Fun With Labels

After selling, installing and supporting thousands of label printers, I say 95+% of them are utilized in manufacturing/producing a product label. So this post is different; it’s about using label printers to produce a handmade, unique commemorative item - Or what I call, “Fun with Labels!”

Recently, our neighbor, Carrie, asked if I would produce labels for her project.  And of course I said yes; but wanted to know more about her plans.

It seems she wanted to produce something special for her book club.  According to Carrie, “our book club has been together for more than 8 years.  And this year, I just happened to be hosting our December meeting.  Given it was the end of the year, I wanted to make something special for our club that commemorated the books we’d read.  I checked Pinterest; and found only different bookmark ideas.  Given that many of our club members use e-readers, bookmarks seemed out-of-date.   So, I decided to make an ornament with book cover images of the books we read January thru December.”

To start the project, Carrie cut a block of wood into cubes using her miter saw.  “For about $15, I got a nice 3’ x 2.5” piece of wood that enabled me to cut out 12 cubes.    After cutting the wood, she sanded the wood using sandpaper to smooth out the edges.

Once the blocks were finished, Carrie went online to get the images of the books.  Initially, she tried to print the images on her desktop printer; but was unhappy with the results.  Given she knew I was in the label business, she asked me to print labels for her.

After listening to her requirements, I suggested she create a 4” x 8” PDF containing the highest resolution book cover page images she could find.  I suggested 4” x 8” size as I had this size available in a glossy paper label making it easy to print. 

4" x 8" PDF With Images

It would have been easier if we would have created individual smaller labels printing one at a time; but you would need to have the correct sized images and labels to make this work correctly.

I printed 12 labels, each containing the set of images representing each of the books read during the year.

4" x 8" Gloss Paper Label

Carrie then cut the individual image labels and applied them to the blocks including a special message on the bottom.

Then, she coated the block with an acrylic sealer to protect and give it a shine.

Finally, she drilled a small hole in the top, added gorilla glue in the hole, and forced the knot on the string holding the loop/bow into the hole. And Voila, Carrie has produced a beautiful holiday ornament for her club!

Hand Made Commemorative Using Labels

According to Carrie, “I got great feedback from our book club members.  In fact, my girlfriend said she wanted one every year!  I think the size of the block and book images were just perfect; not too big or small.”

Hand Made Commemorative Using Labels

After completing the project, Carrie says, “Pictures would be a good idea as well; your kids, grandchildren, etc. to commemorate any event.  The labels with the images made it easy to do!”

Carrie is crafty and creative; and a great neighbor.  And using Carrie’s idea, you can turn the labels printers in your plant or office into your own personal handy-craft tool; a “Fun with Labels” opportunity.

Contact us if we can help you with any of your label needs.

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com

Fool-Proof GHS Label Solution

Clayton Corporation (http://www.claytoncorp.com/) is a full-service manufacturer specializing in the design and development of aerosol valves and plastic components for companies around the world.  Beginning with the valve created for the first aerosol whipped cream, Clayton Corporation grew as it continued to design and manufacture parts for products in the OEM food, dairy, personal care, hardware and industrial building materials industries. Global manufacturers have come to rely on Clayton as the source for innovative product dispensing solutions. Today, Clayton continues to be at the forefront of component design as new materials and products are developed, applying the spirit of quality and innovation that has been its hallmark for more than 50 years.

Clayton’s Mechanical Design Engineer first contacted me in 2015 when working on their GHS label printing solution for the Industrial Building Materials division. A variety of their products required unique but very similar formatted labels to supplement hazard and precautionary information pre-printed on their products. Each label was unique due to the variable data required including part number, product description, weight, EHS #, batch number, sequence number, and a dynamically calculated expiration date that needed to be placed on the labels at print-time on the production line. Additionally, this label would include up to three different languages – dependent on the product market. Another of Clayton’s applications, not included in this blog, was creating GHS labels for some lab chemicals and raw materials.

To help start our discussion, they sent me a draft GHS label:

Clayton Example Label

In addition to the variable data on the label, Clayton needed to create a two-part label; a Part A (Above) and Part B (Below), at the same time.  The labels were to be printed one pair at a time on their production line and applied by an operator wearing gloves.

Based on our discussion, I first created a Form-Fillable PDF for Clayton using Adobe Acrobat.

