Printing on a partly used sheet of labels
You needed six labels and the pack comes 30 to a sheet. The other 24 are still there, and there is no reason to waste them — as long as you count carefully and your printer is the right type.
Count the positions first
Labels are numbered the way you read: left to right along the top row, then down. On a 30-per-sheet sheet like 5160, that is 1–3 on the first row, 4–6 on the second, down to 30 at the bottom right.
So if you used the first two rows last time, the first empty label is number 7. Count the gaps, not the labels that are left.
Tell the tool where to start
- Choose your sheet and add your list as usual.
- Open Text and position options under the download button.
- Set Start at label to the first empty position — 7 in the example above.
- Check the preview. The used positions should be blank, and your first address should be sitting where you expect it.
The preview is the real check here. It shows the whole sheet with the filled labels shaded, so you can hold your half-used sheet next to the screen and compare before anything is printed.
Laser printers: don't. A laser fuser runs at around 200°C. If any label edge on the sheet has lifted even slightly — and part-used sheets always have handled edges — it can peel off and wrap around the roller inside the machine. Inkjets have no fuser and are generally fine.
If you have a laser printer and a half-used sheet
- Use it in an inkjet instead if you have access to one.
- Or keep part-used sheets for hand-writing, and start new sheets in the laser.
- Or buy the smaller pack size. Return address labels come 80 to a sheet precisely because people use them in batches.
If you do decide to risk it, feed the sheet from the manual tray one at a time, and press every remaining label down firmly first.
Keeping track between print runs
Write the next starting number on the backing sheet in pen as soon as you finish a run. It takes three seconds and it is the only reliable way to know where you got to a month later.
For return address labels, the simpler approach is to fill the whole sheet at once: choose The same text on every label, print all 80, and peel them off as you need them.
Part-used sheet questions
How do I count which label to start at?
Left to right along the top row, then down to the next row, the same order you read. On a 30-per-sheet layout that is 1, 2, 3 across the first row, 4, 5, 6 across the second, and so on to 30 at the bottom right.
Can I skip labels in the middle of a sheet?
Not at the moment. "Start at label" leaves everything before your chosen position blank, which covers the normal case of peeling labels off in order. A sheet with gaps scattered through it is not supported yet.
Is it safe to put a part-used sheet back through the printer?
Through an inkjet, usually. Through a laser printer, no. The heat in a laser fuser can lift an exposed adhesive edge and peel a label off inside the machine, which is an expensive thing to get out.
Why did my first labels print blank when I wanted a full sheet?
"Start at label" is still set from the last time you used it. Set it back to 1 and the sheet fills from the first position again.
Ready? Pick your sheet and set Start at label, or read why labels print off center first if your last sheet did not line up.