Which thermal label size do you need?
Choose the size by what has to be printed first, then check what width your printer accepts. These are the sizes most used in the UK and Europe.
| Use | Common size (width × length) | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Parcel shipping labels (Royal Mail Click & Drop, Evri, DPD, Amazon, eBay and most couriers) | 4 × 6″ / 100 × 150 mm | Often called “6x4” in the UK. Pick the thermal 6x4 label option in the courier’s label settings. |
| Small parcels, returns labels, compact courier labels | 100 × 100 mm | Useful where a courier offers a square format, or for extra handling marks. |
| Retail product barcodes (EAN-13) | 50 × 25 mm or 57 × 32 mm | At 203 dpi a till-readable EAN-13 needs a label at least 45–50 mm wide. |
| Stock, SKU and bin labels (Code 128) | 40 × 25 mm to 60 × 40 mm | Depends on the length of the code and the scanning distance. |
| Amazon FNSKU product labels | 50 × 25 mm | A common size for product labels on stock sent to Amazon fulfilment centres. |
| Price labels for small items | 30 × 20 mm or 40 × 20 mm | Room for a price and a line of text. |
| Weighing scales, food traceability | 58 × 40 mm to 60 × 60 mm | Depends on the scale model: check the maximum label width it takes. |
| Carton and pallet labels | 100 × 50 mm to 100 × 150 mm | Large formats for reading at a distance. |
Check your printer's maximum width
Desktop label printers built for shipping labels usually take rolls around 104–112 mm wide, so they handle 4×6″ / 100 × 150 mm labels. Compact models designed for product labels are often limited to about 57–60 mm. The maximum width is in the printer's data sheet, along with the roll diameter and core size it accepts. To check a roll, use the roll calculator.
Width × length: which way round?
By convention the first figure is the roll width (across the feed) and the second the label length (along the feed). A 50 × 25 mm label comes out landscape, wider than it is long. In the printer driver, enter exactly these two values. Shipping labels are the exception in everyday speech: the same label is called “4x6” or “6x4” — see 4x6, 6x4 and 100 × 150 labels.
Direct thermal or thermal transfer?
For a shipping label that only needs to last a few weeks, direct thermal is enough: no ribbon, no ink. For a label that must stay readable for years, in sunlight or in contact with grease, thermal transfer with a ribbon lasts longer. More in how to tell direct thermal labels.