Printed Example Label

This type of label artwork works well when you have limited number of products and limited number of variable data fields. Although easy to do, it opens up the opportunity for operators to enter incorrect data. For these situations, we recommend a label design and printing software application. For Clayton, we recommended BarTender® from Seagull Scientific (www.seagullscientific.com).

Clayton operation managers wanted an easy, nearly fool-proof, method of selecting and initiating the correct product label print operation with minimal operator intervention. To this end, Clayton’s Systems Analyst/Programmer incorporated a bar code on the work order and developed a BarTender data entry form to accept a scanned barcode. From this scan, an Excel database is accessed to retrieve the static product data to fill in the variable label data and to drive the template selection in regard to languages, colors, and whether label parts A or B, or both should be printed. Lastly, they needed to print the labels on demand as the product passes thru the work center. As they did not want any additional operator intervention with the keyboard or desk mouse, Clayton incorporated a foot-controlled switch or foot mouse.  The operator simply presses the foot mouse when a new label is needed and it’s delivered in a few seconds.

Data Entry Form displayed. See barcode scanner (right of monitor).

GHS Label Print Station with Foot Mouse

Additionally, Clayton is using BarTender Print Station to manage and print their GHS labels.

BarTender Print Station

One other key part of the solution was label design. To make it easier to recognize the two different part labels, Clayton color-coded the description and part number on each label. Part A in red, and Part B in blue proved to be a simple, but highly effective means to facilitate accurate label application.

2-Part Clayton GHS Label

To make this solution even better, Clayton decided to use 1000-piece stacks of fanfold labels with easy release backing.

Fanfold Matte Poly Labels For GHS

Clayton wanted a way to print and apply by hand the two part label that would be easy for an operator wearing gloves. The issues with using rolls of labels were both the lower quantity of labels per roll, and the curl made them more difficult to remove the backing, especially while wearing gloves. With two 4” x 4” labels per fold, the two-part label prints and dispenses just as needed. Currently each of their C3500 machines prints in excess of 500 labels per day.

“One of Color Label Solutions’ areas of expertise is GHS — they understand how the technology pieces fit together to build easy-to-use and reliable labeling compliance systems for companies like Clayton,” said Elizabeth Sinclair, Verticals Marketing Manager at Seagull Scientific.

“A GHS label can be complicated — there are many variable data points, and information has to be displayed in a particular way,” Sinclair continued.  “The print-on-demand deployment at Clayton capitalizes on the advanced capabilities of our BarTender label software: using BarTender’s templates to simplify label data management, and BarTender’s interactive data entry forms to limit access to sensitive data, which minimizes the chance of operator error at print time.”

Clayton has built a great GHS label printing solution for their company using color label printers, environment resistant labels, chemical resistant ink, and software components supplied by our company. I’m glad we were able to be of assistance in the creation of this elegant and simple way to print complex GHS labels. Be sure to contact us if you need to make a complex label system simpler.

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com

SPARC Your Cannabis Labels

Serving patients since 2001, SPARC (www.sparcsf.org) is a nonprofit collective dedicated to providing lab-tested, affordable, high quality cannabis and subsidized health services to their members.  They aim to educate their patients about cannabis treatments and other alternative health approaches to supplement their medicine.  SPARC began as a collaboration between several small collectives serving distinct patient populations in San Francisco. SPARC's work was focused primarily on serving low-income patients suffering from chronic and terminal illnesses.

When first speaking, SPARC was looking for a lower cost method to label their products.  According to Justin Morgan, IT Director at Sparc, “We were purchasing 5 different versions of preprinted labels from our bag vendor; and wanted a lower cost means to color code our products.  Color-codes are important for us and our customers.  We use the color codes in both our labels and menus.  The colors differentiate the genetics of our different strains of cannabis.  Purchasing 5 different kinds of bags was expensive in the quantities we were purchasing.  Our hope was to get lower prices by purchasing larger volumes of single white bag; and printing custom color labels to affix to them.”

After understanding the requirements, I printed and sent samples to Sparc to test.

SPARC Sample Label

Based on the recreated label format, I estimated the ink cost at $0.002/label.  In addition, I calculated the costs of continuous labels at $0.005 each.  The overall costs of these labels were much less than 1 penny each.

