Need Help With Label Stock

TheSmithsEra · Oct 16, 2013

Hello friends

I am currently seeking advice on what kind of label stock would work best for use on standard homebrew bottles. I have never made a label before and am unaware of what type of stock to use.

I do have access to a NEXPRESS so I will be using that to print the labels

Any suggestions

wilserbrewer · Oct 16, 2013

I printed some yesterday with regular office copy paper on a lazer printer...used this free site here....
http://www.beerlabelizer.com/

Stuck them on the bottles with a little milk and they look great and stuck well!

TheSmithsEra · Oct 16, 2013

wilserbrewer said:
I printed some yesterday with regular office copy paper on a lazer printer...used this free site here....
http://www.beerlabelizer.com/

Stuck them on the bottles with a little milk and they look great and stuck well!

Much appreciated!!!

I want to use the NEXPRESS because the quality will be better than a lazer printer. I work for a trade printer and have been giving permission to use that beautiful press :ban:

TheSmithsEra · Oct 18, 2013

Ok how about best inkjet labels?

feinbera · Oct 18, 2013

+1 plain old copy paper.

The biggest problem is that, laid out flat and not wrapped around a bottle, beer labels are bigger than you think. I can only fit four longneck labels on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, or two bomber labels; if I try and squeeze them down any further, they just look sad and half-assed next to commercial bottles.

At that point, you're looking at a significant cost in the big old four-to-a-page inkjet labels, if you can even find 'em, and because they're pre-cut, you can't tailor the size to fit your bottles and design exactly the way you want.

An extra-wide gluestick also works well for sticking copy paper labels on. It's marginally harder to get off than milk, but it's a lot less messy to put on, and if you're anything like me, you're constantly bringing commercial bottles into your bottling operation to replace homebrews given to friends or brought to parties or whatever; the hot oxyclean bath you're using to de-label those commercial bottles will make short work of that gluestick glue.

TheSmithsEra · Oct 18, 2013

feinbera said:
+1 plain old copy paper.

The biggest problem is that, laid out flat and not wrapped around a bottle, beer labels are bigger than you think. I can only fit four longneck labels on an 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper, or two bomber labels; if I try and squeeze them down any further, they just look sad and half-assed next to commercial bottles.

At that point, you're looking at a significant cost in the big old four-to-a-page inkjet labels, if you can even find 'em, and because they're pre-cut, you can't tailor the size to fit your bottles and design exactly the way you want.

An extra-wide gluestick also works well for sticking copy paper labels on. It's marginally harder to get off than milk, but it's a lot less messy to put on, and if you're anything like me, you're constantly bringing commercial bottles into your bottling operation to replace homebrews given to friends or brought to parties or whatever; the hot oxyclean bath you're using to de-label those commercial bottles will make short work of that gluestick glue.

ok, I will definitely try that route, but right now I can literally just place an order and get the label run on an 11x17 or 12x18 on multiple ups because we have an impose, design and production team that will get this all cut for me. So that aspect I can get handled. Since i'll be using the NEXPRESS then its all a matter of a good inkjet stock that wont bleed through.

Before I place that order though I was suggested to look around and see if I could find a label stock that would better work.

So now i'm thinking that if copy paper with glue wont bleed through then the house label stock we have might just work fine...

and i'd like to thank you for posting

wilserbrewer · Oct 19, 2013

From what little I read on the subject...inkjet will bleed if it gets wet....laser jet will not...YMMV

TheSmithsEra · Oct 21, 2013

wilserbrewer said:
From what little I read on the subject...inkjet will bleed if it gets wet....laser jet will not...YMMV

Ok cool, i'm going to just do a bunch of experiments, materials will cost about 10 bucks each so its not a big deal i guess.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions

TheSmithsEra · Oct 23, 2013

Well, in case anyone stumbles upon this thread what I am going to end up doing is printing the label on a 24" x 24" vinyl label stock as multiple ups. It should yield 28 3x4 labels

MicheleE63 · Nov 8, 2013

TheSmithsEra said:
Well, in case anyone stumbles upon this thread what I am going to end up doing is printing the label on a 24" x 24" vinyl label stock as multiple ups. It should yield 28 3x4 labels

I use "Name Tag" labels from OfficeMax. They take color well and come off nicely too. They are not really waterproof though, so they aren't good for bottles on ice.

Need Help With Label Stock

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