Archive for June, 2009

Let’s face it, blank sheets of die cut inkjet vinyl labels are expensive regardless of where you buy them. For that reason, Planet Label would like to take a minute to explain the differences in print quality and appearance between the “good” inkjet vinyl labels and the “bad” inkjet vinyl labels on the market today.

Brightness

The first thing you will notice between Planet Label’s Inkjet Vinyl product and the product(s) of other labels manufacturers is the crisp white appearance of the vinyl itself. Our sheet is one of the brightest on the market and serves as an excellent foundation for accurate printed color reproduction and image clarity.

By comparison, other sheets often times have a yellowish tone, which tends to produce darker images with less color contrast and clarity.

Curing, Water Resistance, and General Printability

Inkjet printable vinyl poses some inherent challenges, one of which comes in curing the inkjet inks instantly. While lesser quality vinyl labels may cure in a reasonable period of time when printing a single sheet, this issue becomes critical when printing multiple copies/sheets of labels. As each sheet comes off the printer, its face is then exposed to friction coming from the liner of the next sheet of labels that follow. If the inkjet ink does not cure instantly, this will cause blurring of the image and in worst case obvious smearing.

Planet Label inkjet vinyl features Printlok™ technology, which creates an instant waterproof bond as your labels come off the printer. Water, moisture and friction pose zero threat the quality of print to the inkjet vinyl products from Planet Label.

Those looking to Planetlabel.com as their source for full color printed labels will be pleasantly surprised later this week. The Planetlabel.com staff have been hard at work redeveloping the full color label section to create a new, easier to use interface which simplifies the label buying process while clarifying some of the industry terminology which can be confusing to first time buyers.

In addition to changes in the interface and a simplified buying process, users will also find more competitive pricing. As result of explosive growth in demand for full color printed label products at Planet Label, we have been able to bring prices down on some of our most popular substrates starting at quantities as low as 100 labels!

Lower prices on full color printed labels, a simple user interface, and now FREE ground shipping! In the interest of simplifying the buying process Planet Label has also decided to give away FREE UPS ground shipping on all orders, all the time (excluding Alaska & Hawaii)!

The new and improved Full Color Printed Label Section is set to go live Friday, May 1st. Stop in check it out and let us know what you think!

An older Planet Label article worth a read – Written by Ron Vahle

I wanted to write this short article because this is the time of the year that we start receiving a few questions from our customers wanting to know if we have changed the adhesive on our label stock.

The typical caller states that the labels do no seem to be sticking as well as they did earlier in the year. While there are many factors that may cause labels not to adhere well, this time of year one factor jumps to the front. If you have read a few of my previous posts, you’ll notice I try not to get too technical with my explanations. Keeping in the tradition with the KISS principle, let me suggest that in most cases the cause is cool weather. Cool weather effects label adhesion.

Our labels are warehoused in a temperature controlled facility. Your house, office or warehouse is also probably nice and cozy. So how can cold weather impact performance? Let’s first take a look at the label stock.

After you place the order, we pull the labels, box them up and at the end of the day load them into our friendly UPS driver’s truck. At this point, they spend most of the time in cool to down right freezing delivery trucks. This causes adhesive to become less “tacky”. Depending on the surface you are applying the labels to, the lack of tackiness can be more or less noticeable.

Which brings me to my second point, the surface you are applying the labels to. If you store the objects that receive the labels in a cool or unheated location, it is less likely you will get good adhesion. If at all possible, keep you to be labeled objects in a clean storage facility that is room temperature and away from windows.

Now that we know why this may be happening, how do we fix it? The answer is heat. Allow the labels to sit in a warm area before applying them. It may take a while for them to warm up enough to get the optimal adhesion. It all depends on how cold the labels became and how warm of a spot they are acclimating in.

Adhesive reacts differently to many different substrates. Make sure the products you will be applying the labels to are clean, dry and free from oil and silicon. It is also a good idea to let the objects the labels are going to adhere on acclimate to room temperature as well.

If you have any questions regarding this problem or any other label issue, please feel free to email us at pinfo@planetlabel.com.