I've been looking for a good way to label the front of the bottle for those brews that get handed out to friends on special occasions. I think I finally have found a solution that works and is reasonably priced.
Initially I looked at nametag labels because their size is perfect. The bad news is they cost about $54 for 100 sheets of labels. There were 8 labels per sheet. This was a little more than I wanted to spend.
So I picked the Avery 5163 2x4 labels instead. 10 to a sheet and only $24 for 100 sheets. Much more affordable. It also has the benefit of coming with a MS Word template which can be had at: http://66.165.133.153/configs/OL125.doc
I was hoping for a layout program a little more flexible than MS Word so I installed a free desktop publishing program called scribus. You can get it at:
So what is the result? Take a look at at a few labels I knocked out this evening:
I printed them with my Photosmart 7550 and the ink did not run when soaked in water and the label remained on the bottle. I pried up a corner on a dry label and I was able to peel it off fairly easy so it should be even easier in water.
I am pleased with this solution, but I'd like to go even a step further. I'd like to kick out custom labels quickly and easily with lots of cool features like curved text etc. I've been in contact with the makers of Discus labeling software. It is an excellent package and is cross platform. They seem interesting. Check them out and send them an encouraging email if you feel the same way.
Dave