Labels are there to help identify hazardous chemicals, and to explain what the hazards are and how to avoid them. Some of the most widely recognised symbols you find on labels today are; flammable, toxic, poison, and corrosive. By providing you with high quality, self adhesive labels that comply with health and Safety legislation; you can ensure your labels fulfil their role.
Hazardous chemical labels are used more and more everyday and you can find them on a wide range of products. For example:
Household appliances i.e. dishwashers, washing machines, ovens
Five things to think about when it comes to food labels.
Food labels need to perform under unique circumstances, such as in a freezer, in contact with food or oil and moisture.
They need to meet legal standards in terms of nutritional information and allergy advice.
Food labels often get printed in small batches and over-printed with variable information.
They often need to be applied to packaging using machines or hand-held label applicators.
Finally, labels need to sell your food product – use them to stand out from the competition.
Let’s take a look:
Food Grade and Heat Proof Materials and Adhesives
Food labels need to meet certain legal standards as well as practical ones. Normal adhesives freezes solid and the labels fall off. If your product is destined for the freezer – you’ll need freezer adhesive labels. For labels that will get wet, you need labels made from moisture resistant material. You labels need to remain readable if oil is spilled on them.
Does you food label need to survive in the oven? Choose labels that will remain presentable, even at temperatures up to 250 Deg C.
With fresh food, labels can be printed using ‘direct thermal’ printers – this means the label printing is made more simple without the need for ink. The label turns black when it’s printed on with a thermal label printer. Best before dates and batch codes can be over-printed quickly and easily using these printers. Learn more here if you are interested.
Request a sample of materials and test them for yourself.
Unlike standard product labels, your food labels need to contain certain mandatory information such as allergy advice, product names and ingredients. We work with a few graphic designers who can help you with this – contact us for more information.
Ask us about software to design your labels yourself, with allergens highlighted and ingredients pulled in from a database or spreadsheet.
Small Batches of Food Labels
On demand colour labels
In addition to pre-printed food labels – we can help with on-demand food label printing for small batches of labels.
Here you can choose to print an entire colour label or take a pre-printed label (printed with colour elements such as your logo or address) and over-print with specific food details.
Food labels often need to be over-printed with batch codes and best before dates, whilst the rest of the label is standard. We can do this by having panels to print onto.
Contact us to learn how you you can print onto your labels.
How You'll Apply Your Labels to Your Food Products
Food labels tend to be used in high volume situations. If you need large rolls of labels (or fanfolded labels that get fed straight from the box), for use in a label applicator – let us know.
If you plan to use a handheld label applicator then we can supply labels on small rolls that will fit in the applicator.
Your Labels Make Your Products Stand Out
Finally, and possibly the most important thing your labels need to do is sell your product.
You can employ a range of label features to make your products look and feel different to the competition.
Metallic foiling catches the consumer’s eye and also gives your product a premium appearance.
Embossing, ‘spot varnishes’ and special varnishes (like extra matt – that makes your label feel like sandpaper) not only make your food item look different – but actually creates an intimate connection by way of touch.
Things to make the your buyers stop and think.
Embossing and Foiling to make your product stand out
Known as booklet, multi-page, foldout or extended labels – these are a great solution when the pack is not large enough for a single label to carry all the required information. Booklet labels are often preferred to separate leaflets, which can easily be lost and take up more space on the product.
These labels are frequently seen on agricultural, chemicals and consumer pharmaceuticals. Over recent years they have become a practical way to streamline labelling so that multiple languages can be included in just one label – making packaging much easier.
These are not to be confused with Peel & Reveal labels. Visit our peel & reveal labels here. Peel & Reveal labels are a more simple label with a hinge and up to a maximum of five pages (five leaves). There are also limitations on the size of Peel & Reveal labels – they can’t be too large.
Our labels can be printed as genuine booklet labels – with up to 32 double side printed leaves. Booklet labels can be stapled or glued together at the spine.
Over-printing the top page with unique information (such as batch code or use by date) can be done with thick booklet labels – check with us to see how thick.
