Print Venipak labels on a thermal label printer (100×150)

Venipak uses one label size for every parcel: 100×150 mm, the standard size for 4-inch thermal label printers. This guide shows where to choose the label format in Venipak's webshop plugins and how to set up a Zebra, TSC or Honeywell printer so each label prints full size and scans first time.

Before you start

Venipak's labelling guidelines apply to every parcel, whether it goes to a door, a pickup point or a Venipak locker (pakiautomaat in Estonia, pakomāts in Latvia, paštomatas in Lithuania):

• Labels are printed only in 100×150 mm, only through the Venipak online system, on adhesive paper.
• The parcel needs one side big enough for the whole label. Stick the label on the upper side; a label on a side means the parcel has to be turned to scan it. Don't fold or crumple the label.
• One label per parcel. Remove old labels completely; crossing them out is not enough.
• Don't put tape over the label. Venipak warns that tape makes the barcode unreadable.
• Use a high-quality printer: Venipak warns that poor print quality makes the barcode unreadable.

Create and print labels in your Venipak account

Contract customers register shipments in their Venipak account. Venipak describes the steps like this:

1. Log in to your Venipak account and register the shipment under Register packages › New shipment › Create new › New package. The labels are registered and a parcel list is created.
2. Print the labels on your label printer and stick one on each parcel.
3. Print the parcel list, then book the pick-up under Call a courier › New call.

No contract? Venipak's Send a parcel service emails the shipping documents after you pay online. Open the PDF and check its page size before you print it on the label printer.

Choose the sticker format in your webshop plugin

Venipak lists plugins for WooCommerce, Shopify, OpenCart, Magento 2, PrestaShop and Mozello on its e-commerce page. They send the order to Venipak and let you print the label from your shop admin. The WooCommerce, Shopify and Magento plugins also offer A4, a full-page format, and the WooCommerce plugin uses A4 until you change it. For a label printer, choose the sticker size:

The plugins also print the manifest, the parcel list for the courier. For the shop side, see Shopify shipping labels on a thermal printer and WooCommerce shipping labels on a thermal printer.

Load 100×150 mm labels and calibrate

Shipping labels are normally direct thermal, so no ribbon is needed. Our 100×150 mm direct thermal labels (500 pcs) and eco direct thermal labels (1000 pcs) are made for this. Thermal transfer labels only print with a ribbon loaded.

"40 g" and "76 g" in the product names mean the core diameter in millimetres, not the weight. Compare the core and the roll diameter with your printer's specification before you order. Desktop models such as the Zebra ZD220/ZD230, TSC DA210/DA220 and Honeywell PC42E take rolls up to 127 mm in diameter, and each model accepts only certain core sizes. The 1,000-label rolls have a 76 mm core, which the ZD220/ZD230 and PC42E don't list, so ask us which roll suits your printer.

Load the roll with the printable side facing the printhead, then calibrate so the printer learns the 150 mm label length: see Zebra ZD220/ZD230, TSC DA210/DA220 or Honeywell PC42E calibration.

Set the label size in the driver

Windows must know that the label is 100×150 mm. Otherwise it sends an A4 page, and the label prints tiny or cut off.

• Zebra (ZDesigner driver): in Printing preferences, open Page Setup › Media Settings and set 100 mm wide and 150 mm high. Under Print Options, set Printing mode to Thermal Direct for labels without ribbon. Full steps: Zebra 100×150 shipping labels.
• TSC (Windows driver by Seagull): in Printing preferences, open Page Setup, click New under Stock, enter a name, width 100 mm and height 150 mm, click OK and select the new stock. Full steps: TSC 100×150 shipping labels.
• Honeywell PC42E (InterDriver): set the label width to 100 mm and the height to 150 mm in the driver's printing preferences. Full steps: Honeywell PC42E 100×150 shipping labels.

Print the PDF at the right size

1. Open the Venipak label PDF, choose Print and select your label printer. The paper size should show 100×150 mm.
2. If the PDF page is exactly 100×150 mm (4×6 in), print at actual size (100 %). For any other label-sized page, such as A6, choose Fit to page; the option may also be called fit or shrink to printable area.
3. Choose portrait, or let the program choose the orientation.
4. Print one label and scan its barcode before you print the whole batch.

Never shrink an A4 or A5 sheet onto a single label: the barcode becomes too small to scan. Change the format to sticker size in the plugin instead.

Common problems