Catlover Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 AARRRGGGHH!! I don't know whether to throw my printer out the window, my labels, or my software. I have two sizes of jars, therefore two sizes of logos to print on the labels (clear gloss). My inkjet printer consistently prints the larger one with a lighter shade and less definition, despite my attempts to darken the logo, re-do it from scratch, etc. I'm not stretching out the smaller logo to make the bigger one, so that's not it. AND, it's not that much larger at all, maybe 1/4-1/2" or so. I have the logo in My Logo Maker, and it's worked fine for everything else. Are laser printers more reliable for this type of thing? We have a great four-in-one and I don't want to spend any more money, but this drives me nuts. People tell me they don't notice the difference, but...are you with me here....I DO. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowBoo Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 my laser prints much darker than my inkjets. I am in publishing so I have a lot of printers. The laser printer is a heat set and the labels will not smudge like an inkjet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlover Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 OK....sorry for the post....I just figured it out. My labels, from the same company, have different textures. It's very subtle and I hadn't noticed it until I spent this entire evening messing with the things. The larger labels are ever-so-slightly grainy, while the small ones are smooth as glass. I printed the "problem" large logo onto the small labels, and it's perfect. Grrrrr. Onlinelabels, we're gonna have a chat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowBoo Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 yes the textures will also create issues. Glossy prints a little different than a matte finish will. I actually am beginning to hate all printers these days. I've had 3 crash and burn in the last 2 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grama Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have always used an Epson inkjet printer and never found any reason to go with a laser! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlover Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Wow, you are being tested! Sorry about all the expired printers! I know laser labels would be less smudge-prone, but since our inkjet works fine (huge knock on wood), I just spray stuff on the labels after they're printed. I'm glad to discover my printer isn't the problem, but I'm really annoyed that the labels are funky. It seems like the smallest things materialize to cause problems! I'm hoping Onlinelabels will make things right, but we'll see. These labels were both supposed to be glossy, not matte. Hm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlover Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Elaine, that is a sweet baby in your profile pic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLOZ Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Don't talk to me about labels and printers. My old Canon inkjet dies, so off I went and got me a nice Samsung colour laser.Well do you think I can get my damn labels to aligh correctly? When I finally do, they print pretty well, until the next time I go to print and the damn alignment is out again. I am not talking out by 1/16 of an inch or anything, it can be as much as 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch out which is just plain frustrating.I guess it could be the label sheets slipping on the rollers or something perhaps. Anyway I spoke with Samsung todat and took the printer down for a checkout / repair so it will be interesting to see what they say.When I bought the thing I told the guy in the shop what I wanted it for and he said it would be fine. So Mr Samsung if you printer does not want to play anymore, you can take the thing back and I will go and get me something that will play properly.We usae about 6 different label sizes, printed on craft labels. We are also just about to begin a new range using clear matte labels so more fun to be had yet I think.If any of you have suggestions as to why this may be happening, please feel free to shout as I am pretty much prepared to try just about anything now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ah-soy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 It's my understanding that the manufacturer of the clear labels has changed it's paper and so the companies that purchase from them have received stock of the new paper. Previous stock was smooth and crystal clear...new stock is more opaque and "grainy".I read this a while back in a post on this board specific to labelsbythesheet.com and onlinelabels.com. Posters said they had called the companies about the difference in lable quality and this was the answer they got. I have many sheets of the older crystal clear and am now in need of a couple of sizes. I may call before I order to see what they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ah-soy Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Richard, what software do you use to print your labels? Once you have a specific lable calibrated, it should have a feature that allows you to lock in the settings for that size label...I think??? Depending on your program.Also, does your printer have separate feeding ports? My HP laser has a paper tray port and a hand feed port. My alignment differs with the port I feed the labels in... