I started with home made labels and here are some of the issues I encountered as our 
volume grew.  

ink fading and label stock looking worn if a jar does not sell right away. smudging as 
noted by other posters. once you pass 20,000 pounds year, I don't see home made as an 
advantage. 

i just got a quote from a professional printer for a label they already had plates from the 
previous runs. $1400 for 50,000 labels or 2.8 cents per label that have none of the issues 
I noted above. there is no way going the Avery route with the cost of label stock, toner 
cartridges, printer replacement and printing time and so on that home made can get 
down to the cost of pro printed.  I agree with the other poster about a 2 year supply 
being a good number to work around. 

if you are doing wholesale the homemade stuff is not the way to go as product can sit for 
months on the shelf and the label will not look folksy anymore. 

as far as software goes - use any software to design the label - then import the image 
into MS WORD and use the label tool. that function allows you to input the avery label 
stock number to format the labels. it takes some messing around but I still use it for bee 
pollen, propolis and other small stuff. 

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