Shipping Labels.

Direct thermal labels darken under a heated print head with no ribbon, while thermal transfer uses a ribbon to lay down a longer-lasting image. Direct thermal is the shipping standard and does the job for a parcel delivered within days. It fades with heat and sunlight over time.

Thermal transfer suits long transit, hot trailers, outdoor storage and anything that has to stay readable on file for months.

4 × 6 in is the format carrier systems and label printers are built around, so it prints and scans without any layout changes. Most carrier software outputs that layout by default. Smaller sizes such as 2 × 4, 3 × 5 and 4 × 4 in are used for return labels, address-only labels and internal tracking.

Pick the size your carrier software produces first, then add the smaller formats where your packing process needs them.

Scan failures come down to four causes: a missing quiet zone, poor contrast, voids in the print, or a label wrapped over a curve. The quiet zone is the blank margin either side of the barcode, and scanners need it. Faded direct thermal and a worn print head both cause low contrast and gaps.

Non-compliance costs money through surcharges and misroutes, so machine readability is the whole job on this label.

Use a high-tack adhesive, because recycled kraft and poly mailer surfaces release standard adhesive. Dusty recycled fibre and slick polyethylene both give a weak bond, and a label that lifts in a sorting hub may never be scanned. For cold-chain parcels, a freezer-grade adhesive applies cold and stays stuck.

Tell us what you ship in and we'll pick the grade.

Yes, a pre-printed logo or colour band works as long as the barcode and address zones stay clear and high-contrast. Carrier specs set the placement and size of the key blocks, and the thermal print lands in the blank area. Keep brand colour out of the quiet zones.

Integrated forms combine the label with a packing slip on one sheet. A blockout facestock covers an old label when a box is reused.

Choose by printer: most desktop thermal printers take rolls, while many high-volume warehouse printers run fanfold stacks. Fanfold feeds from a box behind the printer and needs fewer changeovers on a busy packing bench. Rolls have to match the printer's core size and maximum diameter.

Give us the printer model and we'll supply the format and core it expects.

Shipping labels can be ordered from 500. Orders scale to 100,000 for a warehouse that ships all day, and larger runs mean fewer reorders to track. If you use several sizes, such as 4 × 6 for outbound parcels and 4 × 4 for returns, each size is its own line on the quote.

Thermal labels are produced in 7 to 10 business days after you confirm the spec. A rush of 5 to 7 business days covers a warehouse running low. Samples arrive in 5 to 7 business days, which leaves time to test them in your printer and on your mailers, and the sample charge is credited to the main order.

We ship across the whole USA.