Printable Fragile Labels

Which mark to use

FRAGILE is the label people know best: a red glass with the word in capitals, telling everyone who handles the box that something inside can break, such as glass, ceramics, electronics or framed pictures. The second line can say what kind of care it needs, and HANDLE WITH CARE is the usual choice; the generator also makes a label with HANDLE WITH CARE as the main words, for parcels that are delicate rather than breakable.

THIS SIDE UP, with its two arrows pointing up, matters for anything that must not be turned over: liquids that could leak, plants, cakes, appliances with oil or water inside, and furniture that would be damaged lying on its side. The label combining FRAGILE with the arrows covers both at once, which is what most glassware and food parcels need. DO NOT BEND belongs on stiff envelopes with photographs, certificates or artwork inside, and KEEP DRY, with its umbrella, on cardboard boxes with paper, books, electronics or anything else that water would ruin.

The glass, the arrows and the umbrella follow the handling symbols of the international standard for packaging, ISO 780, so they are understood in any country, whatever language the text is in. The standard prints them in black; red is the colour most people know from fragile stickers, and both work.

Where to put the labels on the box

Put a FRAGILE label on the top of the box and on at least two of its sides, so it shows however the box is stacked or turned. THIS SIDE UP labels go on the sides, near the top, with the arrows pointing up: on all four sides if you can, and at least on two opposite ones, because a single label on one side is easy to miss when boxes stand in a row.

Keep the marks away from the address label and from any barcode, so the parcel can still be scanned and nobody covers the address with tape. On a box you are reusing, cover or remove the old labels and arrows completely, since an old THIS SIDE UP pointing the wrong way is worse than none at all.

Packing that protects what is inside

A label tells people to be careful, but the packing is what protects the contents when a box falls off a conveyor belt. Wrap each fragile item on its own, fill the space around it so nothing can move when you shake the box, and leave about two inches, or five centimetres, of cushioning between the item and every side of the box. For anything really breakable, pack it in a small box and put that box in a larger one with cushioning all around, which is the method most carriers recommend for glass.

Use a sturdy box that is not too large, because a box with empty space gets crushed and lets the contents shift, and tape every seam, the bottom as well as the top, in an H shape. Plates and records travel better standing on their edge than lying flat, and bottles need their caps taped and a sealed bag around them in case they leak.

Printing the labels

Choose the labels you have and the PDF puts every label exactly in place: 2 × 4 inch or 3⅓ × 4 inch labels on US Letter sheets, small 1 × 2⅝ inch labels for little parcels, A4 sheets in Europe, or a single 4 × 6, 4 × 3 or 4 × 4 inch label at a time on a thermal label printer. A full-page sign prints on ordinary paper, for large boxes and crates, or for a pallet of boxes going out together.

Print the PDF at actual size, choosing Actual size or 100% in the print dialog instead of Fit to page, so the labels land on the labels of the sheet. On a sheet you have used before, set Start at label to the first label that is still there. Thermal printers print in black only, so the generator switches the label to black when you choose one; on an office printer, red stands out best on a brown box.