Shipping Label Template: Print a Batch of Addresses

A shipping label template is a page of labels laid out for the address that goes on a parcel: the recipient’s name, street, city, state and ZIP code, plus a return address when the parcel needs one. This page opens a shipping label template on a 4 x 2 in label and prints 10 of them on a US Letter sheet, so a batch of orders becomes one page instead of ten separate prints.

The template is a working page, not a picture: the label maker lets you type the sample, paste a list for a batch, change fonts and colors, add a barcode and check the result before printing. Nothing is uploaded, and the PDF, SVG and PNG files download without an account.

Each label on the 5163 layout is 4 x 2 in (about 101.6 x 50.8 mm). Two columns and five rows fill a US Letter page with 10 labels. The columns are 4 3/16 in apart, which leaves a 3/16 in gap between them, and the rows are 2 in apart, so neighbouring labels meet along their long edges.

The grid is centred: 5/32 in from the left and right page edges and 1/2 in from the top and bottom. The label corners have a 0.2 in radius. Avery numbers are compatibility names on this page; the layout is made to fit the sheet, and packs sold as 5263, 8163 or 18163 share it.

A sheet of 10 is usually 10 different addresses, not 10 copies of one. Set the address text to List and paste the batch with one address block per entry. The first block goes on the first label, the second on the second, and the list repeats only when the sheet has more labels than addresses, which is useful when a short run repeats.

The address stays one text element, so a font, size or alignment change applies to every label at once. If a second block of text is needed, such as an order number or a return address, add another element and give it its own list when it changes per parcel, or leave it the same on every label when it does not.

Write the destination in the order a carrier reads it: recipient name, street address with any apartment or suite on its own line, then city, state and ZIP code. Use the two letter state abbreviation and the five digit ZIP code, and keep the block to three or four short lines. A phone number is useful for a courier but belongs on the carrier’s own label or a separate line, not in the middle of the address.

Legibility matters more than decoration. Set the address in a clean sans serif at 10 to 12 pt on a 4 x 2 in label from this shipping label template, keep a margin between the text and the label edge, and avoid long lines that shrink the type. The label maker’s checks warn when text falls under 6 pt, and the preview shows the label at its printed proportions.

A carrier’s own shipping label carries the tracking barcode, the service level and the routing information the carrier needs, and it is issued when the parcel is booked. The shipping label template on this page prints the address block that goes with the parcel. When a carrier label already includes the address, keep this sheet for the parts the carrier label does not cover: a return address, an internal order reference or a delivery note.

If your own process needs a barcode beside the address, the label maker can add a UPC-A, EAN-13, UPC-E, EAN-8, Code 128 or QR code from the barcode generator engine, with the check digit added and a warning when a retail barcode is too small or its quiet zone is crowded. It is your barcode, not a carrier’s tracking label.

Choose 100% or Actual size in the print dialog, never Fit to page or Scale to fit. A page scaled a few percent drifts further with every row and the bottom labels miss the paper. Print the test page on plain paper first: it draws the label outlines and a 1 in and 25 mm square, so you can hold it against a blank sheet and check the fit before using labels.

If the outlines are shifted the same way all over the sheet, measure the shift, enter the printer offset and print the test page again. The first print on labels is then much less likely to waste a sheet. The Sheet PDF is useful for a print shop or a second printer, and the preview and the PDF use the same layout numbers.