The Trick of Transparency (With Your Labels)

This week, we're taking a closer look at all of our transparent labels products.

We supply a whole range of transparent labels to help make sure our customers will be able to find one that’s just right for their particular application. These labels provide our customers with a choice of finishes, adhesives, and printer compatibility, along with the best possible level of transparency.

CLEAR OR TRANSPARENT?
Some of our customers are confused as to what the difference is between “Clear Labels” and “Transparent Labels”. While other companies may use these terms differently, at Label Planet we use them interchangeably – in other words, transparent labels are clear labels (and vice versa). We simply include both because some customers will only use one of these terms when searching for the labels they need.

TRANSPARENT OR TRANSLUSCENT?
Another term that is often confused with “transparent” is “translucent” – however, these two words are NOT interchangeable.

“Transparent” refers to a property of materials that allow light to pass through the material (otherwise known as transmitting light) without any significant scattering of the light in the process – the result of which is that objects beyond the transparent item can be viewed quite clearly.

Materials that do not transmit light are described as “opaque” and they form the opposite end of a scale with transparent materials. In between transparent materials that transmit light with little to no scattering and opaque materials that transmit no light at all are those materials that do transmit light but with some degree of scattering during the process. These materials are known as “translucent” materials; unlike transparent materials, these materials have a frosted appearance and objects beyond cannot be clearly distinguished.

100% TRANSPARENT?
Transparent labels cannot be considered to be 100% transparent (sometimes described as “glass clear”); this is due to the use of an adhesive layer as part of the label. While transparent labels will be made with a face material and an adhesive that are both transparent, the manufacturing and application processes will both introduce tiny air bubbles into or beneath the label, which will prevent it from having a truly 100% transparent appearance.

To create the best possible visual result with your transparent labels we would recommend you try the following:

• Ensure that the surface you are labelling is clean and dry.
• Take care peeling off each label and avoid touching the adhesive surface as much as you possibly can.
• Apply one end of the label first and then use your thumb to smooth the remainder of the label down left to right (or right to left), taking care to ensure that if any air bubbles appear they are worked out as you go.

THE BEST TRANSPARENT TRICKS
While transparent labels can be used for all sorts of label applications, here’s a few special applications where a transparent label truly excels:

•  Window Stickers: whether you’re a business looking to use your window space effectively or you simply want to create a fun set of windows stickers for decoration purposes, transparent labels are a brilliant choice to get you started.
• Colour Match Problems: you might have spent a lot of time and money choosing the perfect pattern or texture for important items (such as invitations to a special event or luxury product packaging) and you don’t want to plaster a label over the top. Transparent labels mean you can use a label that will add your text/images to your item while allowing the original pattern or texture to show through.
• Product Labels On Transparent Items: if you’re looking to label transparent items such as glassware, you might want a label that won’t detract from the overall appearance of the item, which makes a transparent label the perfect pick.
• “Invisible” Product Labels: of course, you might just be looking for a product label that is as unobtrusive as possible on your product and/or packaging.
• Decorative “Floating” Text: as there isn’t really a visible background to a transparent label, these labels create the effect of “floating” text, which is a brilliant finishing touch to any design work on marketing materials, products, or packaging.
• Waterproof Labels: these labels are made with polyester, which means they are also waterproof (when printed with a laser printer); this makes these labels extremely popular for use on products that will be stored or used in places where they may be exposed to water, such as food and drink products in the kitchen or cosmetic products in the bathroom.
• Transparent “Whiteboard”: our GCP products also act like a transparent whiteboard; you can write on these labels with a whiteboard marker and wipe it away to start again.