Printing your own labels at home with an inkjet or laser printer is straightforward when you have the right tools. You'll need a label design application to create your layout, a label sheet from your chosen brand, the matching template for that sheet, and a tool that can generate a precise, print-ready file.
To get a perfectly aligned printout — ensuring it prints exactly where the peel-off labels are located on the physical label sheet — you'll need the knowledge of how to set up your printer and troubleshoot misalignment issues.
With these elements in place, you can produce professional-looking labels from the comfort of your home.
Before we dive in, here's an overview of the key concepts and tools used for label printing on inkjet and laser printers.
People design labels in many types of applications, but from the perspective of printing your own labels on home and office inkjet and laser printers, they can be grouped into two categories:
General-Purpose Applications
These are graphic design or document creation applications, such as Microsoft Word, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Adobe Express, Adobe Designer, Microsoft Designer, Google Docs, and many more.
Label-Brand-Specific Applications
These are tools developed by label sheet manufacturers — such as Avery®, Herma®, and others — to help users design and print labels specifically on their own label sheets.
A label sheet is an adhesive-backed paper sheet, typically in Letter or A4 size, containing die-cut label shapes that can be peeled off after printing. It is usually identified by a combination of the brand name and a product code — for example, Avery® 5160.
If you’re looking to save on label sheet costs, you can buy plain adhesive-backed paper sheets and do the cutting yourself. The tool that can help with that is covered below. For even greater savings, some people use plain paper and apply the adhesive manually.
A template is a digital representation of the layout of all the labels on a sheet for a specific product. Just like the label sheet itself, a template is identified by a combination of the brand name and a product code — for example, Avery® 5160.
A template can be:
A document or image file
Examples include Word, PDF, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Google Docs, Apple Pages, and many others.
Users fill in the content of each label using the file as a visual or editable guide,
either by typing directly into structured fields or by aligning design elements within the label areas.
A built-in file
This type of template is not a standalone file that users interact with directly. Instead, it exists within an integrated printing platform, such as Hlabels.com, and is automatically matched to the selected label sheet product the user needs to print on. The platform uses the template behind the scenes to position the label contents precisely and generate a ready-to-print file with accurate alignment.
For the user's visual convenience and to help identify misalignment issues, Hlabels also displays its built-in templates as image files. See example of Avery® 5160 template.
To generate a final, ready-to-print file, you need an application that takes your label designs, positions them accurately on the sheet, and produces a properly formatted printout.
There are three types of such application:
General-Purpose Generators
If you can find and download a document or image file template, you can use any general-purpose application to generate the print-ready file. However, this means you'll need to carefully and manually copy and paste each label's content into its correct position within the template, an approach that can be time-consuming and error-prone.
Label-Brand-Specific Generators
These are tools developed by label sheet manufacturers, such as ®, Herma®, and others, to help users design and print labels specifically for their own label products.
While these tools are useful for generating print-ready files with proper alignment, they often fall short in terms of design flexibility. Their built-in design features are limited compared to dedicated design platforms like Canva or Adobe's suite of products. If you design your labels elsewhere, you’ll typically need to download your design to your computer and then upload it into the brand-specific tool, just to generate the print-ready file.
Integrated Platforms
Hlabels.com integrates directly with Canva, Adobe Express, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Chrome through extensions and add-ons (with support for MS Word and Illustrator coming soon). You can design your labels in these familiar tools, and the Hlabels extension automatically picks up the label content and generates a print-ready file aligned with the label sheet product being used.
If you design your labels elsewhere, you can still find the matching template for your label sheet at Hlabels.com, upload your design, and generate a print-ready file with accurate alignment.
For many years, printing on blank label sheets has typically followed two main methods:
Method 1: Template Import
Drawback: This method is time-consuming and error-prone. Manual placement increases the risk of misalignment, and locating the matching template can be frustrating.
Method 2: Brand-Locked
Drawback: This method is limited to the brand's own label products and restricts your design capabilities compared to professional or more flexible design tools.
The growth of online design tools and the expanding integration capabilities of graphic and document creation applications have paved the way for new, more efficient printing methods.
The new third method is an integrated approach that eliminates the drawbacks of the two traditional methods while combining their advantages.
You no longer need to search for and download template files (regardless of the label sheet brand),
deal with endless copy-pasting, worry about manual positioning misalignments,
or juggle multiple software programs.
Hlabels.com uses this method. You can design labels in powerful, familiar tools such as Canva, Adobe Express,
Google Docs, and Google Sheets (with support for MS Word and Adobe Illustrator coming soon).
The Hlabels extensions for these tools automatically pick up your label content and generate a perfectly aligned,
print-ready file. This file is matched to your chosen label sheet product from 64 different brands worldwide.
In addition, Hlabels gives you the flexibility to create a custom template on the fly and print your labels directly onto that layout.
Keep in mind that generating a perfectly aligned print-ready file does not necessarily mean the printout will be aligned properly. There are many reasons that cause misalignment. Read more here to learn what they are and how to avoid them.
Use the Label Sheets App for Canva to easily design your labels and generate a print-ready PDF using thousands of templates from 64 different label brands, including custom templates — ready to send directly to your printer. Learn more about how to use this App.
Use the Print Your Own Labels Add-on for Adobe Express to easily design your labels and generate a print-ready PDF you can send directly to your printer. Learn more about how to use this Add-on.
Use the Label Sheets Add-on for Google Docs™ and Sheets™ to easily create, merge, and print labels. Learn more about how to use this Add-on.
Use the Print your own labels and stickers Chrome Extension to capture any image from the web and print it directly onto label or sticker sheets, with full support for thousands of label templates from 64 different brands.
Print on any label sheet from
64 manufacturers world wide (and growing)
or on any custom template you can imagine.
Pick your brand and template code,
then upload your design, review the settings, and print instantly.
Additionally, you can print them on any custom template
or on custom-sized labels that are easy to cut out yourself.
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