Web-to-Print for Product Labels

Why do product labels matter?

Product labeling isn’t just about creating something pretty. It’s about creating something that stands out on the shelf, shows your brand values, and attracts attention. It should also lead the consumers down the path of purchasing your products.

Custom product labels are an essential part of a brand's packaging. With web-to-print, businesses can create, customize and order their labels online, without complex design software or outsourcing the design.

What is web-to-print for product labels?

Many websites now let their customers choose from adjustable label templates and design a label that showcases their brand and product: they customize designer-made templates in a few clicks, choose fonts, images, illustrations and colors, or upload their own images and logos.

Some business models put the customer in complete control of everything about their order, from designing online right through to payment and shipping instructions. Those companies deal in simple products (business cards, letterhead, etc.) that have few variations other than content and presentation. Those variations are simple to present to the customer in an online form with little risk of anything going wrong. This is where the concept of web-to-print became popular.

Now you can use web-to-print for many kinds of products, product labels included. Designing a custom label with the templates and tools of a web-to-print store means customers can create labels to print or share online, starting from an editable and resizable label template.

Should you build a label store from scratch or start from a ready store?

Label design software ranges from free to expensive, with different tools and features. You can start from a full print store that already includes the related features, or build a website from scratch (design and feature development) and add an online design tool to turn it into a web-to-print store.

Printcart offers both: a ready WordPress print shop store with the product designer for shop owners who do not want to deal with the technology, and the Printcart WordPress plugin for owners who already have a website and only need the design tool.

A custom website gives the most flexibility: page templates and features are built for one website and work together without the extra code of a pre-built theme. It also costs more than a ready-made theme, so compare the options with your requirements and budget.

How was a custom label store built with Printcart?

Several partners asked us to build a website from scratch and integrate our online designer for web-to-print. Here is how one label-printing project went.

First, our consultant worked with the client to clarify the website: a design for each page, the features to develop and the detailed workflow. When everything was clear, we sent a quotation with a timeline and started after the contract was signed.

The design was provided by the client as PSD files for each page. We used those files to develop a template exactly as designed; during development, our developers suggested adjustments where they saw improvements.

After the website template, the developers built the features and the workflow. Because this is a website for label printing, the client focused on features that make label design easy and improve the shopping experience. The workflow is described in this flowchart:

It contains three main paths:

1. Ready label products. Shoppers choose a label, add it to the cart and pay to complete the order.
2. Custom products with ready label templates. Clicking a product opens the design editor; shoppers apply the product options and edit the template: edit text, add text, add images.
3. Fully custom labels. Shoppers choose the label shape first, then the size, material and finishing, design the label and place the order. They can also upload a finished design file instead of designing step by step.

When all features were developed, our testers checked every function against the client's description before we sent a demo for the client to check the workflow.

Which web-to-print features help a label business?

From the two original articles, the features that matter most for labels are:

• Customization: templates and a design tool, so the label matches the brand and its messaging.
• A streamlined ordering process: customers choose specifications and upload artwork online, without back-and-forth emails.
• Integration with existing systems: order data flows into the systems the printer already uses.
• Automation: proofing, order tracking and invoicing with less manual work.

If you have a website already, or are thinking about building one, contact us for advice on your label project.