• High Gloss (either laser or inkjet printable)
• Inkjet Matte White Vinyl
• White Laser Poly
• Inkjet Weatherproof White Gloss

How to Print Waterproof Labels

A common question for us here at Planet Label is how best to go about creating a waterproof or water resistant label using an inkjet or laser printer and which material to use.  Many of these customers are using the labels for skin care products which contain oils and or waxes, others may be looking to create custom water bottle labels for a party or event.  In any case, Planet Label has what you need, and in this post will explain which products and methods to use for either desktop laser or inkjet printers.

Inkjet vs. Laser

Inkjet

Before choosing the material that you would like to use it is most important to confirm the type of printer you intend to use in producing your labels.  Water Resistant Inkjet Vinyl is well suited for most desktop inkjet printers, however is not recommended for use with laser printers.  Vinyl is a very pliable film with excellent resistance to moisture, however it has a very low resistance to heat making the material unsuitable for use with most laser printers.

Our vinyl material features a proprietary coating on the surface of the material, which allows the liquid inks from an inkjet printer to adhere and dry to the touch immediately.  Does this mean the label is waterproof? Not exactly.  Composition of inkjet inks can vary from one printer and or ink manufacturer to another.  Some inks will resist moisture and abrasion better than others.

What can I do to further protect the printed surface of the vinyl or paper label? In a professional digital printing environment most films and papers would be treated with either a varnish or a clear film over laminate to protect the print surface from moisture and abrasion.  The same can be done with labels produced on an inkjet printer and at a very low cost.  Most Do-It-Yourself outlets offer clear protective spray-on products.  One of the most popular is a product manufactured by Krylon® call Preserve-It®.  This product is designed to protect print surfaces from moisture, UV exposure which can cause fading and yellowing.  In addition to waterproofing the printed surface, this product will also produce a professional looking glossy surface as well.

Laser Printers

Unlike inkjet printers which use liquid inks, laser printers use static electricity, a series of drums and of course a laser to adhere a dry powdery substance called toner to your labels.  In order to adhere toner to the label surface a great deal of heat is needed, and as result film material choices for laser printers are somewhat limited.  To create a water resistant label using a laser printer, Planet Label recommends using our Laser Poly material, which has excellent resistance to both heat and water.  Much like the inkjet printable vinyl products, durability of exposed toner on the label surface can be an issue if untreated and exposed to moisture, UV or abrasion.  As with inkjet vinyl, Planet Label also recommends the use of Krylon® Preserve-It® to varnish the printed surface.

Things to keep in mind

Too Much Ink (inkjet)

Using an inkjet printer, you may need to adjust media settings to “transparency” or “glossy” in cases where too much ink is being applied.  Media type can be found in the advanced settings for your individual printer.

Not Enough Toner (laser)

The same adjustments above may need to be made to your laser printer to achieve acceptable color saturation on film labels.  Most laser printers are set to print to copier paper by default, and may need to be adjusted to produce richer color on films.  Adjustments to the media type can also be found in the advanced settings for your printer.

Too Much Money

Films are more expensive, whether inkjet or laser printable.  If your label is not going to be submerged in liquid or excessive amounts of moisture, blank paper labels (which are less expensive than films) using the varnish technique described above may very well cut your expense of producing the labels in half!  If you’re not sure whether paper labels will work for your application, give us a call at 866-252-1520.

Good news, there’s a simple solution!  In this post we will break down the setting adjustments needed to go from seeing this:

To seeing this:

From a PC (Example done using version 2007)

1.    Download and open the appropriate template
2.    Begin by choosing Design from the primary navigation menu
3.    Under Design click on the Borders drop down
4.    Click View Gridlines and you’re done!

From a Mac (Example done using Word for Mac 14.0.2)

1.    Download and open the appropriate template
2.    Begin by choosing Table Layout from the primary navigation menu
3.    Move the cursor over the blank page, click once then select all (Command A)
4.    Under the Draw Borders tab select a preferred line style (solid vs. dashed)
5.    Click on the Borders drop down menu and select All and you’re done!