After hearing the estimated costs, Sparc decided to test the C3500.  We sent them a demo printer to run with the label application, BarTender.  Justin said, “we used BarTender to add the variable data in black print to our labels.  To run the C3500, we just recreated the label template adding a variable image field to the existing label and database.”

Sparc Test Labels

As a first draft, the BarTender label template was not perfect; with some of the print off the edges of the label.  Working with Justin, we got the labels centered by taking into the account of the .06” non-printable boundary.  With the new drivers, you can print to the edge of the labels.

Sparc Finished Label

Based on this work, Sparc purchased a C3500 and gloss paper labels.  Since the initial purchase, Sparc has added matte poly labels for their smaller vials.  “We needed the poly to work with the small circumference packaging”, says Justin.   The poly labels are more conformable with less memory than paper.  These advantages make the poly labels perform better for tighter wrapping applications.

Sparc Finished Label

In addition to the color-coded finished good labels, Sparc need a means to track their plants in production.  Justin says, “we were hand writing up labels for our individual plants; and we needed a less labor-intensive means for their work.”  Based on this requirement, we sold Sparc a thermal transfer printer and “Pot Stakes” to track their production.

Printed Pot Stake

“Using the pot stakes are much easier and faster than the hand labeling we were doing previously” says Justin.

Sparc Finished Label

Justin says, “overall, I’ve found the label printing solution incredible; especially the BarTender integration.  Also, we’re very happy with the quality of the print. We’ve found a large cost and labor savings providing a great return on our investment in the label printers and software.” 

Sparc Labels

In the past, we worked with other cannabis vendors.  Recently, we published this post about Dream City;  http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2016/10/dreamy-labels.html 

And from a long time ago, a post covering our long-time customer Green Ticket Bakery who now has upgraded to a C3500 to print their labels: http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2012/06/baking-medicinal-brownies-printing.html 

We love and support all of our customers; but we especially appreciate long-time customers such as Sparc.  If you need labels for your cannabis products; or need color coded labels to improve your work processes, contact us.  We can help!

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com

Purchase printers, labels, software, etc. for your marijuana labels here:


https://colorlabelsolutions.com/shop/ 

C7500GE

This month, Epson launched the new C7500 GE (Graphics Edition) which combines the C7500G printer and the Wasatch SoftRIP Raster Image Control (RIP) software.  The C7500GE is targeted for both end users and professional printers who need more precise color/image control of their print output.

As background, a raster image processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. Such a bitmap is used by a later stage of the printing system to produce the printed output. 

With the new SoftRIP Label Edition, Wasatch says "you get:

• Total color control/matching
• Extended color gamut
• Smooth color and shade management
• Flexible image manipulation and placement
• Continuous media support
• Full bleed printing
• Easy to use interface

You can learn more about the new Wasatch RIP at https://www.wasatch.com/labels.html".

Or you can review my earlier posts on the new C7500GE and the RIP:

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2016/07/continuous-rip-coming-this-fall.html

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2016/09/label-expo-2016.html

To learn more about the RIP, I started printing for a customer who was concerned about color matching.  Printing directly from a PDF did not produce the red and brown colors expected.

First with PMS 187 on gloss paper.  It wasn’t exactly the correct shade of red.

 

ColorTone Matching PMS 187

PMS 187 has a RGB value of 166, 25, 46.

Next I had to match a label with PMS color 463 which has a RGB value of 116,79, 40.

ColorTone Matching PMS 463

Although close, both colors were not exactly a match; you could see the difference.  To find a closer match, I used the Color Tone Matching assistant to provide color swatches of related colors to show a closer match was possible. Again PMS 187:

C7500G ColorTone Matching Assistant

And PMS 463:

C7500G ColorTone Matching Assistant

Based on the results from printing directly from a PDF, I decided to use the Wasatch SoftRIP to see if a closer color match was possible.  Before starting to use the SoftRIP, I recommend watching this starter video for printing die-cut labels:

http://www.wasatch.com/labelvideo02.html

And watching this video for printing continuous labels requiring post-printing finishing:

http://www.wasatch.com/labelvideo01.html

To start using the RIP, first I had to download the latest image configurations.  Wasatch provides these files which profile a variety of available label media.  By profiling the label media, better color matching is possible. 

https://www.wasatch.com/ic/index.html

After downloading the image configuration, I set up my printer. First I set up the printer by selecting the gear icon on top:

SoftRIP Printer Settings

You’ll need to confirm the correct image configuration, paper width margins and insure your printer is selected.  Then on the labels tab, I selected printer properties and edited the printer properties to match your situation; especially die cut label-gap setting and size.

