TagLeaf › Guides › Printable price tag template

Printable price tag template for craft fairs: sizes, cardstock, and a free generator

Most "printable price tag templates" are a decorated PDF in one size, with no thought for what your printer will do to it or whether the tag will survive a day under a candle. This guide gives you the three sizes that cover almost every craft table, the exact grid so you can build the template yourself in any word processor, the cardstock to buy, what to put on each tag, and the print settings that keep the cut lines where they should be. If you would rather not build it, there is a free generator that lays out the sheet from a pasted list.

The three sizes that cover almost every table

Tag size should follow the item, not the design. Three sizes, all of which tile neatly on a US Letter or A4 sheet with a half-inch margin:

The large size is exactly a standard business card, which means business-card cutters, sleeves and boxes all fit it. The counts assume a 0.5" margin on every side and no gutter between tags, so you cut once per line rather than twice. If your printer cannot print closer than 0.5" to the edge, the outer tags lose nothing because the margin is already there.

The three sizes in proportion (approximate on screen):

Building the template yourself (any word processor)

If you want a template you own, a table with fixed cell sizes is all a tag sheet is. The steps are the same in Word, Google Docs, Pages or LibreOffice:

1. Page setup: Letter or A4, portrait, margins 0.5" on all four sides.
2. Insert a table with the column and row counts from the table above: 3 × 10 for small, 3 × 6 (Letter) or 2 × 7 (A4) for medium, 2 × 5 for large.
3. Set exact cell sizes. Column width 2", 2.5" or 3.5"; row height 1", 1.5" or 2". Turn off "automatically resize to fit contents" (in Word: Table Properties, Options, untick Automatically resize). This is the step everyone skips, and it is why home-made tag sheets drift.
4. Cell padding around 0.08" so text does not sit on the cut line. Borders: dashed, light grey, so they guide the scissors but are not visible on the finished tag.
5. Type one tag, style it, then copy the cell into the rest. Change the text per item.
6. Save as a template so next market you only replace the text.

The limitation shows up at thirty items with a dozen needing three copies each: you are pasting cells and counting by hand.

Cardstock: what to buy

• Weight: 65 to 80 lb cover, roughly 175 to 215 gsm. Heavy enough to stand up in a basket and take a hole punch without tearing, light enough to feed through most home inkjet and laser printers. Plain copy paper works for flat tags in a pinch but curls under a warm candle by mid-afternoon.
• Check your printer's maximum paper weight in its spec sheet before buying a ream. Many home printers take heavier stock only through the rear or manual feed tray, one sheet at a time. Feeding 80 lb through the front cassette is how jams and skewed prints happen.
• Kraft cardstock looks handmade with no design work at all and hides fingerprints. Black text only; colour inks disappear on brown.
• White or cream cardstock if you want colour, a logo, or a photo background. Matte, not glossy: glossy stock smears on inkjets and glares under tent lighting.

What to print on each tag

A tag has one job: answer "how much?" before the customer has to ask. Everything else is optional and should earn its place.

1. Price, largest thing on the tag. Whole dollars ("$12", not "$11.95"); it reads faster and makes cash change easier. If you must show cents, make them smaller.
2. Item name and variant. "Cedar & sage candle", not "Candle". The variant is what stops "which one is this?"
3. One note, if it helps the sale. Scent, size, material, burn time, "hand wash". A note that answers the question they would have asked. Not a paragraph.
4. Your shop name, small. The tag goes home with the item. Three weeks later, the person who received it as a gift reads the tag to find you.
5. Not on the tag: multi-buy deals, which belong on one sign next to the group; two prices for the same item; anything the customer has to do arithmetic with.

Pricing itself, what number to print, is a separate question with its own formula; see how to price handmade items for markets. Signs, table layout and the rest of the setup are in craft fair price tags: sizes, what to print, and how to make a sheet.

Printer settings that keep the grid true

Nine out of ten "my tags printed the wrong size" problems are one checkbox.

• Scale: 100% or "Actual size". Never "Fit to page" or "Shrink to fit", which scale the whole sheet down a few percent and shift every cut line.
• Paper size in the dialog matches the template. A Letter template printed on A4 with fit-to-page will be about 6% short; the tags will still be tags, but they will not be 2" × 1".
• Test on plain paper first. Print one sheet, measure one tag with a ruler, hold it against an item. Then load the cardstock, and let inkjet prints dry for a few minutes before cutting.

Cutting, punching, attaching

• A guillotine paper cutter makes a sheet of 30 small tags a 60-second job with straight edges. Scissors work, slower.
• Hole punch the corner of medium and large tags for string, jute or a safety pin. Punch five at a time and the holes line up.
• Attach by item type: string through the hole for anything with a handle, hook or loop; a small glue dot or a sticker on the underside for pottery and wood; a fold-over on the bag for soaps and stickers; a pin for textiles. A price sticker on the front face of a handmade item is the one thing to avoid. Bring ten blank tags and a marker too; the first craft fair checklist has the rest of the packing list.

Frequently asked questions

What size should craft fair price tags be?

2" × 1" for small items in baskets (30 per sheet), 2.5" × 1.5" for candles, mugs and bath products (18 per Letter, 14 per A4), and 3.5" × 2" business-card size for art, apparel and anything with a note (10 per sheet).

What cardstock is best for printable price tags?

65 to 80 lb cover, about 175 to 215 gsm. It stands up, takes a hole punch, and feeds through most home printers via the rear or manual tray. Kraft for a handmade look with black text; matte white or cream for colour.

Why do my printed tags come out the wrong size?

The print dialog is set to Fit to page. Set scale to 100% or Actual size, match the paper size to the template, and test on plain paper with a ruler before using cardstock.

What should be printed on a craft fair price tag?

The price, large; the item name and variant; one short note if it helps; and your shop name. Deals go on a sign next to the group, not on every tag.