It’s a company’s nightmare. You’ve worked hard creating a new product, and you’ve finally got it on the shelves of Aldi or Tesco. But, one eagle-eyed customer spots a small but irritating mistake. There’s a label typo.  

Don’t panic, Expert Labels are the proof-reader you never had – we help our customers eliminate any label typo and present quality products.

With the world of social media, there is no place to hide as customers are very keen to point out a stray apostrophe or a misspelt word as the likes of Waitrose and Ribena have found out recently.

Can you find the typos on the products below?

Label typo in Aldi’s wine selection

If you read the description carefully, you will spot that this bottle of Winking Owl goes well with “Asain cuisine and grilled meats.”

Of course, it should say “Asian cuisine” but a typo like this will result in the supplier having to reprint labels before their product can hit the Aldi shelves again.

Aldi were only aware of the mistake when a customer pointed it out to them on Twitter. This just highlights how errors can just slip through the net despite all the quality control processes.

A Teacher’s typo nightmare

Look away teachers, or anyone who can’t stand poor grammar.

Apostrophes are normally the common culprit when it comes to typos on labels. But, when you’re promoting a product for teachers, you’d like to think you’d get an A for grammar.

Waitrose were bombarded with messages about the mistake in the Canary Wharf store. Despite this, many are still complaining that the label hasn’t been changed with the correct grammar.

Design of wine label ruined by mistake

A designer would’ve spent a long time creating a label for this bottle of white wine.

However, one spelling mistake seems to be more enticing than the sophisticated logo and design.

The bottom of the label says: “Brimming with zesty lemon flavour and freah notes of apple.”

This small mistake really undermines the design of the label which tries to convey the product to be classy and cultured.

As with the first picture, the labels would need to be reprinted with the correct spelling. Costing the company time and money, not to mention damage to a carefully built brand.

Typo in water description

We’ve saved the hardest until last.

There’s a lot going on with this label design. But, in the small paragraph section you will see the phrase: “Preparation, that what you need.”

The large amount of writing on the label means that it would be harder to spot a mistake like that.

However, it didn’t get past one customer, who politely pointed out the label typo to Glaceau Water on Twitter.

These examples show how important it is to get your labelling right. Just a small mistake can undermine the hard work you’ve put in to create and design the project. It can mean you have to spend extra cash just to re-design and re-print labels – not to mention the hit your valuable brand takes.

Here at Expert Labels, proof-reading is all part of the service.  Before you approve your label, we carefully check spelling and grammar – preventing any of these calamitous typos getting to print.

Let us work with you to make your labels and your brand the best they can be – contact us and tell us about your project.

Creating and printing barcodes can be a long and challenging task. But, using Barcode Label Software can save precious time for many business owners. Here’s how we can help you get the most out of barcode label software.

Barcode label software includes simple bar code generators to complex programs that manage labels, templates and printing from a large database or ERP system.  With 20 years of experience – pick up the phone and speak to one of the team – our expert advice will save you time.

You may be a business owner, a production manager, or an individual selling just a few products.  Regardless of your role, you need a way to produce high quality barcodes – printed to specification.

If you have a wide range of products with different descriptions or prices then you need software that links to a database or spreadsheet, then you’ll need label design software that can communicate directly with your label printer in it’s native printer language.

If you sell products through a distributor or middleman, then you’ll need to speak their language and print a variety of different barcodes, using multiple fonts.

Supermarkets, pharmaceuticals and automotive industries all have heavily regulated, predefined label formats.  We can help with barcode label software that will meet these standards.

Barcode label software – Questions you need to ask

Before choosing a bar code software package, take time to evaluate your needs.

(1) Are you creating and printing a lot of barcodes for business use?

(2) Do you need to meet industry or customer label specifications?

(3) Will you need to use data from other software programs?

(4) Are you planning to add design features to your labels?

Once you have the answers to these questions, contact us for advice or take a look at these pages:

label design and print software

Download trial software here.

If you use barcode labels, you need to decide if you print your own (along with the software, labels and probably a specialist thermal barcode label printer) OR do you simply buy rolls of pre-printed labels – printed to your specifications.  This article will give you the information you need to decide.

The case for Pre-Printed Labels

If you need to print lots of labels, by that I mean tens of thousands of labels, outsourcing it to a specialist like us has advantages.  Especially if:

• Each barcode label is identical.
• Your barcode labels are sequentially numbered.
• Your labels will be applied permanently.  A specialised label can be non-removable and even indestructible – maybe you want the label to go through a furnace, or repeated washes.
• Security is important to you – if you can print your own labels then others might be able to do the same.  Holograms or security cuts will make your labels hard to copy.
• Very small volumes of labels.  If you need just a few thousand labels infrequently, then the cost of the printer and software makes the idea of outsourcing a quick and easy option, without a learning curve and time spent getting up to speed with a thermal label printer.
• You’re printing tags.  Printing tags isn’t easy through a label printer (it’s not impossible – but tags specifications are limited).  If you need specialised tags – for example very small, metal, weather proof (perhaps for permanent attachment to fixed assets like furniture, computers or outdoor equipment – think party rental equipment or rental machinery, or even floor labels in a warehouse.)
• You need very specialised labels, particularly for niche applications such as automotive, medical/health, pharmaceutical, defence or logistics – handing over printing to a barcode label specialist able to print the data you need, on the right material, in the correct sizes would mean a faster solution for you.