SoftRIP Printer Properties

Once the printer and an image configuration was selected, I opened an eps file in SoftRIP:

SoftRIP Size Tab

At this point, I had to rotate the image 90 degrees to fit on the label; and I decided to crop the picture.  To crop, I selected a box around the image (by holding down the left mouse button as I created a box), and right click on the image to select “Zoom into Crop Box”.

After cropping, I selected the number of copies I wanted (Rows) and selected center both width and height.  I wanted the image on the center of this label as I really did not have the correct size in the printer.

SoftRIP Number of Rows

 Once I had the page set, I added the color included in the original eps file.  To add a special color, I selected “Color” on the main menu, then selected “Add Named Colors”.  The Pantone 187C was added.

SoftRIP Special Colors

Now I was ready to print. I first printed with one gloss image configuration; and then a different gloss image configuration. The difference in the two print outputs was dramatic.

SoftRIP Image Configuration Color Differences

The bottom was identical to the output from printing from the PDF; and the top was a very close match to the original target color.  Based on this simple test, label media and image configuration make a big difference in color output.

To help find the correct color match, you can also select Color Neighborhood from the color menu.  This opens up a dialog box to select the target color:

SoftRIP Color Neighborhood

Once the correct RGB color is entered, another dialog box appears to select the Delta E of the colors. Delta E is a metric for understanding how the human eye perceives color difference. The term delta comes from mathematics, meaning change in a variable or function. The suffix E references the German word Empfindung, which broadly means sensation. Generally, a Delta E of 2 is believed to be the minimum a human can perceive.

SoftRIP Delta E

After selecting OK, you save the color neighbor as a PostScript file. Then open the file up in SoftRIP.  As the page size is 10.5 x 10.5, it is recommended to crop a section of the color neighborhood and print to get the related colors.

SoftRIP Color Neighborhood

Color Neighborhood should help you identify a more appropriate match when the original is slightly incorrect.

After my initial work, I found the SoftRIP potentially a great tool for certain customers.  According to Ryan Lee, Sales at Wasatch, “Softrip Label Edition should fit end users, printers and label converters who need to print customized, color precise labels.  Combined with the C7500G, these customers have a reliable label printing option.  Other available color label printers may be fast, but not as easy to use or durable as the C7500.  The C7500GE is a great label printing solution.”

The C7500GE costs $9,450 and comes not only with the Wasatch SoftRIP, but also 1 year of on-site service on the printer; a value of $1,029.  The SoftRIP comes with 6 months of support from registration and covers software updates and remote tech support access. 

For professional printers and converters, I see the C7500GE solution as a breakthrough; enabling these companies to offer digital label printing at a fraction of the investment of other options.  For end users, now you can get more precise color matching on-demand.

If you need to have accurate colortone matching, contact us to discuss how the C7500GE fits into your operation.

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com

Purchase the C7500GE here:  https://colorlabelsolutions.com/product/c7500ge-graphics-editon-inkjet-color-label-printer/ 

New Option For Pharmacy/Anesthesia Labels

The Institute for Safe Medication Practice has issued designed principals for safe medication labeling (http://www.ismp.org/tools/guidelines/labelFormats/comments/default.asp).    I wrote about these recommendations in an earlier post: 

http://colorlabelsondemand.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-drug-by-name.html

ClariSafe Label

But how many prescription labels do you see with larger fonts, highlights, pill images and printed on-demand color warnings?  Virtually none.

And did you know the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) issued some years ago recommendations anesthesia labeling. 

http://www.pdchealthcare.com/products/labeling-products/labels-by-type/anesthesia-medication-labels-tapes.html 

As I understand, these recommendations for anesthesia have been widely accepted, but not fully implemented.

Anesthesia Example Label

So why would one set of recommendations be accepted for safer labels, but not the others?  Although I have don’t know for sure, I would bet the primary reason is the printer hardware cost and size.

Pharmacies can’t or don’t want to spend the money for new, color printers.  Current color label printer options cost over $1,000; and as much as $1,800.   To move to color across the world would cost millions of dollars.

In addition, current color label printers would take a great deal of desktop real estate.  Pharmacies have limited space for printing labels.

