Custom Labels Large or Small

When would I need a small or large custom label?
by Timmy Thermal

All custom labels are created equally, but not all custom labels are designed the same. Custom labels can be made to fit your company’s unique needs and one thing that you may have not considered yet is the size of your labels. Barcodes can come in all heights and widths, and today we’re going to talk about why size matters for your business. You can jump straight to our custom label page to see for yourself, or keep reading for why size matters.

Very large labels are an excellent option for when distance is an issue. I’ve already covered retroreflective labels in a previous blog, and they can be used in junction with large labels so that you can scan from very large distances with great accuracy.

Just thinking about a billboard, it’s a huge picture on a board but from the street it looks appropriately sized, with legible words. The reason it’s readable from such a far distance is because it is literally gigantic. Large barcodes work in the same manner of being legible from a distance. Retroreflection comes into play when you want to extend the distance of scanning because of laser wavelengths, but size is also a factor so that it is legible.

Large labels can be used in large warehouse settings. If you want to verify an item before picking it up, or take inventory from the floor that’s high up, perhaps on a top shelf, sky’s the limit for how large you want them. They are often times laminated or put in some other protective coating to protect from dust and deterioration.

Small labels are a whole different ball game. With large labels you can print them out on a normal laser printer with no problem, but with small custom labels you’re going to have to make sure your printer can print at a high enough resolution. They can be used for small applications like chemistry vials, surgical instruments, or other tiny but important items.

At a regular resolution you can print a barcode about as small as half an inch, but if you’re trying to print one even smaller than that you’ll have to tweak your settings. One cool thing is that you may actually be able to print these tiny labels yourself. First you’ll need to make sure you can print at high density, which is required. Once you have that figured out you will have to change your printer setting from code 39 to 128. Then use a resolution from 300 to 600 dpi.

Make sure you test your printer before you try to print these tiny labels, because if your printer can’t handle it, you’ll have wasted resources. If you find that you can’t print them as small as you’d like, you may have to order custom labels, which is always an option for specialty needs, but it’s worth a shot, so test out your printer’s resolution capabilities!

Small label or large label, there’s always something available from Midcomdata.com. If you want to stay in touch, call MIDCOM at (800) 643-2664 or chat us up on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn! Help maintain your thermal label printers that print your custom labels with our FREE ebook download it now!