Label making: free tools, apps or a print service?

There are three ways to make labels for a small business: design and print them yourself with a free tool, use an app that fills the sheets for you, or order them from a print service. Most sellers start with a free tool, move to an app once they print several designs every week, and use a print service for large runs of one design.

Option	Good for	Cost
Free tools: Word, Canva, Avery Design & Print	A few sheets of the same label	Free
A sheet-filling app, such as MagLab	Many designs, mixed sheets, printing every week	Subscription
Cutting machine software: Cricut Design Space, Silhouette Studio	Cutting shaped labels on your machine	Free, with paid upgrades
A print service	Hundreds of one design, or materials a home printer can’t do	Per order

When is a free tool enough?

Free tools are enough while you print a few sheets of the same label. Word has most Avery layouts built in, and its mail merge turns a spreadsheet of addresses into address labels. Avery’s Design & Print and Canva’s free plan cover simple product labels.

They get slow when:

• You have many designs. You place and copy each one on the sheet yourself.
• You need different quantities of each. You work out how many of each fit, and on which sheet.
• Your labels are shaped. A template of boxes leaves gaps round circles, hearts and die-cut shapes, so you print more sheets than you need.

When does a label-making app help?

An app helps when you print mixed sheets often. MagLab fills label, sticker, badge and magnet sheets in one click: add your designs, say how many of each, and it fills as many sheets as it needs. The common label sheets are built in, and a spreadsheet of addresses fills address labels. Shaped stickers are packed by their outlines, not boxes, so more fit on each sheet.

MagLab Standard is £9.99 a month or £79.99 a year, with a free 7-day trial.

MagLab doesn’t cut. It prints Silhouette registration marks, so a Silhouette can cut the sheet, and for a Cricut it saves each sticker as a PNG to upload to Design Space. Pre-cut label sheets need no cutting, and rectangles and circles can be cut with a trimmer or a punch.

Do you need Cricut Design Space or Silhouette Studio?

Only if you cut shaped labels with that machine. Each one is the design and cutting software for its own machine, including print then cut. You can lay out your sheets in them directly, or fill the sheet in MagLab and send it to the cutter. Cricut Print Then Cut with your own image and How to print labels cover both.

When should you use a print service?

Use a print service when:

• You need hundreds or thousands of the same label. The price per label drops as the quantity goes up.
• You need a material or finish a home printer can’t do, such as white ink on clear labels, metallic foil, or labels on a roll for a labelling machine.
• Your time costs more than the printer’s price per label.

Print at home when you need short runs, many designs, personalised labels, or labels the same day, or when your designs change often.

What files does a print service want?

• A PDF at the finished size, with 3mm of bleed on every side and text kept 3mm inside the trim line.
• Images at 300 pixels per inch at the printed size.
• Fonts embedded, or converted to outlines.
• A cut line for shaped labels, usually as a separate spot colour the printer names, such as CutContour. MagLab can export CutContour PDFs.

In Canva, choose Share → Download → PDF Print and tick Crop marks and bleed. Check the printer’s own file guide before you order.

Which option suits each kind of label?

Product labels and stickers

Use a free tool for one or two designs, an app for mixed sheets of many designs, and a print service for large runs of one design or special materials.

Shipping labels

If you buy postage through Etsy, Shopify, Royal Mail Click & Drop or a courier, they give you a ready-made label to print on a thermal label printer or on paper. You don’t need a label app. For address labels on sheets, see Print Etsy and Shopify addresses on Avery labels.

Legal labels: cosmetics, candles and food

No label tool checks your wording. Cosmetics, scented candles and food each have rules on what the label must say:

• Food: GOV.UK’s food labelling and packaging rules.
• Cosmetics: GOV.UK’s guide to selling cosmetic products in Great Britain.
• Scented candles and wax melts: fragrance oils can mean the label needs hazard warnings under the CLP rules. Your fragrance supplier’s safety data sheet says what’s needed.

If you’re not sure, ask your local Trading Standards. Print the required text large enough to read, on a material that won’t smudge or peel.

Can you add barcodes and QR codes?

Yes. Avery Design & Print can add barcodes and QR codes, and any QR code or barcode generator gives you an image to add to a label in any tool. Print one and scan it with your phone before printing a batch. Barcodes for selling in shops (EAN or UPC) need numbers registered with GS1.

Can label printing be automated?

Yes. MagLab Pro picks up each new order from Shopify, an order feed from your own website, a hot folder or its local API, fills the sheets and prints them, on a computer or a Raspberry Pi. For Etsy, save Etsy’s order spreadsheet (CSV) into a hot folder, and it prints one label per order. Pro is £24.99 a month or £199.99 a year.