Shipping Label Printing Cut Off or Shifted? How to Fix It
A shipping label prints cut off or shifted when the paper size in the print dialog does not match the label in the printer, when the page is scaled, or when the printer has lost the gap between labels. Set the paper to 4 x 6 inch, print at 100% and recalibrate the printer.
Why shipping labels print cut off or shifted
Shipping labels print cut off or shifted for three reasons: the wrong paper size, scaling, or a printer that does not know where each label starts. Find your symptom in the table, then use the fix below it.
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| One side or the bottom is cut off | Paper size in the print dialog is not the label size | Fix 1 |
| The label is small, with wide empty space | A full A4 page was shrunk onto the label | Fix 4 |
| The label is too big and runs off the edge | Scale is above 100%, or "Fill page" is on | Fix 2 |
| The print starts in the middle of a label | The printer has lost the gap between labels | Fix 3 |
| One label is spread over two | Paper size is too long, or the printer is not calibrated | Fix 1, then Fix 3 |
| Every label drifts a little further | Label length in the driver does not match the roll | Fix 1 |
Fix 1: match the paper size to the label
The paper size in the print dialog must be the size of the label in the printer. For standard shipping labels that is 4 x 6 inch, also written 100 x 150 mm.
Check two places: the printer preferences, where the default size is saved, and the print dialog of the app you print from, which can quietly switch back to A4 or Letter. If your printer holds 4x4 or 3x5 labels, choose that size in both places and make the PDF in the same size.
Fix 2: print at 100% scale
Print at 100%, also called "Actual size". "Fit to page", "Fill page" and "Shrink oversized pages" all change the size of the label and of its barcode.
If you print from a browser, also turn off headers and footers and set margins to "None". A browser adds its own margins by default, and that pushes the label down and to the right.
Fix 3: recalibrate the printer
Recalibrating teaches the printer where one label ends and the next begins. A thermal printer finds the gap between labels with a sensor, and it can lose its place after you change the roll, open the cover or pull a label out by hand.
Most printers recalibrate when you close the cover or hold the feed button, by feeding a few labels; the manual for your model has the exact method. Also check that the paper guides touch the label edges, because a roll that moves sideways prints shifted. The full setup is in our thermal label printer setup guide.
Fix 4: start from a correctly cropped PDF
Start from a PDF whose pages are already the size of your label. A marketplace PDF has A4 pages with an invoice, and no printer setting can turn that into a clean 4x6 label.
The free shipping label crop tool cuts the invoice away, trims the blank space and makes every page exactly the paper size you choose, with a small border so nothing touches the edge. There is a page for each marketplace: the Meesho label crop tool, the Flipkart label crop tool and the Amazon label crop tool.
Then the print dialog has nothing to scale: a 4x6 page goes onto a 4x6 label at 100%.
Checklist before you print a batch
Run through these five checks before you print a full batch.
- The PDF was made in the same paper size as the labels in the printer.
- The print dialog shows that paper size, not A4 or Letter.
- Scale is 100% and margins are zero or "None".
- The printer was calibrated after the last roll change.
- One test label printed whole and its barcode scanned.
If the label is still cut off
If the label is still cut off after all four fixes, look at the PDF itself and at the driver.
- Open the PDF and look at one page. If the label is cut in the file, the problem is the PDF, not the printer. Crop again from the original marketplace PDF, not from a file that was re-saved in another app.
- Download the PDF and print it from a PDF reader instead of the browser preview, or the other way round, to see whether one app is adding margins.
- Look in the driver for an offset or position adjustment that someone changed, and set it back to zero.
- Reinstall the driver made for your exact printer model if a generic driver is in use.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my label printing across two labels?
The page being printed is longer than the label, or the printer has lost the gap. Set the paper size to the real label size, print at 100% and recalibrate the printer.
Why is the label printing sideways?
The orientation in the print dialog is set to landscape, or the driver is rotating the page. Choose portrait. The crop tool has already turned the label to fit the paper.
Why is only half of the label printing?
The print dialog is usually set to A4 or Letter, so the printer gets only a part of a larger page. Choose the 4 x 6 inch paper size.
Should I print labels from the browser or from a PDF reader?
Either works when the paper size and scale are right. A browser may add margins, headers and footers, so turn those off. If a label still shifts, download the PDF and print it from a PDF reader.
Why does the first label print fine and the next ones drift?
The label length saved in the driver is a little different from the real label, so the error adds up with every label. Set the exact size and recalibrate.