Best programs to make or places to order custom labels

Hey everyone!
I'm new to the forums, and haven't even yet ordered my kit to dive into the home brewing/ wine making world. I'm trying to get all the information I can before I order in a week. This place has been a gold mine! My only question at the moment is the best way to make my own labels for wine or where you all have found is the best place to order custom? Thanks in advance for the help, and an even bigger thanks for all the information already available!

http://bayfieldlabels.com/

Go to this website and download the free software. Design your labels and order them. About $.60/label
They are based in Canada and I have them do ALL my labels.

cwebb said:

http://bayfieldlabels.com/

Go to this website and download the free software. Design your labels and order them. About $.60/label
They are based in Canada and I have them do ALL my labels.

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Thanks, ill check it out!

Does anyone else have some suggestions? If you make your own labels at home, what program do you use on your computer, and what style/size labels do you print on?

I use MS Publisher. I googled the size for wine label and set that up in a custom format, four per page, just a front label. When using self adhesive, I use an Avery label. I take my thumb drive to OfficeMax, tell them what I want, they tweak some things so it converts to their system, then I hand them my already paid for labels and they print in a matter of minutes. You can also place order online and stop and pick it up though I prefer to be there because they show you the printed sample to make sure all is well. More cost effective than using home printer. Now I will simply print to plain paper stock, OfficeMax cuts the paper into quadrants for me and I use milk glue. But, for the most part I just use an old-fashioned envelope mailing label which has my logo on left side and I hand write my info on the blank part of small label--took advantage of Vistaprint.

saramc said:

I use MS Publisher. I googled the size for wine label and set that up in a custom format, four per page, just a front label. When using self adhesive, I use an Avery label. I take my thumb drive to OfficeMax, tell them what I want, they tweak some things so it converts to their system, then I hand them my already paid for labels and they print in a matter of minutes. You can also place order online and stop and pick it up though I prefer to be there because they show you the printed sample to make sure all is well. More cost effective than using home printer. Now I will simply print to plain paper stock, OfficeMax cuts the paper into quadrants for me and I use milk glue. But, for the most part I just use an old-fashioned envelope mailing label which has my logo on left side and I hand write my info on the blank part of small label--took advantage of Vistaprint.

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Thank you for so much information! Office max would be ideal since it is right around the corner from me. Thanks again!

I am learning GIMP mainly for labels. It is a free graphics software (like photoshop without the price tag). It usually comes with Linux distros and has a version for Windoz. It is fairly complex, but will do super high end stuff. The cool thing is there are loads of vids on youtube that explain how to do different things.

ZAZusmc03 said:

Thank you for so much information! Office max would be ideal since it is right around the corner from me. Thanks again!

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Forgot, OfficeMax saved their configuration to my thumb drive, after asking consent. That way anytime I have a new label that uses the previously used format they have the specs already saved and it is a breeze. The first time they spent about 10 minutes making sure everything was aligned, let me adjust color to adapt to their printer.

Excellent tip on Office Max - I never thought of that. Gimp Rocks too - but as noted there is a steep learning curve.

I also tend to use Publisher for labels (when giving gifts). I create my labels 4 per page, sometimes rectangular - sometimes diamond shaped. I cut the labels on a paper cutter we have (we have a big handled chopper, but I use my wife's small scrap booking cutter). Once cut - I hit the back edges with a glue stick then make an 'X' and palm it on. I do this over clean pages of an old magazine as I seem to need to hang slightly over the edge to make a solid seal. I'm happy with the results. You can also purchase nice cotton bond paper for this method.

Still - Love the Office Max idea, too bad it's 90 minutes from my home

Jim

You can also try beerlabelizer.com. It is limited to the designs that you can use. You will have to pay $5 to get the rest. It's not the kind of program that you can get creative with, but I made some awesome labels for my new nephew this year. They turned out to be a hit. You can print labels at home on sticky paper, and you can also size the labels to your liking before you print them. I believe you can print wine bottle size also, not sure as I haven't used the program in a while. I only do labels for special occasions. Labels are a pain to do, I am not trying to be that guy so I will leave it at that. You can also try milk to stick labels to bottles as sticky paper is expensive.

I use the Avery.com site. Buy some Avery labels, do the design online and print at home on your color printer.

Jebmass said:

I use the Avery.com site. Buy some Avery labels, do the design online and print at home on your color printer.

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I have always had alignment issues when trying to use Avery (or any other pre-cut) labels. They end up not printing in the right place, and I end up wasting sheets of labels and printer ink.

As a result, I use whole-sheet labels now. Basically, it's a printer-paper sized label. You can make any shape and size you'd like, and cut it out by hand (I use an Xacto blade and a metal ruler). This is also how I made skull-shaped, starburst, and other non-standard-geometric labels. Mostly, I print out at home, because I'm avoiding other people literally like the plague. Some places (like Staples, Kinkos, etc.) will let you use their website, print out things for you, and mail them to you. Some will let you pick them up at their site, but then you have to actually see people.

For graphic design, I use an old (OLD) version of Photoshop that somehow ended up on a CD (remember those?) in my place. GIMP is pretty good, but like Photoshop, has a steep learning curve. I keep a logbook of all of my old labels, along with recipes, comments, and where the batch mostly went.