Send us your applicator's details before you order, not after the rolls arrive. Almost everything a machine needs from a roll is printed in its manual, and a photo of the right page tells us more than a description of it.
The checklist
- Make and model. Send the machine's name and model number, and the manual if you have it as a PDF.
- Core size. Every roll we wind is on a 3" core, the inside diameter of the cardboard tube. Check that your machine's spindle takes 3" before you order; we don't wind on other core sizes.
- Largest roll. This is the biggest roll the machine holds, measured across the outside of the roll. Manuals often call it the maximum roll diameter or OD. It caps how many labels fit on each roll.
- Unwind position. Send the picture from the manual, not just its number, since printers number positions differently. Our order form's four choices all wind the labels facing out; if your machine needs them wound in (positions 5 to 8), ask us first. More in which unwind direction you need.
- How the label sits on the product. Send a photo of a labeled product, or a sketch showing which way up the label reads once it's on.
- Gap and sensor. Our standard gap between labels is about 0.15". If the manual asks for a different gap, or says what its sensor looks for, include it.
- Liner. Labels come on a paper liner unless you ask for something else, so if the manual asks for a particular backing, say which.
- Labels per roll. Tell us how many you'd like on each roll. There's no option for it on the product page yet, though a selector that prices it is coming. Big rolls mean fewer changes on a machine, and small rolls are lighter and easier to split between people or stations. Fewer labels per roll costs more, since every extra roll adds labor, materials, and shipping.
- Label size. Send the finished width and height of the label, or the drawing from your packaging supplier, which some suppliers call a dieline.
How to send it
Email team@stickymade.com or start a live chat before you place the order, with the photos attached. Before anything prints, we'll confirm which of these we can match and tell you about anything we can't. Roll labels never print until you approve the proof.
On the order form, choose "Machine Applied", then the unwind direction that matches your manual's picture. If you're not sure you need a machine setup at all, see hand-applied or machine-applied labels?
What comes on the roll
- The matrix is off. The leftover label stock around each label is taken away, so only the labels sit on the liner. A few industry products, such as hood cleaning perforated rolls, keep it.
- Splices can happen. A splice is a join between two lengths of labels on one roll. We try to prevent them on machine-applied rolls.
- Overs aren't guaranteed. We print a few extra, but order the number you need.
- Rolls are one label across. Each roll is a single column of labels. Two or more across is available on request; ask us for a quote.
Run a test first
When the rolls arrive, run a few labels through the machine before you start the full job. A label that sits slightly off on the first bottle is a settings adjustment. Found 500 bottles in, it's a relabeling job.
Labels that change on every copy
If each label carries its own number, code, or date, a roll keeps them in the order they were printed, which is what most applicator lines want. See variable data printing.
Ordering
Custom Roll Labels start at 100 of a design, on White Plastic BOPP or White Satin Paper, and ship 5 to 7 business days after you approve the proof.