Testing RIPPED SHEETS Label Stock #104000 on Inkjet Printers

Introduction
For some, a label is good if it lasts one year e.g. a label applied to a potstic and intended basically for the cycle of the plant.
In the case of vegetables it would be the time between when you SOW the seed, to the time of final HARVEST, approximately 6 months, 9 months at the most.
Probably the same for flowering annuals.

In a Garden Centre or Nursery, the requirements are more stringent.
A label must be legible for a number of years.
We’ve all seen examples of failures - “blank” labels attached to plants.

Toby (Bossgard on the forum – from Seattle WA US) has sourced a Label stock which he has tested and found to be exceptionally good for his applications.
The exciting thing is that the Labels are designed for Inkjet printers - as commonly used by Amateur Gardeners.

Toby introduced me to Ripped Sheets, the label stock manufacturer.
Support from Ripped Sheets has been exceptional, and they supplied a sample pack of labels for evaluation by Ideas Genie Pro users.

Thus, we are testing assorted inkjet printers and Ripped Sheets #104000 label stock to see if they would make suitable labels for use by both amateur and professional gardeners.
The test will have both a color photo and black text data.
One common layout template will be used for testing. See instructions under sub-heading ‘Printing and producing your labels’.
The testing should be done for a minimum period of 12 months under the normal conditions that your labels might be exposed to.

The Labels and the manufacturer
Manufacturer: Ripped Sheets
The samples supplied: #104000 Waterproof White Vinyl Permanent Self Adhesive

The Ripped Sheets 104000 label stock comes full size US 8-1/2x11 inch plain sheets. You will have to cut the labels apart yourself.
Labels are normally supplied die cut to specifications by Ripped Sheets.

The objective:
To test the Ripped Sheets #104000 samples on as many inkjet printers and inkjet inks as possible, under as many conditions as possible.

Essentially:

• are your inkjet printer and its inkjet ink suitable for printing on Ripped Sheets #104000 label stock?
• Is the adhesive durable?
  i.e. does it stay reliably adhered to the various materials you stick the labels to in your tests?

Printers and Ink
Ripped Sheets recommends the use of pigment based inkjet ink with its #104000 label stock
Toby has been using an Epson inkjet printer that takes Epson DuraBrite inkjet ink, which is a pigment-based ink for all of his testing. No doubt that is why it is testing so well for him on the Ripped Sheets #104000. However, his new tests will also include both Hewlett-Packard and Canon printers with their respective inkjet inks.

However, if you don’t have pigment based ink, we would like you to go ahead with the test, using your standard inkjet ink, provided you can let us know the Cartridge/Fill details

NOTE
This extract from an email from Toby:
Epson DuraBrite was mentioned as a possible inkjet ink to test by one of my earlier label research sites, Orion Labels, which I did, with very good results.
That's what is out of doors now, and has been now for several years. They are still as clear and bright and are adhering as when they were made. Only one surface failed, which was a white painted metal. It failed with the #104000 as well as with the Avery tested along with it. I didn't waste that label, it told me something; don't put labels on that white painted metal surface.

The test participants
In the UK mainland we have Paul, Malcolm, Laurie. In Ireland we have Phil and myself.
In the US, we have Toby, of course. If anyone in the US would like to participate, please get in touch.
Toby has 4 sheets of of trial label stock to test. Send email address to me and I will forward the details to Toby - he has indicated that he would be happy to mail them out, and cover the cost of postage.

Editing, Printing and producing your labels
Use the Labels program - GA048, in Ideas Genie Pro
Please select the Avery #5523 template.
This 5x2 template will allow you to make a total of ten labels on the sample sheet supplied.
You could perform a maximum of 10 tests, by using a combination of printers and mounting surfaces

Editing Text
When editing, it would make things easier if you were to number the labels 1 to 10, for test reference purposes.

The #5523 template is fixed format (not rich text).
The Plant name will be printed in Bold, and you can enter a maximum of 10 lines of plain text per label.

