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Rank: New User
Posts: 3 
Hi there,
I have been using the ol1762 for a new product label and I have been unable to get the template to align with the label sheet under any condition. It is always off by at least 1/16" at minimum, and the template seems to print 1/16" too far to the left by default. I understand that there is some margin for error here, but I need to be able to produce a decent label. It is almost like the alignment drifts off diagonally as the sheet prints.
My concern is that this has happened on the 1.5" round label for me as well. I am wondering if the sheets are possibly cut crooked, or the templates are actually off.
I have tried printing with different scale formats, including none at all, as well as using 2 different printers. I have used the PDF template and the maestro application, and I have printed at least 10 different test sheets. I started just printing on plain paper and holding it up to light to check the alignment. The issue is consistently across the x and y axis, but is also an issue for each label individually.
If I align the 2 middle labels in the sheet with my test print sheet, the labels above and below do not align with the template. The label outline itself is accurate and matches on both prints exactly- which tells me it is not a scale issue.
I also went ahead and measured the printed template against the label sheet, and they do not match.
I don't know what else to do here, but I would really like this to work. I designed my product label around this particular shape assuming the print would not be an issue. I really want to resolve this issue, any thoughts?
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 Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
I'm sorry to hear about the issues that you are experiencing. I am confident that we can help troubleshoot and resolve the issue. I will need to get some more details from you in order to get a further understanding of the issue. Are you using our Maestro Label Designer software? If not, what software are you using to format the labels and which of our templates did you download? I looked up your email address in our system, but I don't see any orders or any saved Maestro Label Designer files under that email address. I do see several sample requests. I assume you ordered using a different email address than the email address that you used to log in to post to this forum. Based on what you are explaining it sounds like it something related to the template. Please provide some additional details and we can try to further troubleshoot. Also, here are some critical items that we think are very important when it comes to getting your labels formatted to print correctly. http://www.onlinelabels.com/Support/Maestro/AlignmentGuide/Alignment-Guide.aspxIt sounds like this is a template issue that you are experiencing so the recommendations above will not likely resolve the issue, but I think they are helpful either way.
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Rank: New User
Posts: 3
Hey there,
Thanks for the reply. I believe that I have solved my own problem, and have found some things that may help other customers as well.
I really dont know if the templates are wrong, but I did have to go in to two separate templates (ol2088 and ol1762) and move the shapes 1/32" down and left to center the labels.
The biggest thing that made a difference was that I printed the template blank, and found that there is a definite "top" of the page. You must find which edge of the labels is the top edge to get a match with the template. This alone accounted for the majority of my alignment issues, but I do believe that all of the templates that I used are at least 1/32" out of alignment.
The Ol1762 was actually off by 1/32 for each column, so I had to move the left column over 1/32 to the right, and the right column had to move 1/16" to the right.
But, in the end I got an almost perfect print. I just dont know if all of your customers have the ability to edit the templates like I do. I am using adobe Illustrator, so it is fairly easy.
I highly suggest that you look into this. It was a pretty big setback for me, and I almost just dropped it and went elsewhere.
Im not upset with onlinelabels or anything, I think you guys are great, but this was way more complicated than expected.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
I'm glad to hear that you were able to solve the issue. Generally speaking, our sheets do not have a top or bottom. They should have even margins all around. In some cases, during the production process we get small variances in the top / bottom / left / right that can cause the sheets to not have perfect margins effectively making it so there is a top / bottom to the sheet. We normally try to make sure are margins are within 0.0625" (1/16th of an inch) of the margins specified on the dimensions page for the item on our website.
It does sound like there may be a template issue. I need to look into templates to make sure that are templates on our site are exactly the same as the tooling that we are using to make the labels. I assume you are using our PDF templates that are provided on the site? Can you confirm that you used the PDF templates from our site?
I also highly recommend that you add bleed to your design and give yourself room for at least 0.125" (1/8th of an inch) of movement when printing. If your design doesn't have much margin of error, you will waste a lot of sheets in the process of printing your labels.
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Rank: New User
Posts: 3
I tried the PDF and Maestro, and had issues with both.
I suggest you spend some time with the templates, label sheets, and a light box.
I got way closer with my adjustments than your templates alone. I think anybody having problems could benefit from this info.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
I will have one of our team members investigate our templates for the OL1762 to make sure they are correct.
Thanks for the feedback. Feel free to contact us if we can help out in any way.
