A practical layout for SKU labels: one row in the spreadsheet becomes one label, on a thermal printer or on A4. The sheet count is arithmetic you can check.
A shelf, a carton, or a bin needs a barcode that matches the SKU in your spreadsheet. Designing a single pretty label is the small part. The real question is: how do I print one correct label per row, at the right size, without retyping the codes?
Word and a mail merge can struggle with millimetres, Code 128, and a thermal printer that does not use A4. Counting columns wrong wastes a sheet, or clips the last column off the page.
You have 48 products in Excel. Each label is 50 mm × 30 mm and shows the product name plus a Code 128 of the SKU. You can print them as single thermal labels, or 24-up on A4.
| SKU | Name | Price |
|---|---|---|
| A-1001 | Ceramic mug | 12.00 |
| A-1002 | Travel tumbler | 18.50 |
| … 46 more rows, through A-1048 | ||
A4 is 210 × 297 mm. Leave 10 mm margin on every side, and 2 mm between labels. The last label in a row does not need a gap after it, so the count is:
Printable width = 210 − 10 − 10 = 190 mm
Columns = floor((190 + 2) ÷ (50 + 2)) = floor(192 ÷ 52) = 3
Printable height = 297 − 10 − 10 = 277 mm
Rows = floor((277 + 2) ÷ (30 + 2)) = floor(279 ÷ 32) = 8
3 × 8 = 24 labels per sheet
Check that they actually fit, gaps included:
Width used = 3 × 50 + 2 × 2 = 154 mm (36 mm spare inside the margins)
Height used = 8 × 30 + 7 × 2 = 254 mm (23 mm spare)
A4: 48 ÷ 24 = 2 sheets exactly
Thermal, one label per sticker: 48 labels
If you forget the grid and print one label per A4 page, the same list is 48 sheets. The layout above uses 2.
Row 1 of the data prints label 1. The barcode reads the SKU cell. The name under the bars reads the Name cell. A serial number is a different field: prefix WH-, start at 1, step 1, four digits.
WH-0001 … WH-0048
48 numbers, still 48 labels, still 2 sheets if you print them on the same A4 layout
Copies of the same row should keep the same serial. A new row is what advances the counter. Preview row A-1001 and row A-1048 before you print. If the long product name fits on those two, the column is wide enough.
| Printer | Labels | Pieces of media | Layout |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4, 3 × 8 | 48 | 2 sheets | 50 × 30 mm, 2 mm gap, 10 mm margin |
| Thermal, one-up | 48 | 48 stickers | One 50 × 30 mm label per feed |
Same data, same label design. Only the page grid changes. A thermal printer often needs a small horizontal or vertical offset, saved for that printer, so the bars are not shifted off the sticker.
floor((printable + gap) ÷ (label + gap)) matches a row that does not end with a gap.{SKU} and {Name}. Retyping barcodes is how A-1002 gets printed as A-1003.The arithmetic above is the layout. The repetitive part is joining 48 rows to that layout and sending them to the printer. Barcode Label Batch Printer is a Windows desktop app for that:
$19.99 one-time, with a 7-day free trial that includes printing and export. Run your next SKU list and compare the sheet count with the formula above.
Get Barcode Label Batch Printer on Microsoft StoreWith 50×30 mm labels, 10 mm margins, and a 2 mm gap: 3 columns and 8 rows, so 24. Width used is 154 mm of the 190 mm printable width.
48 ÷ 24 = 2 sheets. On a thermal printer the same list is 48 individual stickers.
Each row is one label. Point the barcode at the SKU column and the caption at the name column. A serial such as WH-0001 is a counter, not a column you type by hand.
Code 128 for an internal SKU, EAN-13 for retail, and QR for a longer code or a link. Text and a price sit beside the symbol.
Yes. Barcode Label Batch Printer imports Excel or CSV, lays out Code 128, EAN-13, and QR in millimetres, and prints to a thermal printer or A4. $19.99 one-time, with a 7-day free trial. Files stay on your PC.