Toby suggests that you add the date of printing of the label(s), along with name of inkjet printer being used as part of the data text on each label.
To do that you would have to select 10 different plants. If not possible, they can be identified (on the mount) when applied to your mounting material.

Photos
The photo on the #5523 label template is designed with an aspect ratio of 8x10
i.e. the width is less that the height by those proportions.

Whereas the program will accept any size of image (Landscape or Portrait) with any aspect ratio (normally 4x3 and 3x4 respectively) you will achieve best results (a larger photo when printed) by creating special images for your labels with the aspect ratio to match the label template.
Its quite easy to create images with the aspect ratio, using any photo editor.
All you need is a good photo!

Heres how to do it with Microsoft Office Picture manager

1. Identify a suitable photo
   Make sure it has a region which would be suitable for a label (say a single flower or closely grouped flowers, etc) .
   That region will then be extracted from the image using the crop tools as described in the following steps
2. a) Make a copy of the original using the program My Computer
   
   OR (a safe way)
   
   b) Edit the original using using Microsoft Office Picture manager
   Under the File tab, click Save As
   Enter a NEW name for the file and click save
   EXIT the program (thus closing the original - do not Save when closing)
   Tip (applies to either method - a or b):
   In this example, Ive copied a photo named IMG_1386 and given the copy the file name:
    IMG_1386-Label-8x10
3. Edit the NEW image you created (in this example IMG_1386-Label-8x10) using Microsoft Office Picture manager
4. Click the Picture tab on the menu, then click Crop
   Screenshot
5. You can now select a region of your photo to use as the image for a label.
   Screenshot
6. Save your changes
   WARNING: Once you save your changes, you can NOT undo the cropping operation
   Be sure you are edit a copy of your original.

Printing
Since you only have one sample sheet, be sure to test output with Preview, then on a normal paper sheet.
You can try this on plain A4 if you don’t have letter size paper - expect a slight trimming on the right edge as A4 is narrower than Letter size paper.

Proceed to actual printing on the sample only when you are certain that your text and photo look OK.

Do all your labels in one pass through the printer.
Allow the ink 24 hours to dry after printing. This may not be entirely necessary, but since we only have one attempt, its a safe recommendation.

When printed, slice the sheet using a paper strimmer or scissors to produce the 10 labels.

What to do with your labels
Please think of as many applications as possible, to maximise the information collected.

e.g. Greenhouse, Outdoor, Indoor
We would like you to test the adhesive on a number of materials, in a practical environment.

It may be a little tricky to remove the individual labels produced from the backing sheet, but can be done with care. Toby’s tip is to use a penknife blade to separate the label from its backing.
For future supplies, we can have the labels die cut to our specifications by Ripped Sheets if tests are satisfactory.

The Mountings or Sign Holders for your labels
Here we may have to call upon your creative skills.
The labels are 2ins x 4ins, so much bigger than the normal T potstics.
You can buy custom made mounts on the internet. Heres a good example Orion Labels

If you are good at DIY, its well worth while making special holders for the project.
To add to the fun, please discuss on the forum and post photos of your creations.
I’m looking forward to hearing what you come up with!

Gathering information
Rather than a formal Test sheet, we will gather information as we proceed with the tests.
Any and all additional comments about the test are welcome.

Heres the information we would like to collect (on each test you perform)

• Printer make and model used (more than one if you have options)
• Ink used
• the date of starting the test
  
  Surface material used
• What did you stick the labels to?
  
  What were the labels subjected to:
• Water 
• Snow
• Hail/Sleet
• Hot. Sunshine
• Pesticide
• Frost
• Med. Sunshine
• Herbicide
• Rain
• Fertilizer
• Other:
  
  Environment
• Outdoors
• Greenhouse
• Under Grow lights
• etc

The Results
The information will be gathered periodically and can be discussed on the forum
I will correlate the data and summarise the tests and results on this website

The information gathered from these tests will be invaluable to each participant, and to other Ideas Genie Pro users

General comments
Please do not post negative comments on the forum.
Since we may stray from the recommended ink types recommended by Ripped Sheets, some failures may be expected, and it would be improper to make such results public.

Please report any failures directly to me by email