What can I use to print Avery labels?

QCan you recommend reliable software for creating Avery labels to a subscriber aged 78 who’s not very experienced with computers? Bob Wydell

AWe feel your pain, Bob - label printing can be an infuriating exercise in trial and error, no matter what your level of technical expertise. To avoid wasting lots of labels before getting it right, we recommend using Avery’s excellent Design & Print tool.

To start, launch the tool online at www.snipca. com/28157, then enter the code for the Avery labels you’re using. You’ll find this on the front of the label’s packaging (something like J4722). You don’t say which labels you’re creating, but if you have a list of names and addresses in a spreadsheet ready for envelope label printing, for example, you can import these. To do this, choose a blank template, click the Import Data option on the right, then the Import Data button. Click ‘Browse for file’ and locate your spreadsheet. You’ll now be asked to choose which fields you want to use and, in the next screen, where they should sit on the label (drag and drop them into place). Click Next, Finish, then adjust where the text sits on the label. Finally, click ‘Preview and Print’.

Avery’s website says Design & Print is no longer available as a downloadable program, but we managed to get it from www.snipca.com/28158 (click the Download tab halfway down the page). Avery insists support will end in 2019, so newer label codes may not be recognised after then.

Label templates can’t account for how your printer aligns the label sheets, which can mean text spills over the edges of your labels. To avoid this, when creating the labels leave a good amount of space between the text and the label’s edge.