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Rank: New User
Posts: 1
I am also having problems with the OL2088. I have tried on 2 different printers. I am using the Maestro template and saving it as a pdf. I do not have the ability to add bleed to my design. Also, I have a text box in the middle of the label. The area around the text is a different color than the back ground of the entire label. I don't want to see the "box". Any suggestions on either issue.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
I went into our system and reviewed your most recent design on the OL2088 labels (Snickerdoodle). The first thing that that I notice is the fact that you don't have bleed on the design. You definitely need to have bleed on this design to have any chance of getting good prints. I noticed that your uploaded image is exactly the size of the label. Are you able to go into the program that you used to create the original image and extend the gray circular area to 1.75" rather than 1.5". Once you do that, you can upload the new image into Maestro Label Designer with the bleed already on it. If that is not an option, you can use take your existing image/design that you have on the computer and use an image program on your computer to break out the 2 pieces with wording to create 2 separate images. Once you have the 2 images (the top image and the bottom image) as separate files with the gray background already on them, you can upload them into Maestro Label Designer. Once you do that you can create a background that matches the gray color. You can then bleed that background over the edge of the label. I am happy to further clarify these steps if they are not clear. I did a test print on my end and I am not seeing a difference in color where the text box is on the sheet and the background color. In some cases, it has to do with how your printer renders the PDF file. Please try the option below to see if it fixes the issue. http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/quick-fix-print-pdf-image.htmlThanks. I hope these recommendations are helpful.
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Rank: New User
Posts: 1
I too have problems on a variety of labels. They often come off 1/16" to the side, top or both. I've printed head alignment pages on the printer but to no avail.
I tried the Maestro, it helped a little bit, but still a small white line on the side and top.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
Sarcomere - Can you provide some additional information so we can troubleshoot the issue? Which of our products are you using? Are the white lines showing up on every label on the sheet or just the labels on the outside margin of the sheet? Did you bleed your design over the edge of label (see this article on bleed - http://www.onlinelabels.com/Support/Maestro/AlignmentGuide/Printer-Bleed.aspx)? Let me know and we can try to help troubleshoot the issue. Thanks. Dave
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Looks like this is a common issue. I am using templates OL383SW and OL381SW. The design is slightly to the left and looks to drift further left as you go down the page. I adjusted the left margin but it still drifts and I have yet to get it to print correctly. Also I discovered that that I needed to load the paper to my printer with the arrow pointing away from the printer to get the labels to remove left to right. I did not realize the margins were so different Left to Right so when I reversed the feed direction of the paper it wasn't even close. I assumed the template was symetrical but definately not. I would suggest you specify somewhere that detail so other users don't waste product as I did. I really didn't think this would be so difficult. I am extremely frustrated and about ready to scrap the project because it looks like I will miss my deadline if I can't get this figured out soon.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
Jeanne - Thanks for the feedback. Rather than try to trouble shoot this issue over this forum post, I will have one of our customer service representatives contact you tomorrow to work with you on the issues that you are experiencing.
I am confident that we can work with you to help you successfully complete your project. We are also happy to provide some additional sheets if you have wasted sheets during the set up process.
Thanks.
Dave
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Thank You very much for the prompt phone call to help me with this issue. The immediate issue was resolved by a redesign to make it more forgiving to the label issues I was experiencing. Although they were not perfect they came out pretty nice. I ordered 2 types of labels and it seems the issue I had was isolated to the one specific type. Thanks to your excellent response to my issue I will not hesitate to order from you for my future projects. I am confident that you have already investigated the quality issue we discussed. My job is in quality and I understand how these things can sometimes slip by. I am most impressed with your prompt eagerness to rectify the situation any way possible. Thank you for saving me from my own frustration and helping me complete my project. The cigar labels were a hit in the end and that is what matters. To anyone reading this now that is experiencing frustration..........don't hesitate to call them, they will definately help you figure it out and make it right.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
Jeanne - Thanks for the positive feedback. We appreciate your comments and look forward to working with you on future projects.
Dave
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Hello I'm also having a really tough time printing the 4 inch round labels (3.925). I'm wasting ink and paper. Sometimes they print great but most of the time they print way off from the template. The eps template doesn't align with the stickers at all! I printed a blank of the eps template and matched it up to the stickers and they are off. I'm not sure what's going on but I'm ready to throw in the towel. I'm using illustrator and eps template. I've also tried it with the pdf template with same issues. I also use bleeds but the stickers are so close together that it doesn't allow for much wiggle room.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
Sara - Can you provide some more specific details on how the template is off? How much is it off and in what direction?
