Label Planet
Here’s a few tips for Microsoft Word that will hopefully stop circular labels from driving you round the bend!
One of the trickiest template tasks is getting a circular image onto a circular label. While the end product looks fantastic, it can be quite a game of trial and error to get it just right.
1. SQUARES NOT CIRCLES
The first thing to remember is that Word cannot create a grid of circles, so you have to work with a grid of squares instead. You need to check the template you are using to see if the strips between the labels are accounted for in the grid or not. For example, some of our smaller circles have very small gaps between them and Word cannot create blank columns or rows of that size. This means that the cells you see include both the space where the labels are AND the blank spaces around them, so simply centralising your image in each cell won’t necessarily mean your image ends up in the middle of each label.
2. COLOURED BACKGROUNDS
If you have an image that includes a coloured background, you may find that you end up with a white border around the edge of the labels if they aren’t 100% centralised. While you can improve the position of the labels through trial and error, it just may not be possible to prevent a white outline appearing at some point around the edge of the label. There are a couple of ways to work around this:
- Colour matching: if you can re-create the exact colour of the background, you can flood the entire grid with this colour so there cannot be any white left around the edge of the labels.
- Enlarge the image: you can increase the size of your logo by a couple of mm, which will mean that the background colour overlaps the edges of the labels slightly, preventing any white from showing. Remember, you may need to shift your image left a little bit as well to account for the larger space it will fill.
3. AVOID BORDERS
While positioning a circular image within a circular label is tricky, trying to centralise a circular image with a circular border within a circular label is extremely difficult to achieve in Word. In fact, it’s so difficult that our first bit of advice to customers is “can you do without the border?”! Otherwise, you will need to arm yourself with plenty of time, patience, and blank sheets of paper – and be prepared to admit that, while you may be able to centralise SOME of the images perfectly, getting all of the circles perfectly aligned may just not be possible.
4. SHIFT THE MARGINS NOT THE GRID
Sometimes you may find that your circles are all aligned in relation to one another – but not the labels themselves. In this case, some people will try moving the entire grid to get their images into the right position. An easier, and more accurate, way of doing this is to measure how much you need to move the grid by and then alter the margins by that measurement. This way you can shift the entire grid by the precise measurement that you need to.
5. WYSI-NA-WYG
The term “WYSIWYG” means “What You See Is What You Get”; in other words, what you see on your screen is what you will get when you press “print”. Unfortunately, in some cases you’re more likely to end up with What You See Is Not Always What You Get. To avoid problems with layout, we always advise that you print onto blank paper first to check roughly how your labels will print, before using up your labels themselves. You also need to bear in mind that even templates that have been set up using exact measurements taken from individual sheets of labels and entered directly into Word may not always generate the perfect print alignment. All printers vary by a few mm, and some will even vary depending on what setting you use. This means that it is always best to set up a rough template first, print it onto blank paper, and then work out what amendments need to be made and plan on the best way to achieve the result you need. This could be amending the margins, the space between the cells, the dimensions of the cells, the size of your image, or even the size of the overall grid itself – even if you’ve matched the sizes specifically. It’s also worth remembering that no matter how accurate you want to be, there are limitations as to how specific Word can be with measurements and adjustments.
6. CIRCULAR TEXT
If you want to create text that goes in a circle within your label, you’ll need to use WordArt to achieve this effect.
So, if you’re ready to take on the challenge of circular labels, visit our website to see the sizes available or download your template and get printing. Good luck!