Knowledge base
Background on the decisions behind a label order: which material survives your product, which format suits your quantity, and what in the artwork causes reprints. Written for buyers, not for printers.
Label sizing and dimensions
How to measure a container, choose a size, and calculate a wrap.
Label size guide: how to measure and choose
How to measure a container, pick a label size from typical dimensions, and calculate a wrap — with a table of sizes for bottles, jars, tins and tubes.
Read →Label sizes for bottles, by volume
Typical label dimensions for 50 ml to 1 litre bottles, how much of the body to cover, and why two bottles of the same volume need different labels.
Read →Label sizes for jars, by fill weight
Label dimensions for 4 oz to 32 oz jars: jam, candle, cosmetic and candle-tin sizes, plus lid labels and why the jar shoulder changes the answer.
Read →Label sizes for tins, tubes and pouches
Dimensions for candle tins, cosmetic tubes, lip balm and stand-up pouches, including full-wrap arithmetic for tins and the seal zone to avoid on a pouch.
Read →How to calculate a wrap label size
The arithmetic behind a wrap label: circumference, overlap versus seam gap, tapered containers, pattern repeats and the errors that cause misfits.
Read →Standard label sizes in inches
The inch sizes buyers ask for by name — 2x2, 2.5x3, 3x4, 4x6 — what each is used for, their metric equivalents, and when a custom size costs more.
Read →Cost and ordering
What drives a label price, what the setup covers, and how many to order.
Custom label printing cost: how the price is built
The four cost blocks behind a label quote, why setup dominates at 50 units, a worked example, and how to compare two quotes that look different.
Read →What actually affects custom label pricing
Five variables that move a label price — area, material, finishing, quantity and cutting — and how each one changes the unit cost at 50 versus 5,000 units.
Read →What MOQ actually means in label printing
Why minimum order quantities exist, what 50 units really covers, and how setup cost rather than material sets the floor for a first print run.
Read →Samples and proofs: what to approve before a print run
Digital proof, physical sample and press proof compared: what each one can and cannot show, and which one to insist on for a first print order.
Read →Production lead time: what actually takes the time
Where the days go between approval and delivery — artwork check, proofing, print, finishing, packing — and how to compress a schedule honestly.
Read →Label cost per unit, and why it falls with quantity
How to work out a true per-unit label cost, why price per 1,000 misleads below 5,000 units, and the two levers that cut unit price without ordering more.
Read →What a label setup charge covers
The four things inside a setup fee — file preparation, die, proof, make-ready — what each costs in time, and how to avoid paying for the same setup twice.
Read →How many labels should I order?
A quantity formula based on production runs, spoilage and design risk — plus adhesive shelf life, storage conditions and the real cost of running out.
Read →Marketplace and retail labels
FNSKU, suffocation warnings, barcodes and what retail actually requires.
Marketplace label requirements: FBA, retail and DTC
The three labels in a marketplace shipment, what Amazon actually requires, where retail rules differ, and the rejections that happen at the dock.
Read →FNSKU labels: specification and scan failures
What an FNSKU is, how it differs from a UPC, where to place the label on a unit, and the six reasons an FNSKU fails to scan at the fulfilment centre.
Read →Suffocation warning labels for poly bags
The 5 inch threshold, the standard wording, where the warning has to sit, and why a bag bought ready-made often fails inspection without one.
Read →Barcode label printing: quiet zones, grades and failures
How UPC, EAN and Code 128 symbols fail: quiet zones, magnification, ISO/IEC 15416 grading, and why a barcode that scans on a phone can fail at the till.
Read →Retail packaging labels: what has to be on them
The mandatory text on a retail label in the US and EU — identity, net quantity, address, origin and allergens — and what it does to label size.
Read →Label materials and adhesives
Paper, PP, PET, adhesive and the conditions each one survives.
Paper vs PP vs PET labels: which material for which product
The three label materials that cover most products, what each survives, and the storage conditions where the cheap choice becomes the expensive one.
