Here at Planet Label we receive dozens of calls from customers asking how to go about formatting Microsoft Word templates for circular labels.  In this blog post we will go through some basics about Microsoft Word, and provide some quick how to on the best ways to work with templates for circle labels.

First, there are some things that the user should understand about Microsoft Word.  Word is a powerful program that can provide a user with the basic tools to do anything from word processing, to writing & editing HTML code to develop a basic website.  As result, Microsoft Word can be best described as a jack of all trades, but as the old adage goes – master to none.

Circles

Where Word is particularly deficient is in providing a clear and consistent interface for using label templates, more specifically circles.  Word templates are all created on an X/Y or height/width axis, and cannot account for non-liner (rounded) objects meaning that a template for a 1” x 1” square template is also used for a 1” diameter circle.  As you can see below I have downloaded the template for item LT6005-120C, which is a 3/4” circle.  Each editable area in the table appears as a ¾” x ¾” square, illustrating the issue described above.

Label Template for LT6005-120C

So how do you account for this deficiency?  Well, the answer is more complicated that most would like, but fortunately the user has a few options.

1.)    Create your  ¾” circle (for this case) graphics using a professional design software or application and “insert” the saved circular artwork file  as you would any other image into an MS Word document.  This ensures that your graphic will fit into the each cell of the template/table without concerns about running over the edge of the label.  There are plenty of great options for free software if you don’t have Photoshop, Illustrator or another.  See our previous post for design software suggestions here.

2.)    Trial and error – Quite possibly the toughest option, but very do-able if your circle labels contain just text content.  What we suggest is to set up the template, and rather than print to a more expensive sheet of labels, start with plain copier paper.  Once printed the copier paper can be held up to the labels to verify that all text and or images will fall with the outer perimeter or border of your circular labels.

3.)    Eyeing it up – Since the user has a clearly defined idea of how tall and wide  each cell is in the template, eyeing up a circle is relatively easy.  Again, this option is best used when text is being applied without the use of an image.

Printing – Labels and Text Don’t Line up

One of the most common problems we hear, is actually one of the easiest to fix.  If all labels appear “squished” or just off in one or more direction be sure that the “Scale to Paper Size” setting is set to “No Scaling.”  Your labels may very well be perfectly aligned on the screen, but your printer plays by its own set of rules and will often times ignore template inputs unless set otherwise.

Page Scaling Location Menu in MS Word

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