The Case for Print Your Own Labels

If you can’t buy pre-printed labels, printing your own labels might prove to be a better option if:

• You need to print unique customer information on each label (such as delivery addresses, purchase order numbers etc.)
• You need to print weight, batch or quantity information on your labels.
• You print small batches, maybe hundreds or a few thousand, on a regular basis.
• You have simple white labels to print onto.
• You’re printing onto direct thermal labels – labels that have a relatively short life and turn brown if subjected to heat.
• You need labels urgently and lead times might be a problem.
• You’re printing tickets or receipts that change daily.

What you need in order to print your own labels, tags and tickets

So you’ve decided to pre-printed labels aren’t for you and you’re going to print your own labels.  This is what you’ll need to get started:

You’ll need to buy a label printer.  Thermal labels are fast and cost effective compared to ink jet or laser printers.  Take a look through our printer pages to help you decide.

You’ll need label design software to turn your ideas and data in to labels.  Don’t rely on Microsoft Word or Excel to give you the results you need. Take a look at the most popular label design software here.

Labels, tickets or tags.  Choose what’s best for your application and make sure it meets any compliance requirements.

Thermal transfer ribbons – this is the ink your labels (tickets or tags) need to be seen.  There is an art to matching the best thermal transfer ribbons to the label or tag material, especially if you are printing onto an unusual material such as plastic or other synthetic material. More about thermal ribbons.

If your labels are critical to your business operations then think about back up printers in case they break down or take out a service contract.

Take the guess work out of labelling, get the help of the label printing experts, call us or email from our contact us page.

Expert Labels Ltd supplies organisations with specialist label printers, barcode scanners, blank or pre-printed labels and thermal ribbons.  We ​provide consultancy services so our clients can take full advantage of barcodes and streamline label printing.

IT and production managers call us when:

• They need down-to-earth advice to solve their label printing problems
• They’re looking for particular labels to solve a specific problem
• They don’t want to waste time chasing suppliers, checking proofs and matching ribbons for the best results.
• They’re looking for new label printers but want fast expert advice and help choosing the best label printers
• ​They know they could benefit from using barcodes but don’t know how​
• Want help integrating printing into their company’s systems

Expert Labels are different from most label companies:

• We have hands on experience with the whole of the label printing process from manufacturing labels to printing to scanning the finished label or tag
• We are a true one stop shop – able to provide everything you need to print your own labels
• We are able to match the right labels to the right printers and use the best ribbons
• We are independent suppliers of a wide range of products so we are able to present the best product for your particular application
• We love solving problems for our clients
• We build long term relationships with our clients – some of whom have worked with us for more than twenty years

QR codes. You’ll have seen them everywhere, on business cards, posters, shop windows, product packaging, but what are they?  How can they help us? How can we get them?

What can QR Codes Be Used For?

Here are some ways you might use QR codes:

* Include your electronic business card (vCard)
* Have customers fill in satisfaction surveys on their phones
* Competition entries
* Automatically add your event to someone’s calendar
* Have an electronic RSVP on invitation letters or cards
* Direct smartphone users to “how to use” youtube videos – to watch on the phone
* Use a coupon to encourage visitors to visit your business
* Follow on Twitter
* Create electronic queuing tickets at your service counter.

What are QR codes?

QR codes are the pattern of dots at the top of this article.  It’s a form of 2D barcode that can store a wide range of information.  Because QR codes can contain thousands of characters of data, it’s really easy to encode a website URL and other things that you don’t have space in with a standard barcode.

QR codes have been around since 1994 when Denso in Japan developed them.  Slowly they’re appearing more and more – even our home internet router has a QR code on it (scan it and it enters the password into your phone).

To read a QR code, you need a special barcode scanner or camera.  Smartphone cameras are able to read them as standard.  There are lots of free QR readers available for iPhone or Android.

When you scan a QR code, your phone’s browser goes directly to the website (or adds a person’s contact details or starts playing an instruction video or what ever else the QR code says).

What’s exciting is that you can create your own QR codes for free and very easily.  Go on and use them to create QR codes for business cards, birthday invitations or posters.  Phone us now and have us make up QR codes labels to go on your products, taking your clients to a ‘how to use’ video on Youtube.

How do you create QR codes?

It’s easier than you might have thought.

