chosen printer is compatible with the types of labels you’re hoping to produce; a tape label printer, for example, will be of little use if you or your business are looking to print off wide, clear address labels for adhering to outsized parcels.
Make sure your labels are fit for purpose; labels for use in high-impact environments, such as on car components or inside the workings of a machine, need to be heat-resistant and possibly waterproof. Labels that are to be affixed to the outside of packaging should be smudge proof, so that addresses or vital details are always legible.
UV-resistant ink will be required for labels that will exposed to large amounts of daylight. There are label printers out there made specially to fit all of these requirements, so invest some time in ensuring that you end up with the right printer and accompanying labels!
