Labeling 101 (1 Viewer)

[linux]

So I'm a newbie, about 30 days into the PC rabbit hole. I was warned but the virus seems to have taken me.

Up until to day I though the relabeling thing was silly, certainly if murdering Paulsons is involved, but hey...

I've collected about 700 chips or so and today I noticed that I have about 10 blank ones. I must have ordered a sample of cc chips and I'm sure that one or two members sendta few as well, and I'm thinking, why are these here and what can I do with them? Hmmmmm. (Is this how it starts?)

So I think what I'd like to try is to design my own label, something like Hardy Casino, Evans Ga. etc, find some right-sized sticky labels that I can run through my printer and give it a go.
I have access to a pretty good, free graphics design program called GIMP (it's a linux thing, what else? And I think also available for windows) that I could use but I'm wondering if there is a better software app that would not only shorten the design time but also line up multiple instances for the printer.

This is the first time I've been to this forum and didn't see a labeling primer or 'start here' thread.

 

[Skagglio]

In your position, I would look through the vendor threads under Gear Labels and looks at the results and evaluate if you have to tools needed to print labels on your own. I think that many use Illustrator for design files but it is a bit expensive at around $30/month. GIMP may work I'm not sure, I've played around with it a bit.

 

[TheOffalo]

GIMP is a fine app, but a lot of designers will use a vector graphics program like Adobe Illustrator rather than raster graphics program. Inkscape is to Illustrator what GIMP is to Photoshop.

Labels are small enough that if you're test printing things yourself, a raster version in PNG format would probably be fine, but you may want to play around with Inkscape if you're going to have a company print out your labels because most will prefer/require vector-formatted images (like SVG).

 

[linux]

GIMP is a fine app, but a lot of designers will use a vector graphics program like Adobe Illustrator rather than raster graphics program. Inkscape is to Illustrator what GIMP is to Photoshop.

Labels are small enough that if you're test printing things yourself, a raster version in PNG format would probably be fine, but you may want to play around with Inkscape if you're going to have a company print out your labels because most will prefer/require vector-formatted images (like SVG).

You're correct. I hadn't even gotten that far in my thinking but for very small (or very large) designs, vector graphics is the way to go. I'm familiar with inkscape and will consider using that for sure. My challenge then is to find how to create a .svg file and then align for a sheet of sticky labels. Maybe the Adobe product can do it but I'm not a big fan of paid-for software if I can do the job with an open sourced app and the Adobe stuff is pretty pricey.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[TheOffalo]

If you're using stock Avery label I believe Avery has free software to format/print on the labels themselves. Otherwise, yes it's rather difficult. I've printed my own labels on vinyl sticker which I then laminate and then cut using a Cricut, and I use Cricut's print-then-cut functionality because it prints to my home printer calibration marks that the Cricut can then use to cut precisely.