Now, a new option is available for the printing of color labels on-demand for pharmacies and anesthesia departments.  The ClariSafe printer provides a lower cost and smaller footprint option to print pharmacy labels on-demand.

ClariSafe Label Printer from Addmaster

The ClariSafe Label Printer comes from Addmaster (www.addmaster.com).   For over 52 years, Addmaster has used technology to improve how businesses work— increasing productivity, lowering operating costs and improving profitability. Since the early 1980’s Addmaster has developed and manufactured inkjet printing solutions for the world’s most unique and demanding applications. They have installed over 350,000 Addmaster Inkjet printers worldwide. A hallmark of Addmaster’s design philosophy is to elevate inkjet technology to the highest levels of performance and durability. Today, a vast number of inkjet printers installed decades ago are still in use.

When reviewing the ClariSafe printer, I see two negatives; but a great deal of positives.  As for negatives, you will not use the ClariSafe printer to create label masterpieces.  Although the printer has up to 1200 dpi resolution, you would not use this resolution for production printing.  You need to see this printer as an inexpensive means to produce color coded labels with the capability to add images; at a price much less than using Zebra’s IQ color. 

https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/zebra/product-information/en-gb/brochures-datasheets/supplies-accessories/iqcolor-en-gb.pdf 

With IQ color, you have to order special labels with a preexisting color area made into the label.  You have only a limited number of monochrome colors in a predetermined area.  In addition, you do not have the capability to add images.  The ClariSafe label printer is a much better option for anyone using IQ Color.

In addition to print quality, the second negative is currently no Windows driver exists for the ClariSafe printer. Addmaster has an application to select the image you want to print as a TIFF file; and print on-demand.  But according to Alex Shaffer, Director of Business Development for Addmaster, “we’ll create the application to meet the customer’s need for print on-demand color labels.  With our background in creating unique applications in the banking industry, we have the capability to build browser-based or PDF printing applications for our pharmacy and healthcare customers as well.”

ClariSafe Printing Application

With only 2 negatives, the ClariSafe printer offers many positives.  First, the printer costs only $599.90; 40% less than the current least expensive color label printer and 1/3 the price of the largest selling, affordable color label printer; the C3500.  Alex says, “working with our partner, HP, we created the ClariSafe printer to make it easy and affordable way for pharmacies, healthcare providers and other companies to print color labels on-demand.”  For this new printer, Addmaster used color inkjet technology from HP.  But unlike other HP partner companies, Addmaster created a new printer; not just repurposed an existing printer.  “With our background in producing hundreds of thousands of inexpensive inkjet printers, Addmaster knew how to bring to market an affordable, low cost label printer” says Alex.

Second, the ClariSafe printer has a very fast time to first print.  Watch me print a label using this new printer.

Third, the ClariSafe printer is small; only 7” x 11” x 6”.  This size makes it perfect for desktops where space may be a premium.

ClariSafe

Fourth, the ClariSafe printer uses either continuous or die cut labels; from .5” to 2.5” wide.  With the built-in cutter, you can cut labels to length.  Changing the firmware enables you to use die cut labels as well.  The capability to print small labels and 2D barcodes at a high resolution may make this printer perfect for small electronic labels containing very tiny barcodes.  Currently available 600 DPI thermal transfer printers for electronic barcode labels cost thousands of dollars.

ClariSafe Ink Cartridge

Fifth, the Clarisafe printer uses only one, tri-color cartridge that you can change in seconds.  And when changing the cartridge, you change the printhead, making plug nozzles a thing of the past.  HP’s Inkjet Technology drives the printing; and enables the constant updating of the printhead.  According to Alex, “no plugged nozzles means little to no ink is consumed cleaning inkjet nozzles.  At most, picoliters (1 trillionth of a liter) are wasted. So more ink is available to use to print, lowering your printing cost. Given the low amount of ink is wasted, no maintenance kits are required to hold the wasted ink.  The HP technology makes affordable label printing possible.”

ClariSafe is an interesting new development in the on-demand color label printing market.  If you want to start meeting the recommendations for safer pharmacy or anesthesia labels in color and on-demand; or need an inexpensive way to print color coded labels, contact us to discuss how ClariSafe printer could fit your operation.

Guy Mikel

855-962-7670

info@colorlabelsolutions.com