Printing address labels in house can be an efficient and cost effective way to help you dispatch parcels and letters in busy work environments. They can also act as another platform to reinforce your brand. At Crown Labels we regularly need to dispatch up to 100 parcels and letters each working day - by storing our customers' addresses within a database and using a desktop label printer we are able to print each address label off in seconds. Here's what you need to carry out the same process in your home or workplace:
1. Buy A Desktop Label Printer
For printing small to medium address labels a small desktop label printer is perfectly suited to this task. This is what we use at Crown Labels for all our parcel and letter dispatches. These printers are easy to install, don't take up much desk space and are inexpensive to purchase. Prices vary typically from between £200 to £400 (exc. VAT) depending on the make and model you go for. Popular models include the Zebra GK-420T printer and the Godex RT series. Both are reliable, come with free to use software and are straight forward to install. These label printers are installed in a similar manner to a normal A4 sheet printers, they need a driver to be installed and a single USB connection.
Top Tip: For address labels we would always recommend purchasing a thermal transfer printer (which uses a print ribbon) rather than a direct thermal printer. Although these are slightly more expensive and need a print ribbon, the print on the label print will last for longer which will help in more challenging transit conditions.
2. Purchase Labels Compatible with Your Printer
The next step is to purchase labels which are compatible with your recently purchased printer. The labels will need to be supplied on rolls and meet a few bits of criteria, the key things to check on your printer specification/data sheet are:
1. Maximum outer diameter size of the roll (so it can fit in your printer ok - typically around 120mm for the small Zebra models)
2. Inner diameter of the core (the hollow cylindrical piece of cardboard which the labels are wound round - typically 25mm for small Zebra printers)
3. Length of the core (in some cases this will need to stretch the full width of the label roll.
4. Are you using a direct thermal or thermal transfer printer (direct thermal printers will need direct thermal labels which react to heat similar to till receipts).
5. Would you like a plain or pre-printed label (eg. with your logo printed in colour or just a plain white label so you can print the address in black ).
If you are in any doubt about the label specification you need you should always contact a label company to make sure all bases are covered in regards to the variables above. Please contact us if you need any further advice or guidance HERE.
3. Purchase Ribbons Compatible with Your Printer
In a similar manner to how the labels need to suit your printer, the key things to check before purchasing your printer ribbons are:
1. Maximum label width you are printing onto (so this can be exceeded by your ribbon to cover the full width of the label)
2. Ribbon core diameter (and whether it needs to be notched)
3. Material of your labels (for address labels this will generally be a paper label so a wax ribbon will be adequate for your application).
4. Whether the ribbons needs to be inkside in or inkside out (see printer spec. sheet).
Again - if you are in any doubt about the label specification you need you should always contact a label company who will be able to make sure they supply you with the correct labels and ribbons to suit your setup.
4. Last Step - Print Your Labels!
The next step is to print your labels - as the video below demonstrates it is as easy and straight forward as printing an A4 document ! Simply save your customer delivery addresses within the label printing software as and when you type them in to build up a database which can be easily accessed for future dispatches.
For any further advice please don't hesitate to get in contact with our team who will be able to help you with your enquiry. Please contact us HERE.