• $9 flat rate shipping on any order regardless of size or material choice
• Competitive prices
• Material Choices - Removable, Recycled, 3.4mil Vinyl, Estate #9, Matte, Gloss, Clear PET & more!
• Proven & Certified HP Indigo substrates

So if you’re looking for sheeted pressure sensitive products for HP Indigo, now you know where to find them!

In addition to printing capacity, Planet Label now offers individual sheeting capability to convert one continuous roll of labels into individual stickers.   Sheeting charges to convert custom labels into individual custom printed stickers comes at a flat fee of just $60, regardless of the size of the order!

Advantages of custom printed labels & stickers from Planet Label include:

• 48hr turnaround on printing jobs
• Free UPS Ground Shipping
• Free Press Proofs (printed sample of your artwork)
• Superior print quality on over 24 unique materials!
• Variable data printing – each label or sticker can be different

Click for more information, or a quote on custom printed labels & stickers.

Are you struggling to get proper color balance & saturation or experiencing excessive drying times while printing to glossy labels with an inkjet printer?  Well good news, here are a couple of easy tips to be sure that you’re inkjet printer is optimized to produce the finest quality labels possible.

The Ink is taking Forever to Dry & Smears

Problem – Most desktop printers come from the factory preset to print to copier paper.  Copier paper (unlike glossy labels or glossy paper) has an “open face,” meaning that it has the highest capacity of all materials for absorption of liquid inks.  Glossy label material on the other hand can only absorb so much ink, and once that point of saturation is met you’ll have sheets that won’t dry immediately.  So what to do?

Solution – Most major brands of desktop printers will allow the user to make adjustments to the media type settings on the printer.   Although it can vary by brand, the media type setting can generally be found int he print dialogue box, by clicking File > Print.  Once the print dialogue box appears, the user will need to click on “Properties.”  Depending on the printer, the user will then have the options to choose the media type under the tab Paper/Quality.

Under the media type drop down settings there will be various options ranging from Plain (uncoated/copier paper with maximum absorption quality) to Transparency (a film sheet with minimum absorption qualities).  Since our goal is to reduce the about of ink being applied we will want to select a media type that more closely matches the labels we will be printing.  If a glossy media setting is available, that will be our best option.  If not, it may take a little trial and error to find a setting that balances the amount of ink needed to maximize the vibrance and saturation of color with the most expedient drying times.

The color balance changes when I change the media Type (Advanced)

Occasionally we get a call from a Adobe CS user, who after using the media setting tip above will have issues with Color Shifting when printing directly from any one of the Creative Suite applications.  Fortunately this is usually an easy fix.  Be sure that that the Color Profile is set to CMYK SWOP V2 to assure color accuracy when working in Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign.

First, there are some things that the user should understand about Microsoft Word.  Word is a powerful program that can provide a user with the basic tools to do anything from word processing, to writing & editing HTML code to develop a basic website.  As result, Microsoft Word can be best described as a jack of all trades, but as the old adage goes – master to none.

Circles

Where Word is particularly deficient is in providing a clear and consistent interface for using label templates, more specifically circles.  Word templates are all created on an X/Y or height/width axis, and cannot account for non-liner (rounded) objects meaning that a template for a 1” x 1” square template is also used for a 1” diameter circle.  As you can see below I have downloaded the template for item LT6005-120C, which is a 3/4” circle.  Each editable area in the table appears as a ¾” x ¾” square, illustrating the issue described above.

Label Template for LT6005-120C

So how do you account for this deficiency?  Well, the answer is more complicated that most would like, but fortunately the user has a few options.

