How do I print a batch of 4x6 labels on a thermal printer?
Set the thermal printer's paper size to 4x6 (100 x 150 mm) in its driver, then print the batch PDF at 100% or actual size. A PDF with one 4x6 page per label prints straight through; a letter-size sheet shrinks or splits, so change the format in the tool that made it. Calibrate first if labels drift.
Check the PDF before the printer
Most bulk printing problems are a page-size mismatch, not a broken printer. Open the batch PDF and look at the page size before you print anything. A file whose pages are 4 x 6 inches, one label per page, is ready for a thermal printer. A file whose pages are 8.5 x 11 inches, usually with one or two labels on each, was made for a desk printer, and a thermal printer can only shrink each page onto one label or spread it across two.
The fix for a letter-size file is upstream: switch the label format to 4x6 in the tool that made the PDF and download it again. Trying to rescue a letter sheet in the print dialog is where tiny, unscannable barcodes come from.
| PDF page size | On a 4x6 thermal printer | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 4 x 6 in, one label each | Prints one label per label | Print at 100% or actual size |
| 8.5 x 11 in, one label | Shrinks onto one label, or splits across two | Re-download as 4x6 |
| 8.5 x 11 in, two labels | Two shrunken labels on one, or worse | Re-download as 4x6, or print on half-sheet labels |
| Mixed sizes in one file | Some pages right, some wrong | Print each size separately |
Driver settings: paper size, scale, orientation
The printer's driver has a default paper size, and on a fresh install it is often letter. Every print job inherits it unless you change it, so set it once in the driver itself rather than in each print dialog.
Rollo's own guide for Windows goes through Printers & Scanners, the Rollo printer, Printing Preferences, the Layout tab, then Advanced, to confirm Paper Size is 4x6, with all margins set to 0 on the Settings tab. On a Mac it says to confirm the paper size is 4x6 and that scaling is set to 100%. Its Windows wireless guide sets scale to fit the printable area instead; with a 4x6 page on 4x6 stock, the two come out the same.
| Setting | Set it to | If it is wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Paper size | 4x6, or 100 x 150 mm | The label lands in a corner or runs onto the next label |
| Scale | 100% or actual size | Fit to page shrinks a letter sheet and its barcode |
| Margins | 0 on every side | The edges of the label are clipped |
| Orientation | Portrait, or auto-rotate | A sideways label printed off the edge of the stock |
| Page range | All, for a batch | Only the first label prints |
Why a combined PDF comes out letter-size
A batch is usually one merged file, and a merged file takes the format the tool was set to when it built it, not the printer you plan to use. If that setting was letter, every page is letter, even though each label inside it is 4 by 6.
Some tools default to letter because it works on any desk printer. Some lay two labels on a letter page to save paper. Either way, the setting lives in the tool that made the file, so check it before you buy the batch, not after the first strip of shrunken labels.
The label-per-sheet fallback
When the thermal printer is down or out of stock, a letter-size file is not wasted. Print it on a laser printer or a good inkjet, on plain white paper or on half-sheet self-adhesive labels, two to a page.
USPS's guidance for Click-N-Ship labels is a laser or high-quality inkjet printer, 600 dpi recommended for inkjets, and white paper. It warns that its scanning equipment cannot reliably read labels from low-quality inkjet or dot matrix printers. Do not shrink a full-page label to fit a smaller sticker: print it at the size it was made.
Calibrate, then print one test label
Load the 4x6 stock and run the printer's calibration, so it finds where each label starts and ends.
Set the driver's paper size to 4x6 and its margins to 0.
Print the first page of the batch only, at 100%.
Check that the label fills the stock, the barcode is crisp, and nothing runs onto the next label.
Print the rest of the batch in one job, in the same order as your pick list.
Rollo's troubleshooting page for a label that prints on part of the stock or across two labels says the printer has usually lost track of the label size, or the paper size does not match the labels: recalibrate first, then confirm the paper size is 4x6.
Key takeaways
- Check the PDF's page size first: 4 x 6 inches prints straight through, letter does not.
- Set the paper size to 4x6 in the printer driver, not only in each print dialog.
- Print at 100% or actual size. Fit to page is how barcodes get shrunk.
- Recalibrate when labels split across two.
- A letter file can still go on a laser printer or half-sheet labels.
Pick the label format before the PDF is made
When you print from I'd Ship That, you choose the format first: Label Printer puts each label on its own page at its natural size, and for a batch, Half Sheet puts two labels on each letter page, rotated, for a desk printer.
In The Workbench, which is part of Pro, the whole batch prints as one 4x6 or letter PDF, and in 4x6 each order's packing slip can follow its label on the same roll. Either way the file goes through your system's print dialog, so the driver settings on this page still apply. Set the printer to 4x6 once and every batch after that prints straight through.
Related questions
The page is bigger than the label. Either the PDF is letter-size, or the printer is set to letter and is placing a 4x6 page on part of it. Set the driver's paper size to 4x6, print at 100%, and if the file itself is letter-size, download it again as 4x6.
The printer has lost track of where each label starts, or the paper size does not match the stock. Recalibrate the printer with the labels loaded, then confirm the paper size is 4x6 and the margins are 0.
Yes. Print on plain white paper and tape it on, or on half-sheet self-adhesive labels, two per letter page. Use a laser or a good inkjet, because USPS warns that low-quality inkjet and dot matrix prints may not scan.
Print them from the same batch, in the same sequence, and pick from one pick list first. Pick list vs packing slip covers the order to print them in, and pick lists and packing slips shows how they come out of one run.
Any 4-inch-wide direct thermal printer that takes 4x6 stock and has a driver for your computer will print a PDF batch. Our guide to thermal printers covers what to look for, and bulk shipping labels covers the run that feeds it.