Free butcher labels

Yes, you can make free butcher labels in your browser: the cut name, the weight the scale just showed, and the price, on a 2x1 or a wider roll. You type the weight. You can also print a whole case from Excel.

Print the cut, the weight, and the price

Set the size to your roll and type the weight from the scale. No signup.

Open the butcher label →

• Good forA meat counter labeling wrapped cuts with the weight and the price.
• Label sizeA 2x1 for short names, or a wider scale-style label.
• Prints onThe roll in your counter printer, usually direct thermal stock.

Butcher label examples: cut, weight, date

These are real renders from the editor. The cuts, weights, prices and codes are made up for the examples. A package sticker filled from a pack sheet, a price strip for the case, and a deli case strip with a per-pound price.

Case sticker from a pack sheet3 x 2 in. Cut, PackDate, Weight, Price, SKU columns. Case price strip3 x 1 in. Cut, pack size, price, SKU barcode. Deli case strip3 x 1 in. Item, per-pound price, slice date.

What a butcher label needs

The case needs three things a customer can read without picking up the tray: what the meat is, how much it weighs, and what it costs.

"Ribeye" is the name. The weight is the number you just watched settle on the scale. The price per pound is the number on your board.

The total is weight times that price. Check the math on the first package instead of trusting a hurried keystroke.

A pack date tells the next person on the counter which tray to sell first. Type the date you actually packed it.

You enter the weight, not the scale

This page won't read the scale. There's no cable from the editor to the head.

You type the weight, or you keep a short sheet beside the wrapper and type from that. If a label says 1.00 lb because nobody updated the field, that's a miss on the counter, not a feature.

So print after the number is right.

2x1, or a wider scale-style sticker

A 2x1 label fits a short cut name, a weight, and a price if you keep the type bold and skip the story. It's the size many counter printers already hold.

If the name is "bone-in pork chop, family pack," a 2x1 will wrap or shrink. Move to a wider label, closer to what a scale printer uses, and give the name a full line. The package example above is 3 x 2, and the two case strips are 3 x 1.

Set the editor to the roll in the machine. A 2x1 design sent to a 3 inch roll doesn't land in the middle by itself. Match the inches.

Print butcher labels, one package at a time

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com. No signup. The butcher label opens ready to edit.
2. Set the size to your roll, 2x1 or wider.
3. Type the cut name. Leave the weight blank until the scale settles, or map a weight column you just filled in.
4. Add the price per pound and the total you worked out for that package.
5. Click Print this and print one. Stick it on the paper you wrap with and read it at arm's length.
6. If the name runs into the price, shorten the name or use a wider label.
7. Change the weight before you print the next package.

Labeling a case from a spreadsheet

A busy counter is a stream of different weights, not one design printed fifty times. If two ribeyes weigh the same, print two. If they don't, change the field.

A spreadsheet helps when you label a case ahead of time: cut, pack date, weight, total price, one row each. Here is the fictional pack sheet behind the first example. The weights were typed from the scale, and the Price column is the package total:

1. Open https://app.mylabelmaker.com with the pack sheet sample. The rows above are already loaded.
2. Click Data and upload your own Excel or CSV file, or paste the rows. Keep the column names in the first row.
3. Click a text box, then Variables, and pick the column: PackDate on top, Cut large, Weight and Price on the line under it. The barcode reads the SKU.
4. Step through the rows and stop on the longest cut name. If "Chicken thighs" fits but your "bone-in pork chop, family pack" doesn't, shorten it on the label or use a wider roll.
5. Open Edit row and tick the packages you're labeling now. Rows start unticked.
6. Click Print. Usually that's one copy per row, since every package has its own weight.

It won't help if you type the weights at home and the scale disagrees in the morning.

Weigh, then print.

Safe-handling text, sell-by dates, and inspection legends are yours to add if you use them. The editor prints the sentence you paste. It won't tell you which sentence your inspector expects, so don't copy a sample legend and assume it covers your shop.

The same column steps work for any list. Printing labels from Excel covers them in more detail.

Keep the price easy to read

Gray type on a cold, damp package looks like a mistake. Print dark enough that the total is black, then stop.

A barcode is optional. A full-service case often doesn't scan the tray, but a grocery account might. Use a code they gave you, not a made-up number.

Shelf and case tags for packaged goods work the same way. Price tag labels covers product, price, SKU and barcode on small tags.

The scale stays the source of the weight. The sticker only repeats it.