Custom Labels & Stickers

The three layers of a label

A label is three layers: a printed face, a layer of adhesive, and a backing liner that is thrown away.

The shape is cut through the face material and the adhesive but not through the liner, which is called kiss cutting. The waste around each shape is peeled away, leaving the labels sitting on the liner ready to be lifted off.

Labels come on rolls for machine or fast hand application, or on sheets for desktop and hand use. Shapes can be any outline the cutting die can follow.

• Face material, adhesive, release liner
• Kiss cut through the face, not the liner
• Roll or sheet, any die shape

Paper, recycled paper or film

The face material decides how the label feels, how it prints and how it copes with water, oil and handling.

Paper is the usual choice for dry products, boxes and tissue seals. It prints sharply, is easy to write on and costs the least. Recycled paper looks more natural, takes ink with a softer edge and may be slightly speckled.

Film is a plastic face material. It resists water, oil and tearing and flexes with a squeezable bottle, but it can be harder to write on and looks different from paper. Paper in a damp or oily place tends to wrinkle, stain or lift, so tell us where the label will live and we suggest the face material.

• Paper: sharp print, easy to write on, dry use
• Recycled paper: natural look, softer print
• Film: handles water, oil and flexing

Size, shape and the die line

A label has to fit the surface it goes on, including curves, corners and the space around it.

Measure the flat area available, not the whole pack, and leave a margin from edges, folds and seams. A label that crosses a crease or a join will lift there first, so tell us what the label goes on and we size it to the flat area.

Tight corners on a die shape are fragile, so a small radius on every corner helps the label stay down. On a bottle or jar, a label that goes round the curve must be shorter than the circumference, or its ends will overlap awkwardly.

Label or print on the pack?

Labels let one plain pack carry many variants, while print on the pack is neater when the design never changes.

A label lets the same unprinted box, jar or bag be used for several flavours, scents or seasons, and only the labels change. That keeps stock simple and suits short runs and products that are still evolving.

Print directly on the pack when the design is fixed and produced in volume. It removes the application step and the edge that can catch, and the print cannot peel off.

Matte, gloss and applying the label

The finish changes how a label reads and wears, and the way it is applied decides whether it stays on.

Gloss makes colour look stronger and wipes clean, but it shows fingerprints and glare. Matte reads softer, hides marks and is easier to write on, though it can look duller in dark colours.

The surface must be clean, dry and free of dust or oil. Press the label down firmly, because most adhesives build their grip over time. Permanent adhesive is meant to stay put, while removable adhesive holds more lightly and may lift on rough or dusty surfaces.

Label or printed sleeve?

A label is the pick for smooth, dry surfaces. A printed sleeve, or print on the pack itself, is the pick where adhesive struggles but each variant still needs its own look.

Labels struggle where the surface, the conditions or the use work against an adhesive bond. Heavily textured or powdery surfaces, tight curves and very cold or wet conditions all weaken the grip. Paper labels left outdoors or in the fridge tend to fail, so those uses call for film, for print directly on the pack or, on a box, for a sleeve that changes by variant with no adhesive at all.

A label also adds a layer that can complicate recycling, especially a film label on a paper box. If the pack is meant to be recycled or reused, a paper label on a paper box keeps it closer to one material.