Steps for Selecting the TYPE of Label Best Suited for Your Application: 


 Reproduction Method 

1. OFFSET PRINTING

  • Offset Press
  • Letterpress

2. ELECTRONIC IMAGING

  • Laser Printer
    • Desktop Laser
    • High Speed Laser
  • Ink Jet Printer
  • Copier
    • Standard Copier
    • Color Copier
    • High Speed Copier

3. PIN FED

Dot Matrix Printer with tractor paper feed

4. POSTAL WAFER SEALS

Labels applied using a Tabber Machine
Circular tabs on sheets/rolls for sealing mailers


 Sheets or Rolls 

 Paper or Film labels 

Paper…coated/uncoated
Film…acetate/foils/translucent

 Adhesive 

P = Permanent
R = Removable
UR = Ultra Removable
SP = Special Convention Badge
BP = Blockout Permanent

 Substrate 

Material or surface to which label will be affixed

 Environment 

Exposure to temperature extremes (hot/cold)
Humidity

Offset Printing Tips
  Storage 


When label material is received, it should be stored on a flat surface in a cool dry area. (Avoid temperature extremes and high humidity.) Avoid stacking more than 20 boxes high. Rotate stock regularly when new items come in, and do not open sealed packages until ready to use. Bring material to the pressroom 24 hours before printing. Leave laser printable materials wrapped until press time.

 Press Preparation

Clean and adjust your grippers and guides to avoid misfeeding and sheet drag. This will help reduce jam-ups on the sheet path. Keep both the impression and blanket cylinders clean, and reduce the pressure from both cylinders as much as possible. Use fresh ink. If too tacky, use tack reducer or ink conditioner. A minimum amount of water and ink mixture provides best results. Run press at a slow speed and increase speed as you feel comfortable.
 Offset Printing of Laser Compatible Labels

When printing laser compatible labels on an offset press, make sure you are using laser compatible label stock and laser compatible inks. Consult your ink manufacture for a recommendation of laser compatible inks. Make sure you use a minimal amount of water and ink mixture. Too much water can cause laser label stock to curl and can cause a problem with toner anchorage. Pre-test the label products for end use applications BEFORE you print the job.
  Printing Die Cut Labels

Printing die cut pressure sensitive labels is profitable business for printers with small offset equipment. Pressure sensitive stock is unique and expensive and increases the potential sales dollars for the order. To make handling and printing die cut label sheets easy, Labelblank suggests the following: Please have your customer pre-test the label product for end use application BEFORE you print the job.
 
 Paste Up


Run half sheets for short run jobs:

  1. Cut label sheets in half.
  2. Prepare artwork for only half of the sheet.
  3. Run half sheets. The sheets are symmetrical, so you can easily maintain consistent registration.
  4. Run whole sheets work and turn (except one-way pattern).

Use time-saving paste-up techniques:

  1. It is not necessary to paste up artwork for each single label.
  2. Prepare duplicates of artwork to paste up the first row.
  3. Once the first row is complete, duplicate the entire row and paste up the second row.
  4. Now duplicate the two rows to make the third and fourth rows. Repeat as necessary.

Multiple Plate Burns - Stepping Artwork:

  1. Strip up artwork for first two or three rows, depending on layout.
  2. Step and repeat as necessary to accommodate your sheet size.
 Inks
  1. Use a fine printing ink on paper labels (lower tack inks are preferable).
  2. For foil labels, acetates, and any non-paper labels, use inks that dry through oxidation (instead of absorption) and are suitable for vinyl surfaces. If oil base inks are used, use drying additives and metal plates. Please contact your ink supplier for an exact ink recommendation.
  3. When printing laser compatible labels on an offset press, make sure you are using laser compatible inks. Please consult your ink manufacturer for a recommendation on laser compatible inks. Make sure you use a minimal amount of water and ink mixture. Too much water can cause laser label stock to curl and can cause a problem with toner anchorage.
Press Running
  1. Fan the label sheets thoroughly before loading. Stack in small piles of 4" high or less.
  2. Adjust the guides, vacuum pick-up and grippers on the press.
  3. If the edges of the sheets are tacky, rub with a crepe rubber pick-up and dust lightly with press powder to aid in feeding.
  4. Clean press tops and guides with a cloth sprayed with silicone to help prevent misfeeding.
  5. Test the ink coverage and print quality using a few sheets of 110 lb. index stock before printing directly on labels.
  6. Initially, run labels at slow speed. Once familiar with the stock, increase to normal speed.
 Preventing Label Lifting
  1. Use a compressible blanket.
  2. Reduce the pressure between the impression cylinder and the blanket cylinder. (Be careful not to make your impression too light.)
  3. Oil based inks are generally better than rubber based inks, because they are less tacky. However, rubber based ink is acceptable for paper labels. (Consult your ink supplier for an exact ink recommendation)
  4. As a last resort, add tack reducer in small quantities. When adding a tack reducer, a low glycerine fountain concentrate will help prevent ink-water emulsification.

Remember:

Minimum ink – Minimum Water – Minimum Pressure

IMPORTANT: Please have your customer pre-test the label products for end use application

BEFORE you print the job! Apply sample labels to the end-use substrate, let adhesive set up

24-72 hours to check for adhesion and/or removability. Adhesive performance varies from

substrate to substrate. Contact your local paper merchant or Lableblank for samples for your

customer’s testing. We offer a wide range of face stocks and adhesives for most of your

customer’s applications.

