Free Template To Create A Customized Label For Your Honey

In this post I provide Adobe Illustrator files that you can modify to make your own customized honey labels.

 

UPDATE: July 2016. I'm sorry but this file is no longer available for download due to a hard disk failure.

After harvesting my honey this year, I decided to add a decorative label to make the jars look a bit nicer.  Searching the internet, I found a number of pre-printed labels that beekeepers could customize with a little text, but no service that would allow you to upload a fully customized label and have them printed in small quantities appropriate for hobbyists.

So I decided to design my own labels and print them on my home printer.  Using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop design programs, I created a label that will work on 1 pound squeeze jars or any container large enough to hold a 3.25 inch x 2 inch oval label.

How To Modify The Templates To Create Your Own Design

To create the label design, I used Illustrator to construct the ovals and text elements of the label and Photoshop to edit and adjust the illustrations.  To create your own customized labels, just modify the attached Illustrator files and print them on your own inkjet of laserjet printer. 

I've done most of the heavy lifting, so it should be fairly easy for you to modify the basic design to create your own honey labels if you have and are familiar with Illustrator and Photoshop.  For example, you can change the name of your honey from "Palo Verde Honey Bee Farm" to one of your choosing.  Likewise, if your honey is from clover flowers,  just make a simple text change.  Or use a different illustrations in place of the bee or palo verde tree on my label.  These types of edits should be very easy and save you a lot of time versus creating your own label from scratch.  When you complete your design, flatten the image and save it as a JPG in Photoshop. 

Then copy and past your design into the label stock template that I have also provided.  This template shows you where to place 10 copies of the label onto a 8.5 inch x 11 inch sheet so that they print in the correct spots over the die-cuts in the label stock.(see below). 

Actually, you should adjust the label size to be just slightly larger than the ovals in the black template.  This creates a "bleed area" that compensates for any slight variations in the way your printer prints from sheet-to-sheet.  I did this by creating a new layer in Photoshop for each of the 10 labels on the page:

• I placed the label over the first black template oval in the upper right hand corner of the sheet, then lowered the opacity so I could see the position of the label relative to the black template in the layer beneath it.
• I then increase the label size to be just slightly larger than the black template and positioned it so that it extended over all sides of the black template.  (In Photoshop you can use the Edit/Transform/Scale function to increase the label size)
  
• Once in place, I increased the opacity back to 100%.
• I then duplicated this layer and positioned the second layer over the second black oval in the template.  I did this again for each label on the template.
• I then flattened the entire sheet and saved it as a JPG file for printing.
  

I purchased label stock with 3.25 inch x 2 inch oval die cuts from an online vendor called PlanetLabel.com.  1000 blank labels cost $20-$40 depending on your choice of either un-coated or glossy label stock.

Two Final Notes

• Perhaps it's my printer or my lack of familiarity with adjusting the settings, but I find that I'm not able to print edge-to-edge over the the entire sheet.  This means that the last 2 ovals on the page get cut off.  If the same occurs on your printer, you'll get 8 labels per page versus 10.  For me, this was not a big deal.
• Color management is very tricky business.  If you are adept in Photoshop and Illustrator, you probably already know that the colors you see on your monitor may not be the exact colors you see when your printed are printed labels.  This is due to a variety of factors including differences in the color space between your monitor and printer, the type of stock you select, whether the printer is inkjet or laser etc. etc.  If you have the skill to do so, you can create printing profiles for your monitor and the label stock that will adjust your printer settings so the colors you see on your monitor are very close to what is printed.  If you are not skilled in this area and can't create these profiles, your label colors may differ quite dramatically from what you view on your monitor. 
  

Download Design Template: [Note: The below document is 1.7 MB.   You need to have Adobe Illustrator software to open this file.   At least one person has commented that they are having trouble downloading it.  If you are either successful or unsuccessful, please let me know by posting a comment here.  If there are download issues, I can send the files to you by e-mail.  Click on the link in the upper left hand column of this web site to email me, and let me know your e-mail address, and I'll send you the files. Thanks.]

Download PlanterTomato_HoneyLabelDesign

Download Label Stock Template:

  Label Stock Template

 

 

Comments

[Richard Martyniak]

Label downloaded and had no probs in Illustrator CS4. Thanks!

[H. Mark Delman]

Glad to hear it. Good luck with your bees this year.

[scott palmer]

would like to the the lable design please to put on my honey jars to make them look more presentable please.

[Robin Weese]

For some reason I can't get your template to download - could you please email it to me? Your label design is beautiful!!

Many Thanks!

[heidi mb]

Thanks! I was able to download the template using Firefox, but not with Safari fyi.

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks for visiting. Good luck with your honey.

-PlanterTomato

[Glen]

I cant seem to download this template can you please email me a copy thank you.

[Thomas]

I run a home sweet tea bottling operation, the drinks run for under two dollars so I can't waste the extra pennies per sticker page.

This site covers turning on borderless printing for most printers:

http://www.redrivercatalog.com/infocenter/tips/inkjet-borderless-size-printing.html

Even with that, you will find it difficult to get a template to work in photoshop. Most have the correct size circle, but it is not set on the page correctly. I have spent the ink and paper and time to make my own for photoshop cs4 which I would be happy to give to you to post for download on your site. Simply shoot me an email and I will send you the .psd.

[bertalan]

ubi mei, ibi apes.
What is the correct version?

[H. Mark Delman]

This looks like a mistake on my part. Gasp!

The original Latin phrase is ubi mei, ibi apes - where there is honey there are bees. I inverted the expression because I wanted to make it where there are bees there is honey but it looks like I substituted a second ubi where it should have been an ibi.

I dont know Latin, but if you know some one who does, please forward to them and see if we can clear this up. Then Ill make the change to the template and repost.

[wolfgang sterrer]

The original is:
Ubi mel ibi apes - where [there is] honey, there [are] bees.

You can invert it but it still has to mel not mei:

Ubi apes ibi mel

[H. Mark Delman]

Thanks for the correction!

-Mark

[Terry]

Downloaded with no problems. Now I have to learn AI. I have a long road ahead. lol