Are you printing directly out of Adobe Illustrator or are you generating a PDF and then printing from Adobe Reader?
There is always going to be some movement when printing so you definitely want the template layer to be set non-printing in your Illustrator file. Are you setting the template layer to non-printing in your Illustrator file so you are not printing the die lines? It is also critical that you have some bleed on your design (color going over the edge of the label).
Let me know more specific details on the way in which it is off and I can offer some suggestions to resolve the issue.
Thanks.
Dave
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Thanks, I do have bleeds on all of my designs. I line them up perfectly with the template (with bleeds) and it rarely comes out properly. Can you all check the template on your end please? I don't see non-printing mode with the die lines but I don't think it matters because I send them to the back of my designs so you can't visually see them. Please advise. Sometimes the die lines print when I need to shift my design and they don't line up with the actual cuts on the paper. Please advise.
Sara
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Rank: OnlineLabels Rep Posts: 895 Was thanked: 84 time(s) in 78 post(s)
Sara -
I'm sorry to hear about the issues that you've experienced. I've spent some time this morning analyzing both the PDF and EPS templates for our product OL7425 and have found that they are formatted correctly. To verify, I used Adobe Illustrator to create and print designs using both templates. The designs consisted of a thick, color border and centered text. In both cases, when printing from Adobe Illustrator the designs printed perfectly aligned.
There are a few additional suggestions I can make that could potentially improve the alignment of your printed labels.
- It's very important to make sure that page scaling is disabled with any software that you are using to print labels. If you check the scaling options when reviewing your print settings, and scaling is set to something like "Fit To Page" or "Custom Scaling" the labels will almost certainly print misaligned.
- Label material is thicker than standard copy paper. Some printer models have a difficult time feeding thicker materials, which can sometimes cause misalignment. If you haven't already, try setting the material type option in your print settings to a heavier material, such as labels, heavy paper, or cardstock. This should result in the sheets feeding more slowly through the printer, and often leads to better aligned prints.
- If you've tried making the adjustments listed above, and you're still experienced misaligned prints when printing from Adobe Illustrator, try saving the completed template as a PDF file and then opening the saved PDF file within the newest version of Adobe Reader. Some customers have reported better alignment when printing from the newest version of Adobe Reader - this may have something to do with the version of Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop they were using to print their labels. If you do opt to print from Adobe Reader, remember to make sure that page scaling is set to "Actual Size".
If you've tried the suggestions provided above and are still experiencing issues, please feel free to contact our customer service department for technical support. One of our representatives will be happy to take a look at your template and work with you to improve your alignment. You can reach our customer service department directly by calling 1-888-575-2235. You may also click on the link below to submit a support ticket.
https://secure.onlinelabels.com/Support/SupportRequest.aspx
I hope this information helps. If you need any additional details please just let me know!
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Rank: New User
Posts: 1
Hello,
I am having similar issues with OL288. Everything is printing too far to the right. I'm using Maestro to design and Adobe to print. I began compensating by moving everything over in my label to the left, but I don't think this is very wise to do with every label.
Please let me know.
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Rank: Label King Posts: 770 Location: Sanford Was thanked: 46 time(s) in 45 post(s)
Originally Posted by: j0leax3  Hello,
I am having similar issues with OL288. Everything is printing too far to the right. I'm using Maestro to design and Adobe to print. I began compensating by moving everything over in my label to the left, but I don't think this is very wise to do with every label.
Please let me know.
I checked your account and it appears the item you are experiencing an issue with alignment on is item OL2088 (1.5" circular labels) not item OL288. I checked your saved design in Maestro Label Designer and it does appear that you are having to make a pretty big adjustment to the left which isn't normal. Small adjustments are sometimes necessary when working with circular labels. I would like to establish that the issue isn't a page scaling issue when printing. Is the alignment only off left / right or is it off top / bottom also? Can you confirm that your page scaling in Adobe Reader is set to "Actual Size"? Can you measure the left / right margins on the label sheet? I want to confirm the sheet is cut correctly and within our quality tolerances. The left / right margins should be 0.25". Let me know and we can continue to troubleshoot the issue. Thanks. Dave C. OnlineLabels.com
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