The appeal of DIY makes it a good starting place. But there comes a time when going pro saves time and money
The selection of beautiful print-your-own labels at the nearby office supply super store can bring out the creativity in any entrepreneur with an interest in design. But how do you know when to make your own and when to turn to a professional label company?
Pre-cut label sheets can be purchased in a variety of sizes, shapes, finishes and stocks. Your logo may work well on one of these options and with some DIY (Do it Yourself) ingenuity, printing your own labels can produce excellent results. The homespun look of brown bag stock is ideal for certain products. If you only need a white label with colored print, results can be quite satisfactory.
But more than once I’ve been disappointed when a die-cut label sheet wouldn’t feed through my inkjet printer. After wasting several sheets I realize I am asking more of the $89 printer than it was intended to do. And I’ve wasted quite a bit of ink. Time to call Amherst Label.
Questions to ask
• How much time are you spending getting your printer to feed and print properly?
If you own a business, you know what your time is worth. The expense of purchasing professional labels may be a bargain compared to several hours of your time.
• How many sheets do you waste before your print quality matches the quality of your product?
If a package of 100 blank labels costs $20 and you are only able to salvage 3/4 of them, your cost per is way above the price of custom label printing. I recently ordered 5,000 full-color, full bleed labels for under $300 (printed digitally at Amherst Label).
• Compare and see: Send your label design to Dawn Mahoney sales@amherstlabel.com and ask for a price quote. In quantities above 300, you can expect to save money going with Amherst Label. Each project is unique and there is no charge for a custom quote.
This article was written by Ruth Sterling who has been a working graphic designer since before any of us had table top printers or design software. She has worked with Amherst Label since its beginnings and has been a loyal customer since starting an ad agency in 1986. Recently, Ruth officially joined Amherst Label as Marketing Manager.
Thanks for pointing out that if we spend a lot of time working on getting our machine to work properly, we should definitely turn to a professional company. The store I work for has been considering using a label printing service to help with our shelves. I will be sure to tell my boss that he should definitely start using a label printing company since it will save him a lot of time.
It seems like professional printing companies are the best choice. Like you said, the pre-cut things you can buy are good, but I think it’s best to save time and get it done professionally. If I owned a business, I’d be sure to get everything custom printed.
I like that you pointed out that it would be better to let the professionals do this kind of job when your time will be eaten up by this especially when the business is already. I will keep that in mind if ever I have my own business in the future. This will ensure that I will use time wisely for more important things such as meeting up with clients or creating more and innovative products in the future.
I agree that you could get some excellent results by printing your own labels. But I also feel like I would mess it up. I think people should play it safe and hire a professional to print labels for them.