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Labels

Labels

Chocolate Salted Caramel Port

We come across some phenomenal custom labels during our travels. They celebrate a special event, a cherished memory, or sometimes, just a fantastic bottle of wine. But whatever they’re sharing, sometimes it’s difficult to get it “just right”. We’d like to spend a little time reviewing our process and share a couple of new ideas for creating labels.

We traditionally print labels that use Avery labels templates:

    • 5164 – 3×2 (4″ x 3 1/3″) format (6 per sheet)
    • 5163 – 5×2 (2″ x 4″) format (10 per sheet)

We print on two types of label. The first type are removable self-adhesive labels, they’re quick and easy to apply. The second type is parchment type paper, which requires use of glue sticks to attach them to the bottles, but they produce great looking labels!

Nebbiolo

Designing labels (new options!)
    1. We have traditionally used Avery label software to design the labels we produce. You can get it for free at their download site. You can also use the Avery online site, located here. (Note: The online site appears to require the use of Adobe Flash.)
    2. We have recently discovered that you can print Avery labels via templates available in Microsoft Publisher as well. We have had very good luck with them and, in fact, sometimes find the editing tools in Publisher to easier to use than the Avery software. (ex: It’s MUCH easier to create an oval image in Publisher!) Notes on how to find Avery templates in Publisher can be found here.
    3. Maybe saving the best for last, we’re really loving Canva. An online web service, it produces images, posters, labels, infographics, you name it, for free! Simply create a free account (there ARE options to upgrade if you desire), and begin to play! There are HUNDREDS of designs to start from and you can edit to your heart’s content! (Note: Make sure to explore all of the options: Posters, Presentations, More…, there are different options associated within each type.) Wine OnWhat’s really cool is that you can tweak to your hearts content. Start with a template that Canva supplies and tweak the colors, size, fonts, whatever! Alternatively, start from scratch and create your own design. Upload an image (or three!) and add some text and/or borders and VIOLA! You are an artist! Be sure to download your creation as an IMAGE file when you’re done. (PNG is our first choice, it’ll resize better.) The PDF option won’t work for us (see below).
FINALLY

: No matter which tool you use to create your labels, what works best for us is if you bring your image in as a graphic file (although we can deal with the Avery files too). PNG’s work GREAT, JPG’s and GIF’s work as well. What doesn’t work great for us is .DOC, .DOCX and/or .PDF files. Unless the file is the exact size of the label, .DOC and .PDF files won’t resize like you’d like them to.

By the way: All of the labels in this post were created with our new favorite: Canva!