Pressure sensitive labels are one of the most common label solutions in the consumer marketplace, representing 41% of the global demand. These labels streamline the manufacturing process &#; you just peel off the protective layer and stick it onto your product. You can skip any extra steps that may involve heat, water, or solvents, speeding up the process and ensuring you get to market faster. That&#;s why so many companies choose to design pressure sensitive labels over another option.
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Pressure sensitive labels are perfect for almost any use, ranging from food and cannabis to household products and nutraceuticals. They&#;re relatively low-cost and offer premium designs, which is what makes them so popular. They&#;re a great way to make your product stand out without spending a huge amount of money.
Before we get into the design aspects of pressure sensitive labels, it&#;s important to understand what they are and how they work. These labels can be applied manually or by using labeling equipment in a high-speed production line. However, not all labels are made the same. The entire label consists of five layers &#; the liner, release coat, adhesive, facestock, and top coat. These materials must be compatible with each other and your product to achieve a long-lasting bond.
So, what are these materials and how do they contribute to the finished label? The liner is the backing material with a release coat. Essentially, it&#;s the layer you&#;ll peel off right before sticking the label on your product. Next, the release coat is applied to resist the adhesive. This lets the face stock and adhesive peel away from the liner without hassle. The adhesive is the coating that helps the label stick to the surface of the product. It&#;s usually a highly-specified component that differs based on what you&#;re labeling. The facestock is the coating and print surface material the label is made from. Finally, the top coat is the last layer of the label which includes a coating or lamination to improve the label&#;s longevity.
Now that we&#;ve gone over the parts of a label, let&#;s go over how to design pressure sensitive labels for your business.
As mentioned above, the materials you use play an important role in the design of your pressure sensitive label. If you&#;re working with a product that may end up in a cooler full of ice &#; like a water bottle &#; you&#;ll want a label material and adhesive that are moisture-resistant. If your product will be exposed to higher temperatures, you&#;ll likely side with an acrylic adhesive that&#;s more temperature resistant. And if your product will be exposed to the outdoors, you&#;ll need a UV-resistant material and adhesive to ensure a long-lasting bond.
There are countless combinations of material and adhesive, so you&#;ll want to work with an experienced label manufacturer for this step. They can help you sort through your options and come up with the best combination for your needs.
Labels don&#;t always go on flat surfaces, and this can affect their design. Bottles and other containers feature curved or compound surfaces that can complicate the adhesive process. Curved surfaces usually require a stronger adhesive that adheres quickly and prevents the label from lifting at the edges.
Color and graphics play a huge role in the success of your product. In fact, using specific colors for your product labels can influence 85% of customers&#; purchasing decisions. And because 93% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on visuals alone, you need to make the right color and graphics choices from the beginning. If you&#;re wondering how to use color and graphics to your advantage, check out our in-depth guide.
Besides color and graphics, typography and text can dramatically influence your sales. Your typography &#; typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line spacing, and letter spacing &#; must work cohesively with the colors and graphics you have chosen. A pleasing design attracts consumers to your product and can aid in sales.
The words you write on your labels are just as important as the typography. Your text should foster emotional connections, build trust, and differentiate your brand from the competition. That way, a consumer will be more likely to buy your product rather than a competitor&#;s.
Different finishing options can give your pressure sensitive labels a unique look that&#;s more likely to draw in consumers. Specialty finishes aren&#;t always necessary, but they can accentuate your products for enhanced shelf appeal and protect them from environmental hazards.
Your finishing options range from high gloss to high matte. High gloss varnishes deliver a bright, durable finish with eye-catching reflectivity. Matte finishes give a softer, more muted design, which is common for premium or luxury products. If you want something in-between those two options, you could go with a semi-gloss finish.
The easiest way to design pressure sensitive labels is to work with an experienced label manufacturer. They know what works and what doesn&#;t, which saves you time and money in the long run. If you&#;re ready to get started, reach out to a company like DRG Technologies.
DRG Technologies is a leading label products and solutions manufacturer headquartered in Safford, Arizona. We have two sales and logistics facilities in Mexico, which allows us to service the label needs for businesses across North America. Every day, our team is hard at work identifying industry-leading solutions that help our partners streamline their production, reduce costs, consolidate supplier bases, and deliver better products.
We have over 30 years of experience, extensive equipment, a UL certification, and a relentless commitment to solving our customers&#; greatest supply chain challenges. We&#;ve helped countless companies with their label needs and we&#;re ready to do the same for you.
Ready to learn more about what we can do for you? Reach out to our team today.
What&#;s the difference between pressure-sensitive labels (PSL) and self-adhesive labels? Nothing. They use the same construction and application method, although these names are often confused with other types of labels. Why does the same label go under two names, and what makes them so popular?
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Pre-applied adhesive labels have been around since the middle of the 19th century. However, these early labels required something to activate the glue. For example, when you lick an envelope to seal it. The only pressure-sensitive adhesives on the market were in bandages and dressings. These used a rubber-based glue applied just before application and had a limited working life.