Multi-page booklet labels
Booklet labels can be called:
Leaflet Labels
Foldout Labels
Extended Content Labels
Expanded Content Labels
Multi-Panel Labels
Multi-Ply Labels
Page Labels
Multi-Page Labels
Expansion Labels
Fold-Out Label Uses
There are many uses for booklet labels –
The display of Multilingual Text Information on products reducing language specific reprints of packaging
Display government required regulatory and legal information
Display of promotional coupons and vouchers
Product instructions and user advice
Direct Mail promotion
Promotional campaigns
Example Costing
Booklet labels are complicated pieces of engineering, using specialist (and expensive machinery). The result is a label that costs significantly more than alternative labels (like Peel & Reveal).
It is also very dependant on the quantity of labels printed (as with all labels).
Example prices
8-page 45mm x 55mm 2 colour printed paper booklet label – £2,850 (plus VAT) for 5,000 labels and £2,600 for just 1,000 labels.
4-page 50mm circular paper label printed in full colour – £1,600 for 1,000 and for 2,500 labels £1,675. Again, plus VAT and delivery.
If you would like to know more or to request a free sample, click the Sample Request button below.
Fanfold labels offer the benefit of lying flatter than typical, rolled barcode labels. A compatible printer can hold more continuous fanfolded labels than their rolled counterpart, allowing for less frequent roll changes during high volume applications.
Fan-fold labels are usually positioned behind or below the printer and fed into the printer through a slot at the back or in the base of the printer. There are some advantages of using fan-fold labels with thermal transfer / direct thermal barcode label printers instead or labels in roll format.
For example; fan-fold labels do not need cores so cost can work out lower than roll labels. It is often likely that you will get more labels in each carton because fanfold labels are more densely packed and fit better in rectangular cartons.
Fanfold labels benefits
No use of cores leads to less waste.
More labels per box as fan folded label, tags & tickets are more densely packed.
Reduced storage space required.
Improved printer uptime through less roll changes.
Thicker card tags & tickets do not suffer from curl as the stock is always flat.
Fanfold label printers
Printers such as Zebra, Toshiba Tec, TSC and Datamax will allow the user the option to utilise fanfold labels, tags and tickets for overprinting. Most printers now use friction feed rather than sprocket holes, although we can produce sprocket hole labels if required.
If you’re interested in fan-fold labels (4”x1”, 4”x2”, 4”x4”, 4”x6”, 4”x6.5” or 4”x8” fanfold labels), direct thermal or with thermal transfer, fanfold label printer or zebra fanfold labels – give one of our Experts a call today for a quote or a free sample on: 01359 271 111.
Alternatively, you can fill out the form below and we will contact you.
We supply labels that are perfect for your laboratory testing.
Our labels are manufactured in the UK using materials suitable for items that are submerged directly into liquid nitrogen at -196 °C and have a robust adhesive bond, strong enough to withstand thermal shock, which eliminates the problem of your labels peeling apart. This provides improved benefits for laboratories looking for reliable label identification on samples that need to withstand long-term deep freezing or direct contact with liquid nitrogen.
Our cryogenic labels use an adhesive that is chemically inert, ideal for any sensitive lab applications. They can be used in any industry working with biological or other temperature-sensitive material, allowing the key sample information to be clearly displayed. This aids the identification of many individual, yet identical containers, which in turn can hasten turnarounds and make more efficient use of employees’ time. Improve quality of life for both your staff and customers in one go.
These cryogenic labels are easily applied to frozen surfaces, such as sample tubes, vials, metal racks or beakers that are stored in liquid nitrogen. As well as extreme cold, they can withstand the heat of autoclaves. Perfect if your application cycles through several contrasting temperatures.
Freeze the Day
Cryogenic labels are available in many different shapes and sizes. We are sure to be able to find a perfect sized solution to fit your unique application. We can supply you rolls of cryogenic labels for in-house printing using thermal transfer, or alternatively they can be supplied on laser printed sheets, to better fit with more conventional printing techniques.
Making the change from alternative identification methods such as using a marker pen can reduce errors caused by illegible marking or mislabelling. Users can print small batch numbers and detailed barcodes required for certain small vials and test-tubes, whilst ensuring 100% of the required information is maintained.
Download our briefing sheet below to get the key facts and figures. Complete the form below and one of our labelling experts will be in contact to let you know how we can provide you with the best solution for your needs.