1.)    Create your  ¾” circle (for this case) graphics using a professional design software or application and “insert” the saved circular artwork file  as you would any other image into an MS Word document.  This ensures that your graphic will fit into the each cell of the template/table without concerns about running over the edge of the label.  There are plenty of great options for free software if you don’t have Photoshop, Illustrator or another.  See our previous post for design software suggestions here.

2.)    Trial and error – Quite possibly the toughest option, but very do-able if your circle labels contain just text content.  What we suggest is to set up the template, and rather than print to a more expensive sheet of labels, start with plain copier paper.  Once printed the copier paper can be held up to the labels to verify that all text and or images will fall with the outer perimeter or border of your circular labels.

3.)    Eyeing it up – Since the user has a clearly defined idea of how tall and wide  each cell is in the template, eyeing up a circle is relatively easy.  Again, this option is best used when text is being applied without the use of an image.

Printing – Labels and Text Don’t Line up

One of the most common problems we hear, is actually one of the easiest to fix.  If all labels appear “squished” or just off in one or more direction be sure that the “Scale to Paper Size” setting is set to “No Scaling.”  Your labels may very well be perfectly aligned on the screen, but your printer plays by its own set of rules and will often times ignore template inputs unless set otherwise.

Page Scaling Location Menu in MS Word

1.) Material Choice is REALLY Important

Unlike choosing what color socks to wear in the morning, choosing the right material for your labels is the most important decision you will make. Labels can be used for everything from file folders to labeling outdoor applications which will be subjected to everything from moisture to UV, either of which can trash a label which is printed to the wrong material.

2.) Talk to Planet Label

We don’t bite, unless there’s a plate of tasty nachos in play. This might sound contrived, but we’re label experts and we know what we’re doing. Years of producing and printing both blank and custom printed labels have generated a deep source knowledge in printing and manufacturing labels. If you’re not sure what type of material you need, or how best to go about designing a successful label call us. We love to help, and hear about how our customers are using our labels.

3.) Choose Color Wisely

Color combinations can look really good or really bad whether we’re talking about labels or painting the interior of your house. There are scores of free tools available on the Internet today, that can assist you in developing an attractive color palette if you haven’t got one already. If you have an image that you would like to include on your label there are tools such as the one found here, which will help you develop a palette based on the imagery that you would like to use.

4.) Select your Weapon

As a design ninja you will want to choose your weapon wisely. There are literally hundreds of design software applications out there, and depending on the need and budget you may consider investment in professional design software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or others to create a professional looking label. If a software purchase isn’t in the budget, there are great web-based options for PC’s such as Paint.net & GIMP or for Mac users look here for some excellent options.

5.) Proof, proof again, and then probably one more time

If you plan to use Planet Label for custom printed labels or stickers you can elect to see either a PDF production proof, or a physical press proof. In either case, the artwork and text need to be scoured with a fine tooth comb to assure that there are grammatical errors overlooked during design. Its not fun, but is certainly much better than receiving an order of labels that include a glaring spelling error.

So there you have it, 5 simple tips to improve your odds of not creating the world’s worst label.  With a little research, some patience and some trial and error anyone can do it!

The image above illustrates what is referred to as a full bleed, or in short a situation where color and images extend beyond the trim area in all directions.   A partial bleed which is shown below, includes only certain elements of the custom printed label that will extend beyond the trim area.  With a partial bleed, the designer risks the possibility that the outer perimeter of the label may not have complete ink coverage.  In essence, the designer is relying on the accuracy of the printer to cut or trim the label to the outer edge of the label impression with virtually zero margin for error.

Partial bleeds are more common in instances where the background color of the label is transparent, or will be taking on the natural color and texture of the material that the label will be printed to.  Die cutting tolerances in this case may not be as much of a concern to the designer as only partial graphic elements of the label will extend beyond the trim area.

For more information on artwork, see our page on specifications for artwork on custom printed labels. Now that you’re familiar with printing bleed, and know the difference between a full bleed and partial you’re one step closer to setting up your files for the perfect custom printed label!