Label Planet
A guide to the two orientations of label templates - portrait and landscape.
This week, we’re looking at the two types of orientation that can be used for label templates; portrait and landscape. When changing the orientation of existing label templates, there are a few factors to bear in mind.
Portrait And Landscape Orientations
For A4 labels, portrait means that the sheet is held so that the narrow edge (210mm) is at the top. This creates a sheet width of 210mm and a sheet height of 297mm. This is the default orientation for sheet labels and tends to be used for most label templates. In the landscape orientation, the wide edge (297mm) is at the top. This creates a sheet width of 297mm and a sheet height of 210mm.
If you have a label template with the wrong orientation for your intended label design, you need to decide if you want to use the existing orientation or switch to the correct orientation. While using the existing orientation might seem like the simpler option (because you don’t have to mess around with the template), it can be useful to switch the orientation so you can see and work in the correct layout as you add your design (and you don’t have to tilt your head to recreate the end result).
Printing Portrait And Landscape Orientations
You DON’T have to change the way you load your A4 labels to change the orientation of your label templates. Instead, load your sticky labels into the media bypass tray normally, so the narrow edge enters the printer first. Your software will instruct the printer to then use a portrait or a landscape orientation. When printing a document, your printer will usually use the orientation of the document you are printing. Portrait label templates print in the portrait orientation and landscape label templates print out landscape.
Switching Between Portrait And Landscape Orientations In Label Templates
The ease with which you can switch orientation depends on the type of label template you are using. This is because, in most software, orientation settings relate to the PAGE but not the CONTENT on that page.
The image above shows what happens if you change the orientation of Word label templates. As you can see, the page has rotated but the content has not and the page margins remain the same.
Switching Orientations In PDF Label Templates
Graphics software usually contains a ROTATION tool, which allows you to rotate your page AND the content on that page. You may need to select multiple layers within your label template to ensure that your background layer (the template layer) and the design layers you have added all rotate together. Depending on the software you are using, you may also need to resize your page to switch from one orientation to the other.
Switching Orientations In Word Label Templates
As we mentioned, the Orientation tool is Word only rotates the page and NOT your label template and design. The only way to convert existing Word label templates from portrait to landscape (or vice versa) is to change the page orientation AND the page margins AND amend the table itself.
You can change the page orientation and margins using the “Layout” tab at the top of the page. Click on Orientation and select either Portrait or Landscape. Next click on Margins and select Custom Margins. You can then enter the correct page margins for the new orientation. For example, if you switch from portrait to landscape, the top and bottom margins become the left and right margins, and the left and right margins become the top and bottom margins.
When amending the table, you essentially need to switch all of the measurements. The label width switches with the label height. Top top and bottom margins switch with the left and right margins (take care if your margins are unequal). The vertical pitch switches with the horizontal pitch. You also need to add and subtract columns and rows – so that the number of blank labels across becomes the number down (and vice versa).
For example, to change our LP21/63 label size from portrait to landscape, you convert your measurements as follows:
All the tools you need to add/remove columns and rows and to resize your table can be found under the Table Tools Layout Tab.
Portrait And Landscape Label Templates From Label Planet
At Label Planet, we have created portrait and landscape versions of ALL of our label templates, so you don’t need to convert our label templates at all! Simply head on over to our label templates section, select your label shape and label size, and download a portrait template or landscape template using the purple links in the middle of the page.