As always, we are here to help. If you have a question, or specific requirement you would like to discuss with us, cryogenic or not, please get in touch with our. Email sales@expertlabels.co.uk or call us on 01359 271 111, we’d love to hear from you.
Expert Labels are a specialist supplier of technical support for industrial, desktop and mobile thermal transfer printers. Through a partnership we are also able to repair your print and apply systems and in-line coding printers.
We support these printer makes
We support the following makes and models of thermal transfer and direct thermal printers with either authorised or fully trained technicians:
Zebra
Toshiba TEC
Intermec
Honeywell
Datamax
Printronix
TSC
Citizen
Godex
Sato
Barcode Printer Support Options Available
We provide annual printer support contracts for your barcode printer as well as ad-hoc on site repairs where there’s no commitment required.
Whilst most often our engineers carry out printer repairs at your premises, if you have planned maintenance or shutdown periods in your business you can take advantage of our low cost return to base workshop repairs.
As printing labels is a critical function in your organisation, many customers choose regular preventative maintenance visits. These are often annual visits where the printer is tested and worn or damaged parts replaced before the printer breaks down and holds up production.
Our engineers also train your operators on how to clean and use their printers, carry out installation and training on new printers and make trouble shooting visits.
What makes Expert Labels Printer Support fast and dependable?
To meet our thermal printer service obligations we carry a wide range of printheads and spare parts for different printer makes and models, so your printer is back printing as quickly as possible.
Because we work exclusively with thermal barcode label printers our engineers are experienced with this specialist type of printer. We hold spare parts, we quickly diagnose problems and know how to repair them in order to get your printer back into service.
Zebra Printer Support Options
As a Zebra partner, we offer a range of ZebraCare Service Agreements to ensure that your Zebra Label Printer is covered in case of breakdown. There is no better way to keep your Zebra printer supported.
Mobile Printer Repair Centre
ZebraCare service agreements are repair maintenance contracts, paid for in advance, under which your Zebra printer will be brought back to life if anything were to happen to it. You have the option to choose from a variety of service contracts: • ZebraCare On-Site Service (available in the UK, Ireland and The Benelux only) • Advantage (for next day printer fix) • Advantage Plus (for same day printer fix) To learn more about the service agreements we offer, visit our contact us page and get in touch.
Label design and print software is a key part of printing your barcode labels. You need software on a computer to control the labels the printer prints.
Most specialist barcode label printers (thermal transfer printers) are shipped with software you can use to print your labels right away. However, the software included with your label printer for making labels is usually the most simple version available.
If you want to save time, improve efficiency or have a degree of complexity in your operations, you need to consider more professional label making software. Read our introduction to label design software to help you decide what you need.
How to choose your label design and print software
Ease of use and productivity
Most label design software is equally easy to use. Generally, the rule applies, the more powerful the range of functions the less simple it is to use. Some applications can be set up to streamline data entry using forms you fill in and make it easy for use by end users. Additionally the higher end versions of the software can be automated – to the point where user involvement isn’t needed.
Bartender and Nicelabel both have a choice of compliance label templates – designed to make compliance labels much easier for food allergen labelling, automotive, pharmaceutical, health and CLP Labels (known as GHS labels in North America).
Serial number printing is easily managed from most of these packages, with the higher end packages managing serial number printing in a central database – so different print locations don’t print the same serial numbers.
Support
What training is there available for you? Is there telephone support available? What videos can you watch? If you are needing to integrate with ERP and other business software, are there professional services available to help? See what help there is for you before committing. Not all software is supported in Europe or has a strong network of dealers.
Expert Labels Limited have been supporting organisations with label printing for over 20 years and are able to help you use your label design software with other business systems.
Cost
Most of these applications have a free cutdown version of the software, often shipped with a barcode printer. Additionally, most have a 30 day trial of the software available.
The professional label design packages, listed below, start at around £150 and rise into the £1,000s for large, multi-user installations.
When picking the right software for you, the saying “you get what you pay for” really rings true. Cheaper applications designed for consumers lack the business functions such as 2D barcodes, label design wizards, data entry forms and connections to a wide range of databases. Additionally, some of the consumer grade applications are prone to bugs.
ERP and Apple Mac Compatibility
None of the major brands of labelling software listed below are designed to work with Macs, although Peninsular Software have Mac and Windows compatible label design and print software. Contact us for more information.
