Label Planet
As specialist suppliers of A4 sheets of labels, here's our answers to your FAQs about A4 labels.
Why do you only sell A4 sheets?
There are a number of reasons why we decided to specialise in A4 sheets of labels, but they generally have one thought in common. By choosing to focus on one kind of product only, we are able to offer better choice, better despatch times, better advice, and better customer care.
- Better choice: by selecting only A4 stock, we are able to choose the best options within that group of products and make them available to our customers. We can find labelling options that are compatible with the desktop laser and inkjet printers that are readily available to most people, meaning they have the freedom to print exactly what they want, when they want.
- Better despatch times: by having a specific group of products that we can supply, we are able to keep many items in stock, which means they are available for same day despatch.
- Better advice and customer care: by focusing on A4 sheets, we can offer in-depth knowledge of this particular kind of product, rather than offering a more limited knowledge of multiple products. We use A4 sheets of labels ourselves on a day-to-day basis, meaning we know how our labels work – or at least how they are supposed to – and we have experience dealing with problems that customers may encounter.
Why do you have so many different codes for A4 sheets?
In our range of paper labels, we offer FOUR versions of A4 sheets – LP1/210J, LP1/210V, LP1/210, and LP1/210S – and we often get customers wanting to know what the difference is.
LP1/210S is a slightly different size. This label measures 287mm x 210mm due to a narrow strip – or selvedge – along the top of the sheet. This selvedge is designed to help eliminate problems with printers that cannot print to the very edge of the sheet. The presence of the selvedge means that the top of the label is more likely to be level with the area that a customer’s printer is able to print.
The remaining three are all 298mm x 210mm – the only difference between them is the positioning of slits on the backing sheet. Backing sheets are often scored to create a slit or slits that make it easier to remove the label from the backing sheet.
- LP1/210J has a backing sheet known as “Jetcrack” or “crack back”, meaning the backing sheet is divided into diagonal strips that can be removed one by one. This is most advantageous if a customer is cutting the A4 sheet into bespoke sizes as there will always be a slit on the backing sheet to aid with removal of the label.
- LP1/210V has a backing sheet that is kiss cut down the middle of the sheet. This means the backing sheet is in two pieces, which can be peeled off easily one by one.
- LP1/210 has a single cut in the backing sheet along the top edge of the sheet. This is designed to allow the two parts of the backing sheet to be peeled away easily, with as little effect on the label as possible. This is why this particular cut is used on A4 sheets of our other material ranges – some of the materials are quite soft and the cut in the backing sheet may leave a slight impression on the surface of the labels. By moving the cut to the narrow portrait edge of the sheet, there is as little visual disruption as possible to the surface material of the label.
Why are my sheets of labels slightly bigger/smaller than A4?
An A4 sheet is defined as being 297mm x 210mm.
In the manufacturing industry many goods have a “tolerance” applied to their specifications – a tolerance is a range that the product must sit within to meet a pre-determined standard. A tolerance may be applied to all kinds of specifications including dimensions, weight, quantity, and colour. Quite often a tolerance is described as a percentage; for example, a product that is produced in batches of 500 may be given a tolerance of +/- 10% – so 450 or 550 items may be produced in a “successful” batch. With A4 sheets, there is usually a tolerance of 1-2mm in both the height and the width of a sheet, and it is quite common to find that an A4 sheet doesn’t measure 297mm x 210mm exactly.
Why don’t you have a label that is XXmm by XXmm?
The sizes that we offer are determined by the sizes that will best fit on an A4 sheet with minimal waste material between and around the labels. Many of our square cut corner rectangular labels have sizes that are determined by simply dividing an A4 sheet equally into rows and columns to create labels of an equal size. For sheets with spaces between the labels, the size is usually determined by having as big a label as possible while keeping the gaps between them to around 2mm to prevent large areas of material being wasted.
Sizes that do not fit onto an A4 sheet are more likely to be available on rolls – the only requirement for roll labels is that the width of the label doesn’t exceed the width of the roll, and rolls can be produced in all kinds of widths.