More Important: Label Paper or Printer?

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.

ChiN8

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
135
Reaction score
0
Location
North Carolina
Question;
I have a logo and label designed on my computer using photoshop. I have multiple versions to use pending on the venue I am using for A) Printing and B) Label Types (size/quality).

I have a fairly nice Canon ip4500 photo printer and was wondering if there is a type of label paper (Avery or something) that would be good enough to allow my printer to print high-quality labels for my beer? I do not want just cheap stickers plastered on my beer but was hoping there is a professional semi-gloss or something label paper.

Or do I need to go to a source like MyOwnLabels.com and just get them professionally printed?
 
There are a lot of factors involved. I worked at a label printer until a few months ago, so I hope I can help.

Any quality printed piece starts with design. Ideally you would only work in Photoshop to edit any raster images (photos). Any other design aspect, like text etc would be done in a drawing program like Illustrator. Any raster (photo) images would be placed into Illustrator after they are color corrected, cropped and resized.

Any raster image should be 300 ppi. You can go lower, but I really wouldn't use any image below 200 ppi.

Your printer seems pretty capable. If you can print on glossy photo paper, I'm sure it can handle a semigloss pressure sensitive stock. I've not delved into printing labels at home, so I'm not too sure of the stock available in a sheeted printer ready format.

The stuff from a place like MyOwnLabels is honestly going to be a lot better than anything you can do at home. Not saying that you can't make a good product at home. They are using a production press capable of short runs (probably an Indigo). These presses are toner based and can produce some very high quality work. IMO, inkjet technology is just not up to par with really competing in the label business yet. I worked with a production roll to roll inkjet press for a year. There were a lot of quality issues. Another problem you will run into is that the ink from your printer won't be water proof. Might not be a huge issue, but any condensation or dampness will cause the ink to run.

I'd probably start with trying it yourself. Worst case scenario, you are out the cost of a pack of stock and a little bit of time.
 
just buy some avery to experiment with before investing all the money into the labels. They turn on very nice.
 
There are a lot of factors involved. I worked at a label printer until a few months ago, so I hope I can help.

Any quality printed piece starts with design. Ideally you would only work in Photoshop to edit any raster images (photos). Any other design aspect, like text etc would be done in a drawing program like Illustrator. Any raster (photo) images would be placed into Illustrator after they are color corrected, cropped and resized.

Any raster image should be 300 ppi. You can go lower, but I really wouldn't use any image below 200 ppi.

Your printer seems pretty capable. If you can print on glossy photo paper, I'm sure it can handle a semigloss pressure sensitive stock. I've not delved into printing labels at home, so I'm not too sure of the stock available in a sheeted printer ready format.

The stuff from a place like MyOwnLabels is honestly going to be a lot better than anything you can do at home. Not saying that you can't make a good product at home. They are using a production press capable of short runs (probably an Indigo). These presses are toner based and can produce some very high quality work. IMO, inkjet technology is just not up to par with really competing in the label business yet. I worked with a production roll to roll inkjet press for a year. There were a lot of quality issues. Another problem you will run into is that the ink from your printer won't be water proof. Might not be a huge issue, but any condensation or dampness will cause the ink to run.

I'd probably start with trying it yourself. Worst case scenario, you are out the cost of a pack of stock and a little bit of time.

You bring up a good point about Inkjet ink not being water resistant. I guess no matter how expensive the paper is that isn't going to change the ink's ability to repeal water. Which is what I wanted!

I have a logo that I made that is generic that I will use for all beers for I have a blank box to write what I brewed for that batch. I just hate spending 1.00 per label at MyOwnLabels.com
 
I vote printer.

Inkjet labels look great till they come out of the fridge, get soaked with condensation, and bleed all over your hands.

I've settled on using my inkjet to print one photo quality master, then take the master to Kinkos and run off copies on their regular color copier paper. Then slice them up and stick them on bottles with milk.
 
do they make paper sized sheets of adhesive-backed vinyl? you'd have to laminate them, for the colorfast characteristic that you want.

what about a local printer or sign-making shop?
 
Print the labels, stick them on and spray polyurthene over them and they wont run. Takes about 3 washes for them to wash off also.
 
Most workplaces have color laser printers, which won't run (I plan on using one for mine). Any chance you have access to one of these babies?
 
I vote for the printer as well. If you don't have a color laser printer you can get your labels printed at the UPS store or a Fedex Kinkos for a fairly reasonable price. I had 8 sheets of 6 labels printed in high glossy photo paper at my local UPS store for around $8.00. I simply coated the label with milk, placed them on the bottle and let them dry. These labels come off much easier than any commercial beer labels or the labels from My Own Labels.
 
Good idea on the laser, didn't think about that.

Another thing I just thought of. In the label printing industry, there are a myriad of different adhesives for pressure sensitive labels. One I worked quite a bit with was basically called "removable" or "ultra removable". It sticks well to any non porous surface, and even paper, kind of like the adhesive on sticky notes, except a little stronger. I used stock with UR adhesive printed on a UV inkjet press with great success.

The only drawback I can see is that you might have a hard time finding sheeted versions of the stock.
 
I second the color laser printer on regular paper. I make various sizes for different bottles, cut them out & glue stick them on!
don't print on photo/glossy paper, I would bet it would end up too thick.
Also....there are special sprays at art stores use to prevent smearing, etc...on paper. That might be on option if you decide to use ink-jet.
 
When I worked at Best Buy, we used to keep a picture printed off an Epson R300 printer in a bottle of water. That ink, once dry, doesnt run. Is another option for printing on regular office paper and slappin on a bottle. I may try.

My marketing guy at my company told me if I bring him labels and a design he'll run them through our nice toner printer, so I may give those a shot as well

:confused:
 
I think your home inkjet printer will give you all the quality you need. Most commercial inkjet machines compromise quality for speed, but your home printer can print a fantastic picture...it just takes 5 minutes which you probably have. You can buy weather proof stock which is made of polyester; I've never used this label stock in an inkjet but I would have to imagine it won't run since it's specifially designed to be weather proof.

It's probably worth a shot since your first inclination is to do it yourself.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top