How-to guides
Every guide is the same shape: what you are making, the steps in the order you would do them, and the one thing people get wrong.
Using LabelVault
One job each — the things people search for when they are stuck.
Label design basics: making one that actually works
Most labels that fail do it for the same few reasons: no margin, nothing bigger than anything else, a crowded barcode. Here is how to build a part label that reads well and scans first time.
How to put a table on a label
When a label carries paired information — part and number, lot and date, quantity — a table keeps it lined up whatever the values are. Rows, columns, widths, borders and cell shading.
How to make barcodes that actually scan
Picking the right barcode type, what each one can encode, why snapping bars to printer dots matters, and the two mistakes that cause most failed scans.
How to print on a thermal roll printer
Choosing the printer, telling the driver the paper size, the test print, and nudging the print until it sits inside the label edges.
How to print on Avery sheets
Pick the Avery product number, print a test page on plain paper, and start part way down a sheet you have already used.
Auto date, part numbers and text that fits
A date that prints itself, a date that never changes, auto-fit versus wrap, and white-on-black for the one word that has to be seen.
How to share labels between two PCs
Point LabelVault at a folder everyone can reach — a shared drive or a Dropbox folder — and every machine opens the same labels.
Label sizes, presets and Page setup
The four kinds of size, searching the catalogue, changing a label's size after you have built it, and rolling your own with Custom.
How to put a logo on a label
Adding a PNG or JPEG, what a thermal printer does to it, why you size down and never up, and the fact that the image travels inside the label file.
How to line things up on a label
Snap and the pink guides, selecting several items, the Arrange menu, stacking order and locking, and nudging with the arrow keys.
The free trial and your license key
Designing is free. Printing needs the 30-day trial or a key — here is how to get one, what to do if the email does not arrive, and how the key works across your PCs.
How to move your license to a new PC
A key covers a number of computers, one seat each. Moving to a new machine is about handing the old seat back — including when the old PC has already gone.
Updates, your update window and renewing
The licence is yours forever. What has a date on it is updates — a year from when you bought. Here is what happens after that year.
Make this kind of label
Start to finish, on the size of stock the job normally uses.
a shipping and address label
A 4" × 6" shipping label: the address block a driver can read at arm's length, a small return address, and a barcode of the order number.
a carton and case label
A 6" × 4" case label: company name and rule, a detail table that stays lined up, and both a barcode and a QR code.
a pallet label
A 4" × 6" pallet label has one job: be readable from across a warehouse. One enormous number, small supporting detail, a tall barcode, and two copies.
bin, shelf and location labels
A 3" × 1" location label with the code big and a matching barcode — then the whole stockroom in one go from a spreadsheet.
asset tags for equipment and IT
A 2" × 1" asset tag: an ownership line, the asset number big with a matching barcode, and a whole office tagged from one spreadsheet.
cable and panel labels
A wrap-around cable label with the text printed twice, why short text wins, and the same idea a size up for a breaker panel.
a QC release label
A 2" × 1" QC label: the status word big and inverted, a date that prints itself, and room for initials in pen.
a calibration or service-due label
Two dates: when it was done, which prints itself, and when it is due, which is the one that gets the size.
hold, quarantine and reject tags
One word, as big as the label allows, white on black — then the reason, the name and the date, and a matching set made by duplicating the first.
food prep and use-by labels
A 2" × 1" kitchen label where the prep date prints itself and the use-by date is the same field with "+ days" set to your shelf life.
jar and bottle labels for a small food business
A 2" × 2" product label: name, variety, a solid-black logo and the small print — then a look at it real size, because the label curves away on a jar.
price tags and shelf-edge labels
A 1.5" × 1" price tag with a UPC-A barcode, and the same information in a 3" × 1" shelf strip.
file folder, binder and archive box labels
Avery sheets by product number, a folder tab that reads side-on, a binder spine turned 90°, and an archive box label that saves an argument in five years.
name badges and visitor passes
Avery badge sheets: the first name biggest, a solid header bar for a site pass, and an auto date so an old badge is obvious.
specimen and sample labels
A small label carrying an ID, a date and a barcode — with Data Matrix for tiny tubes and a whole worklist merged from a CSV.
chemical container and safety labels
A secondary-container label: the contents in full, warning wording white on black, a pictogram added as an image, and a date with an owner.
home, pantry and craft labels
Pantry jars, school name labels by the sheet, a small product label with a QR code to your shop, and freezer labels.
plant and seed tags
A 2" × 1" garden tag: the plant name and variety, a sown date that stamps itself, and a QR code to the care notes.