Hi sherpaj,
The operative terms you are looking for here are “short run” and
“custom labels” or “nameplate.” With new digital printing processes
companies can now produce short runs of labels with little or no setup
charge. Colors, shapes and substrates are virtually unlimited. Gone
are the days of high setup fees and minimum orders!
As an example, I went to this company and priced out your labels.
MAVERICK LABEL.COM
http://www.mavericklabel.com/
* Label quantities from just 1 on up
* Custom label printing by TOMORROW
* ANY size or shape with NO printing setup fees or die or tooling
charges
* Prototype labels before printing your larger quantities
* Use virtually any kind of material
I chose:
24 labels
.5” x 1”
Customer-supplied artwork
PVC plastic substrate
1 color – blue
Price: 24/ $ 65.79 ; 100 / $84.53
The only thing I couldn’t take into account for the Instant Quote was
the shape of the label. If they don’t offer the shape you need, you
could choose oval or circle and trim it yourself to make it fit
exactly.
In fact, what I would suggest is that you include in your artwork the
actual trim lines so they’ll be printed on each label. I’ve done that
for other short-run projects like 4-dozen custom hang-tags it saved
lots of time (and the expense of a custom die cut).
Here are some other online companies that accept short run orders.
I’ve made notes on each ---
HRM DESIGN
http://www.hrmdesign.com/custom%20labels%20and%20decals.htm
Does short runs. Offers limited shapes. Quote request must be
submitted via online form.
ADVANCED BARCODE AND LABEL TECHNOLOGY
http://www.ablt.com/
Says they do short run but they don’t define how short. (Sometimes
industrial short run is more like 500 or 1000) Do offer dome labels.
No online quote.
FOREMOST GRAPHICS COMMUNICATIONS
http://formostgc.labelserve.com/
Hmmm.. the exact same website as Maverick, above. Not sure what that
means. They are in 2 different states, so maybe the same company with
2 locations? Or one company uses the other as its service bureau.
AMHERST LABEL
http://www.amherstlabel.com/index.html
More of a high-end design company. “Quantities from one to a million.”
No online quote.
These may be the people you want to actually speak to to ask the
technical questions about your label; things like best stock to use,
type of adhesive, protective coatings, etc. They feel more like
professionals than the other “quick print” type companies.
TUCSON LABEL COMPANY
http://www.tucsonlabel.com/digital.htm
No minimum order. Says “any shape.” Online quote submission form.
DEC-O-ART INC.
http://www.dec-o-art.com/index.html
Short run not defined. Online quote submission form. Offers dome
(“Deco-Lens”) and nameplate labels.
CUTTING EDGE INC
http://www.cuttingedgeinc.com/np.htm
Offers full array of nameplates. No minimum order. Domed labels.
By the way, almost all of these companies offer consecutive numbering
on the label if that’s something that would be of use to you.
I think that should give you a good start in finding the labels you
need for your pagers. As you can see, setup charges on short-runs are
pretty much non-existent. There are plenty more companies online if
the ones I’ve provided don’t fulfill your needs. I did a thorough
search (10 pages in to the Google returns) using the terms:
“short run” “custom label”
However, I only barely scratched the surface (2 pages) of the results
of the search:
“short run” “nameplate”
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=+%22short+run%22+nameplate&btnG=Google+Search
You might like to take a look at that search yourself. I noticed most
of the results that came up are repeats of what we’ve already seen,
but there are probably some more companies out there we’ve missed.
One issue you’ll want to explore with the printing company is the type
of adhesive used for the label. Some plastics do not hold certain
adhesives well. For example, I used laser-generated labels on a phone
once, and they just turned sticky and fell off. You’ll want to make
sure the printing company knows what you are adhering the label to.
In answer to your final question regarding the dome sticker – use of a
dome sticker would prevent you from being able to do custom trimming
yourself. The “dome” is fastened to the edges of the label. Given the
nature of the shape of the sticker, I imagine that you would first
have to pay for a custom die-cut, and then have the dome applied after
that. My guess is that this would be costly.
I would talk to the people at either the Dec-o-Art company or the
Amherst Label company and ask them that question. Both of those seem
like companies that do more than just mass production. They could
steer you in the right direction I’m sure.
I hope I’ve given you enough information that you can pursue your
label project. Just so you know where I’m coming from, I spent 10
years running a graphic design studio. I had plenty of clients who
needed labels that I designed, priced and ordered for them.
Unfortunately, those were the days before digital printing and the
minimum order requirements often killed the deal. I’m glad to see
technology has moved forward in that regard.
Best of luck with your project. If anything I’ve said is not clear,
please feel free to ask for clarification.
--K~
PS – I’d like to personally thank you for your repeat business here at
Google Answers. It’s always nice to see customers who recognize the
value in our service and who are satisfied with their answers enough
to come back with more questions. I appreciate your confidence in us.
Search terms:
“custom label” “short run”
“Short run” “nameplate” |
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