In , Stanton Avery started a business to sell the first commercial pressure-sensitive labels. He created a new process based on wet glue technology that didn&#;t require activation. Instead, the glue was kept tacky by a removable backing layer, like a modern-day sticker. He marketed them as self-adhesive labels since they did not require any activation steps before use. The user could just remove the release liner to apply.
Although originally sold blank, companies immediately saw the benefits of this new type of label. Soon, Avery started making pre-printed labels to apply to products. While these early labels were successful, it took a while for them to take the labeling market by storm. Acrylic acid was the only pressure-sensitive adhesive available, and it had limited strength. These labels were particularly prone to flagging, forcing Avery to use round labels for his early product runs. It wouldn&#;t be until after WWII that the first high-quality acrylic polymer glue reached the market. Breakthroughs in the late s led to hydrogen bonding monomers, polymer crosslinking, and copolymerization. These processes added structure to these glues, increasing their strength.
Pressure-sensitive labeling really came into its own with the introduction of acrylates. While there are other pressure-sensitive glues on the market, there are few tacky options that do not need additives. Cutting out additives doesn&#;t just make these glues cost-effective to manufacture; it also limits or eliminates problems with migration, changes in strength, and allergic reactions. Acrylates are also highly resistant to oxidation and exposure to chemicals and light. With some modifications, they can resist extreme temperatures and exposure to petroleum products. This versatility has helped self-adhesive labels become the most popular technology used for commercial product labeling.
Adhesives are broadly classified as structural or pressure-sensitive. Structural adhesives change chemically to stick to substances. The trigger could be the evaporation of solvents, UV radiation, direct chemical reactions, or temperature changes.
Pressure-sensitive adhesives can best be described as flexible solids. When they&#;re applied to a container, they flow across the surface. However, once applied, they won&#;t flow enough to peel off. In a way, they act like Lego bricks. While they flex enough to easily snap together, it takes more effort to separate them.
It comes down to how you look at the application. Despite the separation between consumer and commercial use, all of them use similar construction within label materials, from the label stock to the face stock. The top coats may differ due to variations in the label printing process between home and commercial uses. Home label making usually doesn&#;t involve elaborate digital printing, embossing, or laminating.
If you&#;re looking at these labels from a consumer standpoint, you&#;re focused on a one-off application method. If you grab a roll of tape or an address label (like the die-cut labels from your inkjet printer), you can slap it on without thinking about glues or drying time. Avery marketed his first labels as &#;self-adhesive&#; to emphasize this ease of use. Look at labels marketed to office and home users; you&#;ll see this term used on them.
If you&#;re looking at these labels from a manufacturing standpoint, you&#;re focused on the application method and how it fits your production system. With these labels, you don&#;t need a heat source, nor do you need to worry about application and drying times. When you choose to use these labels, the biggest concern is pressure. There are several application methods to consider, as well as ways to prevent flagging, bubbling, and skewing. This is why commercial labels are called &#;pressure sensitive.&#;
Pressure-sensitive adhesive is thin and can&#;t flow into large gaps. It only works with smooth product surfaces. They&#;re commonly on smooth-sided aluminum cans, but not ribbed tin cans. Likewise, pressure-sensitive labels work well on other smooth surfaces (including cardboard, plastic, and glass packaging) and don&#;t risk graphic distortion like in shrink sleeve labels.
Each layer of the label (from the liner to the top coat) can be changed to meet packaging requirements. This lets you build the perfect custom label, considering everything from moisture exposure to label design and graphics choices. The labeling machine needs to peel the labels from the liner and apply them evenly to the containers. These machines use one of three methods, with variations in speed and position for accuracy.
Merge
The label is wiped onto the label as it&#;s peeled off of the backing. While this is the simplest solution, the conveyor and applicator have to work at the same speed. However, there are ways around this. For example, our trunnion roller labeling system traps the container and moves in time with the applicator. This increases application accuracy, reducing skew on long labels.
Air Blow
A burst of air pushes the label away from the applicator and onto the container. This system works in any position and doesn&#;t have to be in time with the conveyor. As soon as a container is in position, the machine applies the label. This works well for applying labels on uneven surfaces, like wrapped produce. Our 360a Series applicator can be configured for air blow, making it easy to set up a system for odd-shaped containers.
Tamp/Blow
The label is dispensed onto a tamp pad which uses negative pressure generated by a muffin fan or by a vacuum valve bank to keep the label in place. A jet of air overcomes this pressure, pushing the label onto the container. The tamp pad can move, which lets you get the label close to recessed surfaces before application. Our a-PA dual-action tamp printer applicator uses the flexibility of this system to apply labels from any angle and at high speed.
If you think either pressure-sensitive labels or self-adhesive labels may be the answer to your labeling problems, contact CTM Labeling Systems. Our local distributors will work with you to set up a labeling solution that fits your production needs and the demands of your customers.
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