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grama Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Thank you Catlover, baby is right! Just like a youngun' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLOZ Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Richard, what software do you use to print your labels? Once you have a specific lable calibrated, it should have a feature that allows you to lock in the settings for that size label...I think??? Depending on your program.Also, does your printer have separate feeding ports? My HP laser has a paper tray port and a hand feed port. My alignment differs with the port I feed the labels in...Im using Avery Design Pro. The printer only has the one feed point which is the tray. All of my templates have been custom built based on the label sheet dimensions for margins etc etc.Once I have the labels aligned correctly they should bloody stay that way!!! How I wish that were the case. Print tomorrow and they may have moved a few millimeters to the left or right and the same up and down, or maybe not. The day after they could be a whole 1/2 inch off alignment.Its just plain crazy and driving me nuts. Samsung better have a fix or they can shove their damn printer where the sun dont shine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southern.scents Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Im using Avery Design Pro. The printer only has the one feed point which is the tray. All of my templates have been custom built based on the label sheet dimensions for margins etc etc.Once I have the labels aligned correctly they should bloody stay that way!!! How I wish that were the case. Print tomorrow and they may have moved a few millimeters to the left or right and the same up and down, or maybe not. The day after they could be a whole 1/2 inch off alignment.Its just plain crazy and driving me nuts. Samsung better have a fix or they can shove their damn printer where the sun dont shine Check your settings. We (had) a Samsung CLP-315 that we used for label printing. If you go in and change the "Paper Type" to Labels it will pull the sheet of labels into the printer at a much more precise and slow speed. This results in labels which are better aligned but they probably still won't be perfect.Ours died. Kept giving us an error that required it to be returned to the manufacturer. No problem, right?, except it was out of warranty by a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitn Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have had my Samsung color laser for about 2 months now and haven't had an issue with anything yet. I set the labels up once and it's good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsbennis Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I have had more issues with lables then I care to think about... But so far I have been having good luck with my HP laser printer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candybee Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 I still have my Dell Photo 924 All In One inkjet printer since 2005. I am using Avery's DesignPro label program (free at Avery) and get lots of compliments on my labels.For a while I kept getting labels out of alignment and couldn't figure out why. It drove me nuts. I kept going thru the alignment procedure over and over again for days then weeks trying to get it right. Then one day I just happened to adjust the paper holders that slide together to hold the paper in the feed. Well what a difference! Now I always make sure the holder slides are snug on the paper and I get perfect alignment every time!But-- for my very small labels; like 30 to a page; the bottom row will always miss the last line. So then I got smart and just print every row but the last and then flip the page over to print out the last labels so I don't waste any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardLOZ Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Check your settings. We (had) a Samsung CLP-315 that we used for label printing. If you go in and change the "Paper Type" to Labels it will pull the sheet of labels into the printer at a much more precise and slow speed. This results in labels which are better aligned but they probably still won't be perfect.Ours died. Kept giving us an error that required it to be returned to the manufacturer. No problem, right?, except it was out of warranty by a month.The settings are already set for labels, still not wanting to play though. I personally think its an issue with the rollers or something. In any case the guys at the repair place have it so hopefully I will hear some news back today as to what the problem is. I do NOT want to have to go an purchase yet another printer....ahhhhhhhhh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catlover Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Onlinelabels walks the walk! This is the response I got about the grainy clear "gloss" labels: "The grainy material that you received was from an older lot of the clear gloss inkjet material that we phased out last year. I'll be happy to pick up the bad material and get a replacement sent out to you in our newer stock, which will be the same smooth, glossy material that your smaller labels consist of."So I'm sending the bad ones back, which they are also paying for, and hopefully the next batch will be right. Richard, I feel your pain and I hope you find printer nirvana soon! :smiley2: Thus far, our Lexmark 4-in-one inkjet is printing things where they belong, once I got the right templates for what I'm using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkymonkey66 Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I have 2 lasers and would never go back, Inkjets are a pain IMO. Office max had a sale on a color laser for $129.00 last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuminousBoutique Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Until my inkjet fails I wont spend a penny on a laser... but I will upgrade someday, when *knock on wood* it fails. My HP inkjet is a scanner/printer and has done amazing labels for 2 years! If it aint broke, dont fix it... of course now that I've praised the damn thing it will die, LOLIt will only work on one of our computers though... the laptop.. but the desktop will NOT accept it as a printer. Dont know what thats about, hubs has done everything possible and he knows his stuff. its odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowBoo Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 I never make the label in the label program (if you can even do that)I make up what I want in publisher, then save the file as a picture file then import it into the label program as a picture (including text and all) If you take all your labels off of a sheet of labels and manually set up the spacing in publisher and then print it off in publisher and hold it up against the empty label sheet, you can pretty much line things up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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