Lay out a compliance tag as a form: preprint what never changes, leave real room for what gets written, and choose a matte finish. The tag is filled in by someone on a ladder, in poor light, in a hurry, so design for that.
Preprint what never changes
Preprint your company name, license number, and phone number. That's the part that brings the next job, and it should never be handwritten.
Give the written fields real room
The date cleaned, the technician, and the next due date are the fields an inspector looks for, and they get written under awkward conditions. A pale box with real height works better than a thin printed line.
If your authority requires a layout, send it, and we'll set the tag up to match. Our hood cleaning stickers ask a "Sticker Design" question, with the First Order Design Fee shown on the product page. If you only know the required fields, tell us, and ask us for a quote to design the tag from them. If your design is already finished, use Upload Your Own Hood Cleaning Design. Either way, nothing prints until you approve the proof.
Choose matte
Matte takes a ballpoint pen as well as a permanent marker. On vinyl, gloss takes a permanent marker too, but a pen only to a degree. On a roll, writing on gloss scratches off with a fingernail. For a tag that gets written on, matte is the safe choice.
Keep everything clear of the cut
Keep anything that must survive inside the safe area: 0.09" inside the cut line on vinyl tags, and 1/8" on perforated rolls. A license number against the edge is what gets trimmed.
Numbering
Sequential numbering helps you track a job across visits. Our prices are for print-ready artwork, so adding numbering, QR codes, or barcodes is an artwork change. We can help: reach out for a quote. Tell us the first number, and we count up from it for the quantity you order.
Ordering
The minimum is 50 of a design on vinyl, or 100 on polyester or plastic perforated rolls. Production takes 4 business days after you approve the proof, on vinyl or on a perforated roll, and Rush is available for a fee. An exact reorder of an approved tag skips the proof round, which is the usual case here, since the tag rarely changes from year to year. See how to reorder.