Large ERP systems like Oracle and SAP are well catered for by the top end barcode design software. Bartender, Teklynx’s top of the range package and Nicelabel all work with them, without the need for additional middleware.
Barcodes
Make sure your barcode design software has the range of barcode printing you need. Whilst all the professional versions (and many of the consumer grade) have the ability to design labels with standard barcodes, not all have 2D codes and some don’t have GS1-128 barcode functions.
The best barcode software packages will also help you build GS1 barcodes – particularly GS1-128 (formerly known as UCC-128 and EAN-128). These barcodes are build up from components called GS1-128 application identifiers and can be difficult to master without software to help.
RFID – Radio Frequency Identification labels
There are no free versions of label printing software that enable RFID label encoding. Email us for advice on printing to RFID labels.
Testing and trial versions
The professional applications all have limited duration trial packages of their software. Please contact us to obtain trial versions of these packages.
Label Design and Print Software Reviews
These brief reviews cover just an outline of the software. For more information, contact us for specific advice for your situation or problems.
All these applications enable you to print text, include graphics in your label designs and include barcodes – both linear and 2D. Where they differ is their ability to connect to databases and spreadsheets and take that data and print it onto your labels.
Entry level versions of the software rarely include database connectivity. Most barcode label printers come with basic label printing software – Intermec and Datamax come with Seagull Scientific Bartender Ultralite (sometimes called NETira).
Teklynx Labelview
Easy to use software. Labelview is made for companies with mid-level labelling complexities. Like it’s competitors, it’s easy-to-use. Labelview can be used with any printer. It is built to run on Microsoft Windows only. Labelview is the entry level version of it’s label design software, with Codesoft being a step up. Teklynx is a French based company with much of the software being developed in the united states. It has offices and support around the world. Contact us for prices.
Zebra Designer
Zebra Designer Basic is shipped free with Zebra Label Printers. It’s a simple easy to use program that gets you up and running straight away. This application only runs on Microsoft Windows, with Zebra printers. The basic version does not enable you to connect to databases. To connect you label elements to Excel, Access and other data sources you will need to buy the Pro version of the software. Zebra Designer is not an enterprise level program – it doesn’t have the ability to pool label templates on a network or integrate with large ERP systems. Contact us for prices.
Nicelabel
Nicelabel is respected and powerful. It’s been largely updated in it’s latest release. It’s written in Slovenia and has won awards around the world, leading it to be used by over a million users internationally. It has various levels starting with a simple label design package, leading up to a fully automated enterprise level of the software. It is well supported with support centres in different parts of the world. Nicelabel has a large library of compliance labels for food, automotive and pharmacy. It’s enterprise version has centralised label templates, integration with SAP and Oracle, wide range of compliance labels. Contact us for prices.
Seagull Scientific Bartender
We recommend Seagull Scientific’s “Bartender” software for any application. We’ve worked with it for years, know it very well and can recommend the support available. It’s one of the top professional label design programs and is used by many of the world’s largest companies. This is a powerful and flexible programme and enables you to design and print any label you need, giving you the capability of easily managing large portfolios of label designs easily and efficiently. Several different versions are available to suit all situations and budgets. Contact us for prices.
For further information or EXPERT advice on label design and print software give us a call on 01359 271111.
Despite your best efforts, mistakes with packaging, filing or identification do happen. Products might even need re-labelling because of redundant text, alternative language instructions, telephone number or ingredient changes on the packaging. Sometimes you need to cover up personal or confidential information or you’re a pharmaceutical supplier and need to hide information for a clinical trial. The answer: block out labels.
Block out labels cover up mistakes and confidential or incorrect information without someone being able to read it. They are a quick and cost effective alternative to completely re-labelling product. Block out labels or stickers are also known as cover up labels (or black out labels and even opaque labels).
What are Block Out labels?
The barcode is still visible under label
The information below the block out label is invisible.
Block out labels tend to look like standard white paper stickers, however they have a dark coloured ink printed on the reverse of the paper, before the labels’ adhesive layer is applied. The dark ink on the reverse makes the labels appear dense enough to hide existing information on the original packaging they’re applied to.
