Print Christmas card address labels without mail merge
Short answer: keep the addresses in a list that can print labels itself. The card list on this site lays out Avery 5160 (US Letter, 30 per sheet) and A4 3 x 8 sheets (70 x 37 mm, 24 per sheet) and hands them to your browser's print dialog. No Word, no Excel, no field codes. What decides whether the labels land on the sticky parts is the print dialog, so most of this page is about that.
The steps
- Create a list on the home page. You get a private host link; bookmark it.
- Send the address link to family and friends. Each person types their own name line and postal address, so you do not type or fix them.
- On your host page, open Labels and pick the sheet that matches your pack. You can print everyone or only the cards not marked sent, and skip labels already used on a partly used sheet.
- Press Print labels and follow the settings below.
The preview is drawn at true size, so you can see how many sheets it takes before you load any paper. People without an address yet are left off.
Printer settings that matter
These come from Avery's own help pages, How to Print Labels at Home and Printing Steps & Options. They apply to any label software.
- Scale
- 100% or "Actual size". Avery says never to choose "Fit to Page", which resizes the grid so the rows no longer match the sheet. On this site, also set margins to none.
- Paper size
- Match it to the label sheet. Avery's sheets are usually 8.5 x 11 inch (US Letter). For the A4 layout, set the printer to A4.
- Paper type
- In the printer's Properties, choose a labels, heavyweight or cardstock setting. Avery says this gives a better print.
- Feeding
- Use the manual feed tray if you have one, or put a few plain sheets under the label sheet in the regular tray, and keep the paper guides snug. To learn which side prints and which edge goes in first, mark a plain sheet with an arrow and print on it.
Test on plain paper first
Print one page on plain paper, lay it on top of a blank label sheet and hold both up to a bright light. Every address should sit inside a label. Avery's label printing guide suggests the same check. Only then load the real sheet. If you have a half-used sheet, set "Skip used labels" to the number of labels already gone, and the first address starts on the next free one.
If you want Avery or Word anyway
Maybe your label pack has an odd size, or you like Avery Design & Print. Download the CSV from the host page and import it there, or into a Word mail merge. The first row holds clean column headers:
Name, Address line 1, Address line 2, Address line 3, Address line 4, Sent, Received, Added by, Added on
Map Name and the address lines to the label, and ignore the last four columns. Check the imported preview before printing.
Common problems
- Labels drift down the sheet
- Drift means the printed grid is a little too large or small, most often "Fit to Page" or a scale below 100%. Avery lists wrong template, page scaling and loading direction as the usual causes. Reset the scale to 100% and run the plain-paper test again.
- The first row is cut off
- Check the same three things, then the paper size, then the loading direction (a sheet fed the wrong way round shifts the grid). Avery also notes that many home printers cannot print to the very edge of full-sheet labels. The top label row here starts about half an inch down, so a cut first row usually points to scaling or feeding.
- A4 or Letter?
- Use the sheet you bought. In the US that is mostly Letter and the 5160 layout. Elsewhere, A4 sheets with 3 x 8 labels of 70 x 37 mm match the other option. Other pack sizes are not supported yet; use the CSV for those.
- A long name wraps oddly
- The text shrinks to fit, down to 6.5 pt. A shorter name line fixes it, and the addressing guide shows casual versions.
Planning the list itself? The card list template covers what to track.