What programs do you use to create labels ?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JimiSlew

New Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Location
Doylestown PA
Greetings all and Happy Holidays !!

I was wondering what everyone uses to create their labels. Currently my brewing partner and I are trying to use Google docs to create labels so we could edit them at the same time but are not having to much success doing so.

Does anyone have a Google doc template they are willing to share or is there an even easier way to create labels that we are totally looking over?

Thanks again for the help, you guys are the best !
 
I haven't made many beer labels but I do all my graphic design work in Adobe Illustrator and for some minor things Photoshop
 
Free open source programs are Inkscape, and Gimp, they can do alot of what Photoshop and Illustrator can do, but there is definitely a learning curve to using them.

I think Photoshop and Illustrator are better, but I dabble in graphic arts, I'm not a graphic artist by any means, so to drop the coin on Adobe's programs isn't financially justifiable to me.

But the two freebies I mentioned are really great programs.

Just google them and download...easy peasy.
 
Used to use Excel with very good results...you can actually do a lot of cut/past, WordArt, etc.

SHMBO bought me Photoshop Elements for Christmas a few years back...you can do ANYTHING with it but take some getting used to like anything else...about $60 or so.

Cheers and Merry Christmas!
 
When I have time to make labels I use illustrator, although I'm using photoshop for one that I want to have a more painted feel. Then again, I'm a Graphic Design student so I already have the tools and skills at my fingertips.
 
You are going to be much happier with the results from a drawing program like Illustrator, or its free "equivalent" inkscape. There aren't any tools in Google Docs that will come close to giving you what you want to do. Plus, if you want to get your labels professionally printed down the line, you will have a good file for them to work with. I used to work at a lablel printer. Nothing more frustrating than getting in low resolution Microsoft Word files, or even worse Excel files to print.
 
You are going to be much happier with the results from a drawing program like Illustrator, or its free "equivalent" inkscape. There aren't any tools in Google Docs that will come close to giving you what you want to do. Plus, if you want to get your labels professionally printed down the line, you will have a good file for them to work with. I used to work at a lablel printer. Nothing more frustrating than getting in low resolution Microsoft Word files, or even worse Excel files to print.

Tried doing a few text only ones in Word, and didn't like them. Downloaded inkscape and it let's you do much more and it's not so difficult to learn. Pretty easy to flip/rotate words and pics, nice textures to spruce up pics and so on. Tried Gimp and didn't feel like putting the time in to learn how to use it just yet, maybe down the line if I want to improve on my present labels.
 
For most label stuff, you will be able to do a lot in vector based programs like Inkscape or Illustrator. Gimp and Photoshop are only useful if you want to edit (ie color correct, add effects etc) to a raster type picture. If you don't need to do any of that stuff, vector based drawing programs allow you to place artwork like pictures. You also have a lot more control over colors inside and around objects you create in the program. Adding drop shadows, text effects, and easy resizing are other advantages of working in Vector based programs.

I don't know if Inkscape has this feature, but a neat thing Illustrator has is the "copy and move". This allows you to make a copy of the label you have made and move it a set distance up, down, left or right. If you know the measurements of say the Avery label sheets, you can step your labels out the correct distance so it will print out "multiple up" on one sheet.
 
I personally have started using GIMP. It is a lot like photoshop. It is a little complicated to understand, but I have been watching a lot of youtube videos on how to do certain things, and it has helped a lot.

Whatever you decide to use, make sure you are happy with the final result. After all,.. it's your beer.


Cheers!
 
I was thinking of starting with a label created using that site I posted and then GIMPing it up a bit, I got a cool picture I want to try to blend in...
 
Back
Top