Type of labels:
standard white paper
weatherproof and waterproof plastic block out labels
pre-printed or blank
cut to size labels
circular opaque labels
thermal opaque labels
Applications:
To cover up mistakes on existing packaging or labels
To update information on existing materials
To recycle packaging
To create completely legible print
Clinical trials
Limitations with Block Out Labels
These labels are speciality thermal transfer labels, so you’re able to overprint them with your own thermal label printer. They are usually made to order and not always kept in stock. The good news is that they can be cut to the most appropriate size (including circular and oval labels) and can be pre-printed or left blank for you to print onto.
Black out labels are usually made from semi gloss paper, but contact us to order different label materials. These labels tend to be delivered in roll form. As with any made to order labels, the more your order the less the unit label cost will be.
Order block-out labels
If you need block out stickers, visit our contact page or give one of our Experts a call today on 01359 271 111. One of our friendly team can advise you on your options and quickly provide a quote. Alternatively you can fill out a form below and we will contact you.
If you’re looking for printed barcode labels, you’re in the right place. If you’ve decided that you don’t want to invest the time and money in setting up your own label printer. We’ve been helping customers like you print their own barcode labels since 1994.
Customers have used barcodes on:
assets
shelf labelling
product identification labels
retail products.
Sequential Barcode Labels
Pre-numbered labels with or without barcodes, available on rolls or sheets. We offer consecutive sequentially (or any other pattern of numbering) numbered labels in any material from paper to synthetic and adhesives from standard permanent to ultra-aggressive adhesives.
Retail Barcode Labels
Retail labels produced in lots of 500 or 1000 for your retail product. These can be ordered with or without the barcode number underneath the barcode.
ITF-14 Carton Barcode Labels
For product cartons that are used for shipping and warehousing. These labels are used by the distribution centres of larger retailers for keeping track of stock.
Barcode Materials
The most common material which we are asked to supply is a barcode on white paper or polypropylene materials, but the kind of material which is used will depend upon the application where the item is used. We can also print on premium materials such as polyester and aluminium.
Barcode Sizes & Shapes
We have a range of thousands “pre-sized” dies for printing your barcode labels.
Barcode readability
You can rely on our system to reduce barcode reading errors by checking that every barcode is scanned for its readability before dispatch.
You can order all the standard barcodes for your labels – such as:
GTIN13 (formerly EAN13),
GTIN8s,
GS1-128s,
QR codes,
Code 128s,
Code 39s and a host of other barcode formats.
In fact we can print over 100 different barcode formats.
Success story
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.
Many of our customers don’t realise the importance of getting a good match between the ribbons and labels they use. Ink ribbons are different and don’t suit all label materials.
If you don’t get it right, your labels will look faint or too black, print will rub off and you could be in line for an expensive surprise when your printhead burns out months or years before it should. If you work with chemicals, the print disappears if splashed by chemical solvents.
A quick reminder:
A thermal printer melts an ink onto the surface of your labels or tags. Ink ribbons are coated with either wax or resin or most often a mixture of the two. Wax works well on matte paper, resin works best on plastic labels. Gloss labels look best when printed with inks coated in a mixture of wax and resin.
How to match your labels to ribbons.
1. The first things to do is check dimensions. A printer ribbon needs to be at least the width of the label, the label backing and a couple of millimeters each side. If you don’t, then part of the label or it’s backing will rub against the printhead, gradually wearing a section of the printhead out. You’ll be left with a white stripe on all your labels.
2. Secondly, make sure the ribbons will fit your printer. It’s no good buying ribbons which come on rolls bigger than your printer can fit. We’ve been doing this for 20 years so we know what to check. Phone us on 01359 271 111 or email info@labelproducts.co.uk.
3. Test. Get sample ribbons (we can help you with samples) and print them through your printer. Try scratching off the print. If you’re using them with chemicals, try rubbing the text off with the chemicals. Try adjusting the printer darkness setting. Set it as low as possible to get an acceptable temperature. As a rule of thumb, wax ribbons can be printed at the lowest temperature or darkness setting, whilst a pure resin ribbon needs a high temperature or darkness setting.
Alternatively – send your label samples for us to test for you.
If you order labels then you need to make sure the ribbons you buy will look fantastic, not scratch or rub off and will keep your printhead cool.
Nicelabel