Read →Permanent vs removable label adhesive
How adhesives behave on glass, plastic and painted surfaces, when removable is genuinely removable, and why glue fails before the material does.
Read →Waterproof label materials: what survives water
Water-resistant, waterproof and immersion-grade are three different things: which films and adhesives survive condensation, soaking and freezing.
Read →Label adhesive by surface: glass, plastic and metal
The same adhesive behaves differently on glass, HDPE, PET and painted metal. How to match glue to substrate, and why labels slide on recycled plastic.
Read →Clear label materials: the white ink decision
Why clear labels need a white ink layer, how spot white differs from a flood coat, and which containers make transparent film look intentional.
Read →How long do labels last? Material by environment
Expected label life by material and condition: indoor retail, chilled, frozen, bathroom, outdoor. What shortens it and how to test before a production run.
Read →Sticker materials and cutting
Vinyl versus paper, die cut versus kiss cut, and what a finish actually does.
Vinyl vs paper stickers: which one to use
Vinyl is waterproof and tough; paper is cheaper and prints beautifully. Where each belongs, and the three questions that decide it in ten seconds.
Read →Die cut vs kiss cut: what changes, and the cost
Die cutting separates each sticker; kiss cutting leaves it on the sheet. How each is produced, when a die pays for itself, and the artwork each needs.
Read →Gloss vs matte: choosing a sticker and label finish
What gloss, matte and soft-touch finishes do to colour, durability and fingerprints — and which one survives a bathroom, a freezer or a shop window.
Read →Sticker adhesive guide: permanent, removable and outdoor
Which sticker adhesive for glass, laptops, packaging and painted walls — and why removable stickers leave residue on some surfaces but not others.
Read →Sticker thickness and durability: what 0.1 mm changes
How face stock thickness affects feel, conformability and tear resistance — and why a thicker sticker is not automatically the better choice.
Read →Printing and production
Digital versus flexo, how a roll is made, and where the crossover sits.
Digital vs flexo: why a 50-unit label order is possible
How digital and flexographic label printing differ in setup cost, run length and colour — and why a 50-unit order is only possible on digital.
Read →How roll labels are made: the five spec details
From printed web to wound roll: die cutting, waste stripping and rewinding, plus the five roll parameters an applicator needs to run the job.
Read →Foil stamping and embossing on labels and stickers
How metallic foil and raised embossing work on labels: the die, the material constraints, and the quantities at which each becomes economic.
Read →Spot UV and special finishes: what they add and cost
Spot UV, soft-touch, textured laminate and varnish: how each changes a label's surface, where they fail, and how to specify them without overpaying.
Read →Print colour consistency: why run two never matches run one
What causes colour variation between label runs, how much is normal, and when to specify a spot colour, a proof or a retained reference sample.
Read →Artwork preparation
Colour, bleed, safe area and the files that print without surprises.
CMYK vs RGB for print: why colour shifts
How screens and ink reproduce colour differently, which brand colours shift, and when a spot colour or a physical proof is the only way to match.
Read →Bleed and safe area for label artwork
Why labels need 3 mm bleed, why text needs a safe margin, and what happens to a design on a curved bottle where the geometry is less forgiving.
Read →Artwork file formats: what printers can actually use
AI, EPS, PDF, SVG, PNG and JPG compared for label printing — which preserve vectors, which flatten, and what to send when you only have a logo image.
Read →Print resolution: why 300 dpi is the number
What dpi actually measures, why a 72 dpi web image cannot be scaled to a label, and how to check resolution at final print size before sending files.
Read →Dielines: how to prepare a cut path that works
What a dieline is, why the cut path must be separate closed vector geometry, and the four mistakes that make a die unusable before it is cut.
Read →Have a specification you are unsure about?
Send the product, the container and the storage condition. We will tell you which material and format actually fit — before you order.