Why labels print out of alignment, and how to fix it

The text starts inside the labels at the top of the sheet, but by the bottom row it is sitting on the edge. Or every label is a few millimetres too low. Both are common, and both can be fixed, but they have different causes. Find out which one you have before changing anything.

Step 1: Find the pattern

1. Print one page on plain paper, not on labels.
2. Hold the printout on top of an empty label sheet and put both against a bright window. The light shows exactly where each label edge falls under the text.
3. Compare the top left label with the bottom right one.

Now match what you see:

• Uniform shift: every label is off by the same amount in the same direction, for example all 2 mm too low. Your printer places the page slightly differently. Go to fix a uniform shift.
• Growing drift: the top row is close but each row gets worse, or the middle is fine while the corners drift inwards or outwards. The page is being resized, by scaling or by the wrong paper size. Go to fix scaling and fix the paper size. An offset cannot fix this.
• One label or row out of step: usually a label with too much text grew and pushed the rest down. That happens with label tables in Google Docs, where a row grows with its content. Our add-on makes a PDF where every label keeps its size: long text is shrunk to fit, and the rows affected are listed by row number in the preview.

Fix growing drift: scaling and Fit to page

Many PDF viewers and print dialogs shrink the page to fit your printer's "printable area". Even a slight shrink puts the last row well off target. You want the page at its real size:

• Scale: Actual size or 100%.
• Turn off Fit to page, Fit to paper, Fit to printable area and Shrink oversized pages.

Where to find it depends on what you print from:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (the most dependable choice): save the PDF, open it in Reader, and under Page Sizing & Handling choose Actual size.
• Chrome: open More settings and set Scale to Default or Custom 100. Chrome remembers your last scale choice for PDFs, so if you once picked "Fit to printable area" for another document, it keeps picking it until you change it back.
• Edge: choose Actual size or Custom 100. Edge may select "Fit to printable area" on its own, so check it every time.
• Firefox: set Scale to 100 and Margins to None. Firefox may ignore the "do not scale" setting stored inside the PDF, so set it yourself.
• Mac (Preview or the print dialog): choose Scale 100%, not "Scale to Fit".

Fix growing drift: Letter vs A4

US Letter is 8.5 x 11 inches (215.9 x 279.4 mm). A4 is 210 x 297 mm. Label sheets are made for one or the other: Avery® 5160 and its family are Letter, while L7160, L7163 and the Zweckform sheets are A4.

If the printer thinks it has Letter paper while A4 is in the tray (or the reverse), the viewer fits or crops the page and the labels drift. This is common: when we tested our own printer on Windows, it was set to Letter even though the tray held A4. Check the paper size in three places:

1. The print dialog of the program you print from.
2. The printer's own preferences or properties (on Windows, open "Printing preferences" for your printer).
3. The printer itself, if it has a screen where you set the paper loaded in the tray.

In Peelstack Label Maker, the Print section shows the paper size your sheet needs right next to the Download PDF button, and warns you when your sheet uses a paper size that is unusual for your region.

Fix a uniform shift: test page and offset

Every printer grabs the paper slightly differently, so a small, even shift is normal. Fix it once and the add-on remembers it:

1. Open the add-on with Extensions, Peelstack Label Maker, Create labels and choose your labels.
2. Open Labels print a little off? Align your printer and click Download test page.
3. Print the test page on plain paper with the scaling and paper settings above.
4. Hold it over a label sheet against a window, or measure with a ruler. The test page shows the numbers it should measure.
5. Enter the offset: positive numbers move the print right or down, negative numbers move it left or up.
6. Or let the add-on work it out: measure "Paper left edge to the first line" and "Paper top edge to the first line" on the printout, optionally the "Width of all labels", then click Calculate and save the offset. If the width shows the labels are the wrong size, it tells you the page is being resized, so you know to fix scaling instead.
7. Print the test page again to check. The offset is saved for that paper size and used for every PDF after that.

Other printer settings that help

• Media type: choose Labels, Heavyweight or Cardstock instead of plain paper, so the printer feeds the thicker sheet more carefully.
• Feed: if your printer has a rear or manual feed slot, feed label sheets one at a time.
• Borderless off, one sided, portrait: borderless printing enlarges the page slightly, and automatic double sided printing can cause feed problems with labels.
• A slight stretch: some home inkjets stretch the page a little, the same way every time. An offset cannot remove a stretch, only split the difference between top and bottom; a slightly smaller largest text size keeps the text clear of the edges.

Quick checklist

1. Test on plain paper, held against a label sheet at a window.
2. Actual size or 100%, every Fit option off, paper size matching the sheet.
3. Even shift left over? Set the offset once.

New to printing labels from a sheet? Start with how to print labels from Google Sheets, or browse the label layouts we support.

Peelstack Label Maker is free with every feature for up to 30 labels per run, one full sheet of Avery 5160 address labels, and you can run it as often as you like. A longer list prints its first 30 labels on the free plan, and the preview shows exactly those. Test pages are always free. A paid plan removes the 30 label limit: $29 for one year or $59 once. No subscription, nothing renews.

Avery® is a trademark of Avery Products Corporation. Taskivator is not affiliated with Avery.