How to make 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.
Steps
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Start a 1.5" × 1" label
New label → Roll / thermal → 1.5x1. The constraint here is space, so every millimetre counts.
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ID at the top, barcode below it
The sample ID bold and centred, with the same ID as a barcode underneath. Leave auto-fit on — IDs vary in length and you do not want the long ones clipped.
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Add a date that stamps itself
A text item with Auto date field pressed, plus a short description line. That is all that fits, and usually all that is needed, because the barcode links to the record that has everything else.
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Use Data Matrix on tiny tubes
Switch the barcode Type to Data Matrix — the little square one. It holds the same information in a fraction of the width.
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Merge a worklist
Put {Sample} in the text and the barcode, then point the Print window at the worklist as a CSV. Every row gets its own label with its own barcode, and nobody types an ID.
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Print black and white
For the sharpest bars. And buy labels rated for whatever your samples live in — a freezer or a solvent will take an ordinary label straight off.
Worth knowing
- Clinical and laboratory labelling is regulated and the rules depend on your setting. LabelVault prints what you design; it does not check it against any standard.