While it seems obvious that labels come in every size, shape, color, and a wide range of "paper stock" types.  It is easy to overlook the tiny labels that can be added for effect, or to add some bit of information. Very small round, square, and rectangular labels are available as a standard item, special or custom shapes are available as well.   A heart on the back on an envelope, or a starburst on a certificate or product, can add just the impact you are looking for.

Specific examples of tiny label usage include; a small round bottle top label with the size (i.e. 8 oz.), or a small brightly colored label on an envelope that indicates "order enclosed", or a "Made in the USA" label on the bottom of a hand-made product.  You might even find use for an opaque labels to cover information that has changed, and highlight the new information at the same time.

Check out the Tiny-Label Collection for our smallest standard labels.  One size is available as a standard personalized label (#829), but all of them can be made available as a custom printed label.  Most are available in 30 stock types, including 11 standard colors.  Custom printed labels can have custom colors as well as text.

As always if you would like to discuss options that might fill your needs, email us at support@label-headquarters.com with your questions.

In the "Custom Cut Label Shapes" post I discussed in fairly general terms some of the reasons and rational the extra expense involved in short-run custom shape labels.   I mentioned shapes that might fit your jar or other packaging, and labels cut in the shape of your logo.  I also mentioned shapes that just add flair to your invitation, product packaging, or other project.  It is this last application that I would like to focus on in this post.

In order to give you a good idea of what is involved, I'm going to step through the process with fairly broad strokes.   This is NOT intended to give you step by step instructions, rather it is to give you some insight in preparation for envisioning shape labels that might work for you.

The process starts with finding or creating a shape that works for you.  In this example I'm going to create the cupcake shaped labels mentioned in the previous post.  While you need to be sensitive to copyright issues, Google Image Search is a great place to start.  A quick search found a shape I liked ... on the pixabay.com website.  Since in this case I was only interested in the "shape", I wasn't concerned about the colors or any other aspect of the graphic.  IF you want to print the graphic on the labels, as we did with the waving flag design, then you will want to consider all aspects of the design.

The next step in the process is to reduce a version of the graphic to an outline or solid shape to use as a "cut-line".  This step is necessary even if you will not be printing the graphic on the cut label.   Following that step you should determine the content and layout on the label in an way to accentuates or compliments the shape of the label.  See below for graphics of the outline, and content placed on the label.   I have given the label a background color and outlined it with a black line so that it shows better on the page, but if you are going to place the label on something dark you might want to leave it white.  In either case the black line will not normally be printed on the actual label.

In this design the blank space is left in the middle of the label for the baker to write the name of the birthday boy or girl, and then place the label on the outside of the packaging of the cake or cupcakes.

The final optional step is to place a background image on the label.   For this illustration I chose to use a graphic that was not the source of the shape.  It is much easier if the shape is created from the graphic, however I wanted to illustrate that this is not always necessary.

Once again I used Google Image Search and was able to find a suitable graphic on the freepik.com website.  However, it was too narrow, so I changed it's shape as needed to fit.  Below to the left is the source graphic, and to the right is the edited version used as the background.

I hope you find this overview of the process involved in creating your own custom shape labels useful.   For more information, along with some pricing notes visit the Custom Cut Labels page.  If you think one of our "standard" sizes and shapes might fit your needs review our Label Comparison Chart for in-stock options, and our Blank Labels page.

As always if you would like to discuss options that might fit your specific your needs, email us at support@label-headquarters.com with your questions.

In spite of all the standard die cut labels labels available, sometimes you need something a little different. Whether it is to fit packaging, accent your logo, or just to make an impact, a custom shape is sometime just the right answer. Unfortunately die cut labels cost hundreds of dollars just to create the die, and that is before you have your first label made. Consequently, unless you need thousands of labels, it is NOT generally a viable option.

Fortunately, there are short run options. Computer controlled cutters can cut any shape without the investment in a die. Obviously this is not a good option if you need thousands of labels ... but if you need a small quantity of special labels, they can't be beat. Any design can be cut, on any available paper stock, with as many on the page as will fit.

Picture your company logo, printed and cut in the shape of the logo. Or, maybe as a baker you have labels cut in the shape of a cupcake to label your packaging. Labels can also be cut to fit bottles, jars, boxes, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Our custom cut flag label is an example of a label that  has been printed and cut to the shape of the graphic.  The cut line is very close around the graphic producing a waving flag shaped label.

For more information, along with some pricing notes visit the Custom Cut Labels page.  To review all "standard" sizes and shapes review our Label Comparison Chart for in-stock options, and our Blank Labels page.

As always if you would like to discuss options that might fill your needs, email us at support@label-headquarters.com with your questions.