FAQ: How many lines can a LabelWriter print?

A common question we get is "How many lines of text will fit onto an address label?", and sometimes "how many characters can I get per line". The simple answer is - it depends... how big is the label and how big do you want the text...? (and how good is your eyesight!)

This is a difficult question to answer for two reasons -

1. It depends on the size of the label
2. It depends how big you want the text

First and most obviously, the bigger the label the more text you'll fit on it - so if you're planning to print a lot of lines of text while using a relatively large font then use a bigger label!

The second question is more difficult due to the way the LabelWriter works - it doesn't use a specific font or fixed size, so there are no specific limits on the number of characters per line or the number of lines.  Basically, you can have more than you will probably ever need for the simple reason that the text automatically shrinks to fit the label.  So as you type off the right edge of the label the text will start to shrink as your typing.  Additionally, if you're not going up to the right edge but you start going off the bottom edge then again it will shrink to fit.

I'm sure there is some technical limit, but in reality the text will most likely be so small it will become unreadable before you reach such a limit.

As an example I quickly knocked together the above label, which is a 54x101mm Shipping Label (99014).  We use these ourselves for address labels and the template we've created is big enough of 7 address lines, plus a single "return to" address line at the top of the label, plus a dividing line between the two.  The 7 address lines are in a large easily readable font.

But just to test how much I could really squash on there I did a little test.  First I created a line of text 100 characters long, then I copied and pasted the line until I filled the entire label - which was a whopping 27 lines.  While it may be unreadable in the picture above, depending on your monitor and your eyesight, when I printed it the text was remarkably clear and readable.  I upped the number of lines to 40 and the text was still readable, although somewhat lighter and smaller than before.  And this was printing on an old Labelwriter 400 which only prints at 300x300dpi - the newer Labelwriter 450 series prints at an enahnced 600x300dpi resolution.  I also doubled the number of characters to 200 per line and the printed text was still readable, but probably reaching the limits of practicality!

But this is an extreme example - unless you're planning to print a novel onto address labels you'd never need to go this small.  6-7 lines is plenty for an address, and most address lines won't go beyond 20-30 characters.

So the simple answer is... lots... depending on how small you're prepared to let the text get.  And how small can the text get? Very small!