Make Your Name Labels Truly Personal With Our Simple Top Tips

Personalising Stikins ® name labels is really simple! However, there are lots of different ways to personalise name labels, which means that we often get questions about what to include. Here are our top tips and things to think about when ordering personalised labels.

Top Tips For Personalised Name Labels That Are Tip Top!

One Line or Two Lines?

We offer one or two lines of text. While this can be a matter for personal preference, it’s worth bearing in mind that as you add more text, the font will get smaller. So, if you choose one line and add a lot of text, your font is going to be pretty small.

If font size is really important to you, the one line layout works best when you use fewer than 12 characters in total. For example, the name "Lyra Allen" prints out larger on one line because you are only using a total of 10 characters (spaces count towards your total number of characters!).

If you want to include two pieces of information on your labels, we recommend using two lines. This way, you can put each piece of information on its own line. For example, a name on the top line and a phone number on the bottom line.

We also offer three lines. This option is only suitable if you need to include a lot of information on your name labels. You will need to order by phone as we will need to print your order separately from our main production run.

What Information Should I Include?

It is entirely up to you what you include on your name labels. Most of our customers request a name only, while some request additional information to make their name labels extra useful. The main thing to keep in mind is what you want your name labels to do.

Most Stikins ® name labels end up on school uniform and kit. These name labels will only be used in a school environment, where the school has a complete list of pupils’ names. This means you only need to include your child’s name to ensure that their belongings can be returned.

For items being taken further afield, you could add a piece of contact information. For example, adding a phone number means items lost outside of school can still be returned. Another example would be name labels for use in nursing or care homes, where adding a room number makes it really easy for staff to return items quickly.

A slightly different extra is medical or allergy information. Adding this information means your labels will keep food and medicines safe and can act as additional medical alerts in the event of an emergency.

You may also want to bear in mind who is actually going to read your name labels. For example, if you are requesting labels for someone better known by a nickname, it might be a good idea to include that nickname. This way, if anyone other than the item's owner needs to read the label (like teachers or care facility staff), they will still be able to recognise the name. For example, if someone reads the name “Hannah” on a label, they might not know that the item actually belongs to someone they know as “Annie”.

How Do I Get The Best Possible Font Size?

Our system uses the largest font size that will allow your requested characters to fit onto your name labels. This is why the font size gets smaller as you add more characters. In most cases, two lines of text produces a larger font size but there are other things to bear in mind.

You can request up to 22 characters on each line but we recommend a maximum of 20. It’s also worth thinking carefully about capital letters. Some feel that capitals are easier to read and make their details stand out. However, capital letters also take up more room and you may actually get a better result by capitalising just the first letter.

If you need to save space (for example, for double-barrelled names), try using initials for part of the name. You could represent the first name (and middle names) with initials and include the full surname. Alternatively, you could include the first name and represent the surname with an initial. For long double-barrelled surnames, you could even use an initial for half your surname. For example, the surname “Brocklehurst-Featherstone” can be represented as “B-Featherstone”, “Brocklehurst-F”, or even “B-F”.

On the other hand, if your child has a unique first name or surname amongst their class, you could just enter this one name to get a larger font size!

Remember, our online preview tool can give you an idea of what your personalisation will look like. Play around with different options to see which one shows your information at a font size that’s right for you.

Can I Include More Than One Name In A Set?

Our automated printing system prints every label in a pack with the same personalisation. This means that we can’t split a pack between two names; for example, by printing 30 labels for “Thomas Wilson” and 30 for “Greg Wilson”. However, you can get creative with your personalisation to create a set suitable for sharing. Common options include:

• Enter a surname and share the pack.
  For example, “Richardson” / “Richardson Family” / “Family Richardson” / “Richardson Girls” / “Richardson Boys” / “Richardson Twins” etc.
• Enter an initial and a surname.
  For example, “A Richardson”.
  NB: this only works if the two recipients of your name labels share the same initial for their first name!
• Enter a surname on the bottom line and leave the top line blank. You can then write in the name you need using a suitable laundry pen.
• Enter the two names onto your labels and then cut the labels in half.
  For example, enter "Alice Richardson" on the top line and "James Richardson" on the bottom line.
• Enter both names onto the labels together and simply share!
  For example, enter “Alice & John” on line 1 and “Richardson” on line 2.

Get More Advice About Ordering Personalised Name Labels

You’ll find plenty more advice and tips about personalised name labels on our website. We cover everything from ordering your labels to using them to label your family's belongings.

Get in touch if you need further advice or can't find an answer to your question on our site. You can give us a call during office hours (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) or email us at any time.