                WARRANTY:

                                All products are 100% guaranteed for quality workmanship and materials. Product is

                                sold with the understanding that user will pretest to determine suitability for the intended

                                end use. Because of the difference in various makes and models of laser and non-impact

                                printers, it is imperative to fully test product for each application to ensure compatability

                                with both printer and end use.

 

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A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Acetate Non-porous, non-paper stock (requires non-oxidizing ink).
Acid-Free Paper manufactured without acid which should not turn yellow over time.
Accordion Fold A term used for two or more parallel folds which open like an accordion or folded fan.
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Backing Up Printing the reverse side of a sheet already printed on one side.
Blanket Image In offset printing, a rubber-surfaced fabric clamped around the cylinder, which transfers the image from plate to paper.
Bleed If the printed image extends to the trim edge of the sheet or page or beyond the border of the perimeter of the label, it is called a bleed.
Blockout Refers to opaque adhesive that will not allow see-through of printed material under label, thus eliminating undesirable backgrounds by opaquing the image.
Brightness Light that is reflected by a paper -- the reflectance or brilliance of the paper. Also, number assigned to indicate whiteness (dull to very bright white). The closer the number is to 100, the brighter the facestock.
Bursts Round labels with serrated (starburst) edges around the circumference.
Butt-cut Square-cornered labels that are butted up against each other.
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C Abbreviation for a quantity of one hundred.
Cast Coated Coated paper dried under pressure against a polished cylinder to produce a highly-glossed enamel finish.
Caliper Thickness of paper expressed in thousandths of an inch (mils).
Chalking Improper drying of ink. Pigment dusts off because the ink has been absorbed too rapidly into the paper.
Chartreuse A bright flourescent yellow color.
Condensed Type A narrow or slender typeface.
Copy Any furnished material (artwork, pictures, typewritten text, etc.) to be used in the production or printing.
Crossmarks Register marks for accurate positioning of images in step-and-repeat, double or multicolor printing, also in super-imposing overlays onto a base or onto each other.
Crystallization A condition in which a dried ink film repels a second ink which must be printed on top of it.
Custom Label Unique label that is specially manufactured on a one-time basis for a single customer with special requirements.
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Die-Cut A mechanical process by which specific shapes are cut through the face and adhesive of a pressure sensitive construction.
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Embossed Finish Paper with a raised or depressed surface resembling wood, cloth, leather or other pattern.
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Fabric Badge Rayon Acetate Satin Cloth Name Badge Label with special name badge adhesive.
Fabric-Like Embossed latex impregnated paper.
Facestock The face material of the label or the printing surface of the label (e.g., paper, film, vinyl,
polyester, 60# white offset, brilliant colored offset, foils, etc.)
Fan-Fold A term used for two or more parallel folds that open like an accordion pleat or folded fan.
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Grain The direction in which most fibers lie which correspond with the direction the paper is made on a paper machine.
Gripper Edge Extra material at edge of sheet of offset labels for gripping onto when running through a press.
Gripper Margin Unprintable blank edge of paper which grippers bear, usually 1/2 inch or less.
Grippers Metal fingers that clamp onto paper and control its flow as it passes through a printing press.
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Ink-Jet Printer Type of digital printer that squirts ink onto the paper.
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Jog To align sheets of paper into a compact pile.
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Laminated Labels coated with a thin layer of plastic-like material for appearance or protection.
Laser "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". Intensely heated light beam that produces images by electronic impulse from digital data. The image is then made visible by electrostatically attracting dry powder to it.
Lead Time Approximate time that it takes for a custom or out-of-stock item to be produced and shipped.
Liner Backing paper which adheres to the adhesive (back part) of the label, from which the label can be easily removed when the label is to be affixed to another material.
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M Abbreviation for a quantity of one thousand.
Matte Dull paper finish without gloss.
Mottle Spotty or uneven appearance.
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Ooze Any amount of adhesive that leaks out from between the label and the backing liner.
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Perforation Paper pierced with a line of tiny slotted holes for easy splitting or tearing.
Piggyback A face stock with two alternating levels of adhesive and liner.
Plate Match Refers to matchability to other brands as far as layout, configuration and dimensions are concerned.
Porosity The property of paper that allows the permeation of air, an important factor in ink penetration.
Pressure Sensitive Material with an adhesive coating, protected by a backing sheet until used, which will stick without moistening.
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RH Relative Humidity -- The amount of water vapor present in the air or atmosphere.
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Scanner An electronic device that scans and reproduces and/or transmits images.
Score To impress or indent or cut a mark in the liner to make folding, tearing or removal easier.
Substrate The material or substance to which the label will be affixed.
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Tabs / Tabbers Postal Wafer Seals - Small circular labels used to seal mailings.
Tack Refers to the cohesion between materials or stickiness of materials
Template A pattern of shapes used as a guide for printing or checking accuracy.
Translucent Allowing light to pass through. Clear.
Transparent Having the property of transmitting rays of light through a material so that the material underneath or behind can be distinctly seen.
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Vinyl A type of plastic.
Viscosity A broad term encompassing the properties of tack and flow of a liquid.
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Wafer Seals Small circular tab labels used to seal mailings.
Waste Intact This is the facestock material surrounding the label left on the sheet. All laser, copier and ink-jet product come standard with waste intact. Can be custom- produced for offset.
Waste Removed This is the standard for offset labels. Necessary when printing bleeds. Facestock material between labels taken out.
Web A roll of paper used in web or rotary printing.
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** NOTE: We gratefully acknowledge that some of the definitions above were obtained from the following sources:

"New Webster's Dictionary of the English Language", Delaire Publishing Company, 1975.
"Pocket Pal, A Graphic Arts Production Handbook", International Paper Company, 10th Edition

 


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