printing labels

[markct]

we have been buying the blank sugarhill jugs and printing labels on the clear plastic label material for our jugs, they look great, my girlfriend designed them very nicely with our log and all the info and all. the only problem is the ordinary computer printer ink isnt waterproof so if they get wet it makes a them run and rub off. anyone have any ideas or know if waterproof ink cartridges are available for ordinary computer printers, they are just black and white

[3rdgen.maple]

Im a printer by trade and I can say that home printers will rub off with moisture. Burn a copy of your design to a cd and take it to a local printer. You can even save money by supplying the lable stock for them. Avoid the ups, fed-ex, kinko's etc. they are much more expensive than your non franchise printers. Color copies are around 25 to 35 cents apeice if they supply the paper. Black and white here in ny is half that maybe even less. Try to find a printer with a copier, they all have them. The toner(ink) goes through a fuser that reaches temps up to 400 degrees so it is fused into the paper. Have them run you a sample and see if you like the results. This is your best bet.

[tuckermtn]

not sure if they take custom artwork, but places like checksinthemail.com can print waterproof labels pretty quickly

[timbers]

We use a samsung colour laser, its very small prints colour at 4ppm and works great. As we only make a 100 gallons of syrup a year so we dont need a lot of labels..You can run clear or white labels thru the printer. Ian

[softmaple]

here is the process that i have come up with that i posted a few years ago. hope this helps

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=2643

[Clan Delaney]

I saw a trick in the last issue of Make Magazine. Take one of the sheets of labels you're using and peel everything off the front. Run the paper through the printer and print onto that exposed glossy surface. Then take your clear label and place it over the printing and lift it off, just like taking a fingerprint. Now the printing is on the back side of the label, and immune from being washed off.

It's potentially time consuming, and I can't remember if it's supposed to work with inkjet printers (the ink may just pool on the paper). It may just be for toner printers.

[HHM-07]

I am a retired printer, there is a difference between a printer and a retired printer my thoughts would be to take your jugs to a screen printer along with your art work and they will print your label right on to your jugs, it gives them a real pro look

good luck Dick

[3rdgen.maple]

HHM-07 I have seen a screen printer print on jugs before was pretty cool to watch. He had a special machine to do it with though. There was a guy at the Maple show in ny that does that for a living. Company name is Hillside Plastics Inc. in Ma. Got the price sheet from him qt jug price was 1.103 each but that included the bottle and cap and 3 colors artwork and screens were 250 which is a one time fee and setup charges were 20. Initial cost is hard to take but after that each time you order there is only the setup charge plus the jugs and printing. I don't think you can order generic printed jugs for 1.103.

[BryanEx]

This is interesting and right up the alley I was researching. Is there a place that has formatted labels available specifically for printing off a home computer? I print with (black) laser so running isn't an issue but wanted to find a source for labels that I could custom print who made the syrup and the date. I run a bit of a different operation where customers make their own syrup and I would like to add their names and dates to the couple of bottles they make and take home with them but so far haven't found much outside the typical office supply type label formats.

- Bryan Ex

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Hillsides plastics is Sugarhill jugs and you can have your own private label and there is a $ 20 setup fee everything they print for each size jug if I understand correctly and initial charge for the screen to print the jugs with.

[markct]

brianex, the design of the labels is my girlfriends own design, she took a picture of the sugarhouse and added onto it and made up the crowhill sugarhouse logo with the maple leaf, she did it all with photoshop program. i dont know much about that stuff, but she does that for a living designing advertising material and all for a large glue company so she took care of it. as for the material it was just sticky stuff in sheets from staples and we nest them together on a page and i cut them apart. so i have to wonder it sounds like laser would be the easy way to go, are laser printers very expensive or should i just look into getting one of them?

[BryanEx]

markct... laser printers are cheap these days and even the colour lasers are about the same a a photo quality ink-jet printer. The problem with ink-jet is that the cheap ones have ink that runs if it gets wet (moist) at all and the more expensive ones will still run but it takes some work. My wife has also found out that some printers may be inexpensive to purchase but the replacement ink cartridges cost more than the printer. Laser is actually melted onto your label or document instead of sprayed on so it will not run regardless of how wet it may get. If you are looking for durability then laser (b&w or colour) is the way to go.

WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER... Right idea but I'm not looking for any kind of production run. My operation is a little different being a "brew your own syrup" type deal. I'm looking at printing two larger labels and two smaller ones customized with each customer's name and date. The labels themselves can all be the same but the area where most add their name and address I want to be able to custom print. The only way I've been able to do it so far is to buy printed labels and then use file folder labels for the individual client names and dates.

Btw... I run a small time op with only 50 taps but with the brew your own set up earn about $86/gallon. If anyone is interested in how I'm running things I can certainly start a new thread to share my ideas. As a small time producer I can't see a better way of maximizing profits providing you are willing to invest every weekend during the syrup season.

- Bryan Ex

[softmaple]

mark we use the avery labels 15516 laser lables and i print 12 to a sheet, these lables stick to glass supper. we also got an HP Color laser jet at staples for 350 bucks thats network ready. the cutter i found has a hole in the middle so its real easy to center the design to cut it out. its for button making and is adjustable for multi size lables

[gmcooper]

Many producers order rolls of return address labels for syrup containers. We use clear labels with 4 lines of print. A few we know use gold color labels and I have seen a few producers use other colors. I think we order 500 or 1000 at a time rolls are 250 labels each I think. Costs around $12 for 1000. The labels will stick best when the jugs are still hot from filling. They will conform to the jugs a bit better if the jug is warm. For glass we stick the label on the hang tag.
Mark

[markct]

well i got a black and white laser printer from staples for 89 bucks and it does the trick wonderfully, no running ink when they get wet and very crisp printing.