Online Labels Forum

Has anyone had issues with labels shifting when printing on glossy paper? Not an alignment issue, but the print actually shifts as it prints. So for example, the pictures attached show what's going on. When I choose glossy paper, the far-right label has a very thin border on the right side. Then by the time it gets to the middle label it's actually centered. And finally the far-left label has shifted so it's off centered to the left with practically no border. There's no issue with the vertical alignment, it remains consistent.

Now if I keep the setting as Plain Paper then it works perfect. Everything aligns great and I have no issues. Obviously, I can't just print on my glossy labels like this because it uses the wrong black ink and it never dries.

I'm using Adobe Acrobat Pro to print. Labels were designed in Abobe Illustrator and then transferred to Maestro for the template via pdf. I'm printing at actual size. The only settings I'm adjusting is the detail to best and paper to glossy. I've tried this on 4 different printers and get the same results. An HP Officejet 250 Mobile, HP Envy 4500, HP Officejet Pro 9015, and a Canon TR8620a. This problem is consistent across all 4 platforms. See images below for a visual example.

The following is more of a rant about their support, so feel free to skip this part, lol. I've reached out to Online Labels, but their support isn't consistent, responsive, or realistic. I reached out over email at first and received a canned response. Then I filled out their survey and received the same canned response. So, then I called support and the first person I talked to was actually somewhat helpful in that she read my emails from the associated ticket. She was quiet for a minute as she read over the details and saw my pictures and didn't ask stupid questions I had already answered. She was as baffled as me and said she was going to escalate the problem and call me back. So, I waited and then called back on the third day after no follow up. The second person on the phone was not interested or helpful in any way. First, she didn't take any time to read what I had already typed out twice detailing the problem. Her first suggestion was not to use a web browser to print the labels!! Which was a dead giveaway that she didn't look at my emails and was giving me the same dumb canned response, I had already received twice though email. Then she apparently my first call was never escalated, or at least according to her. Then she suggested I change the size to 103 percent even though the borders across the top were perfect. Her last suggestion was to reach out to the printer manufacturer. I'm sure HP will jump right on that considering I'm having issues with their labels across different platforms.

Glossy Paper Setting

Plain Paper Setting

Thank you, Jessica, for the reply. I'm using a 1/8" bleed and margin. See attached. The problem is the shift. Say even if I made my border the full 1/8", I would still have uneven borders. So that's just not a solution to me. Especially considering if I just use the plain paper option there is absolutely 0 shift.

Bleed & Margins

And your second recommendation is actually what's causing the problem. If I print with plain paper as the setting, the alignment is consistent. I mean I still have to adjust the margins, but it stays consistent across the page. There's no shift. However, when I choose any glossy option, it creates this shift the slowly misaligns the labels as it prints. Is there a certain paper options I need to choose that will eliminate this? I've tried Glossy Photo Paper, Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss, Photo Paper Plus Glossy II. My printer has two black inks, BK and PGBK. If I don't choose a glossy option, then the printer uses the black pigment ink instead of the dye cartridge that easily smears on glossy paper.

Paper Options

This is extremely frustrating as I've gone through almost $50.00 worth of labels with 0 usability.

Boy Howdy, we have a solution!! You're the bomb Jessica! I was not aware of that option in the print settings to disable PGBK Ink. I was able to print with plain paper as the option even though I'm using glossy, and it forced the printer to use the dye black ink cartridge so it doesn't wipe off while avoiding the shift created when using other paper options. Conclusion, usable labels! :)

For anyone else having this issue this option is under "Page Setup" as she says, but you have to go to "Properties" first in the Print Dialog Box. It's not in the "Page Setup" on the first menu. See below image for where it's found.

Print Dialog Box Walkthrough