Here’s how to include a QR code in your brochures, flyers, posters, business cards, mailings, wedding invitation, product labels (it doesn’t have to be promotional material). The code doesn’t even have to be in hard copy – it can just as easily be a digital image to display on a phone screen.

First – visit one of the many free online QR-code generators on the web that allow you to produce your own codes.

Try www.qrstuff.com/ for starters.  It’s very easy to use and it’s free. From the homepage, choose what you want to encode in the code.  Choose from a straightforward web address to phone numbers or calendar entries.  I’ve used a map as an example in this QR code to the left (scan it and see).  Choose a colour and hit the download QR code button. Your QR code is available to download it as an image file for offline use or to include on an email or webpage like this one.

Download the image file you create and use it as a graphic in your work and you’re up and running in five minutes.

We’ve seen QR codes used to send customers to a special-offer page on a website, online maps directing them to a location or to encourage people to attend an in-store promotion where their code will entitle them to a discount. The possibilities are endless.

How do I scan QR Codes?

Reading a QR code is also simple, as long as you have a smartphone. You’ll need to install one of the many free QR code scanning apps that are available online. I use QR Reader (which enables you to create QR codes on your phone) but QR Code Reader is easy to use as well.  Most are free from your app store.

In addition to smart phones, we supply a range of 2D barcode readers that will scan QR codes.  Email me at info@expertlabels.co.uk if you want to know more.

Added extras

There are a few things you can do with QR codes to make them more powerful.  Including Google Analytics tracking codes will tell Google Analytics where that visitor came from – even down to an individual individual poster. You can use URL shortners such as Bit.ly to make your code shorter.  Shortners re-direct  visitors to your website but at the same time record when the QR code was scanned.  The benefit here is that you can change where the URL shortner takes you.  You can also easily track how many people are scanning your QR code.

Start using QR codes today

1.  Go to www.QRStuff.com and make a QR code that sends visitors to a contact us page on your website.

2.  Print it onto labels

3.  Stick the labels onto your business card

4.  If you want to see how many people scan the QR code, create a bit.ly account.  Create a bit.ly url that points to your contact us page and take that bit.ly url and encode it into your QR code.  Check back to your bit.ly account from time to time to see how many scans your code gets.

Try scanning the QR code above. As always, I’d love to hear your stories about your barcode experiences and if you need help with selecting QR-code scanners or label printers, please contact us. You can email info@expertlabels.co.uk or call us on 01359 271 111 for more information.

Updated 21 Jan 2022

One of our clients, Gareth had a problem.  He had 600 packs of his premium pet food sitting in Goods In at Tesco’s Bolton distribution centre.  He had worked long and hard to win the Tesco’s account and now his credibility with this prestigious account was in jeopardy.  He was under pressure and did not want to upset this account.  He needed 600 barcode labels urgently.

Gareth’s original supplier had made a mistake with their barcode and this had been rejected by Tesco,  With the label unscannable, the goods couldn’t be booked in and Tesco were threatening to return the consignment.  Gareth had to act fast.

He needed 600 replacement labels – but he didn’t know where to start.  He didn’t know what kind of barcode he needed – all he knew was that he needed them and he needed them fast.  He started to phone possible suppliers – looking for solutions.

That’s when he reached us – on an afternoon in November.  Gareth explained the situation and asked what could be done.  The question for us – was do we have the label he needed on the shelf.  Secondly, we needed to confirm the type of barcode he needed and then could we print it ready for him to pick up that afternoon.

Gareth emailed us across a picture of the label, along with the dimensions he needed.

Luckily we hold a few hundred rolls of labels on the shelf in our office.  Whilst that sounds like a lot, when you consider all the combinations of size, material, adhesive, finish and colour, that’s a small selection of what we get asked for on a weekly basis.  But, Gareth had a problem and he could adjust his label size to match what we had on the shelf.

In a few minutes we’d found a suitable label match so we started work on printing a sample barcode.  Gareth had sent us across an image of the barcode he needed.  Having worked with barcodes for more than twenty years we could tell at a glance what kind of barcode he needed.  The GS1 128 barcode is easy to recognise, but we weren’t going to take any chances.  Gareth already had a problem and we didn’t want to make another mistake by printing the wrong barcode.

We have a barcode terminal in our office we use for identifying barcodes.  One scan with that confirmed our expectations.  Gareth needed 600 GS1 128 barcodes.

In twenty minutes we had a sample designed on BarTender, our label design software and we printed it out on our Zebra ZM400 printer.  A quick photo showed Gareth exactly what he was going to get and we emailed it across for him to check and approve.

A short while later Gareth had checked with his bosses and the barcode was exactly what they needed.  How quickly could we get it done?  It’d be ready in 30 minutes.  That gave us time to test, print and rewind the roll of printed labels.

We set up the printer, loaded the core onto the rewind unit and began printing.

Job done.  Thanks Gareth for trusting us – and I’m glad it worked out for you!