How to Print Hang Tags
By Louise Balle
As the name suggests, hang tags are suspended from an item, whether it be a doorknob, piece of clothing or a wall. You can print these tags at home instead of sending them to a commercial copy shop if you have the right computer programs, a good printer and cardboard or cover stock paper.
Step 1
Lay out the hang tag file in the program of your choice. You can use a graphic design program like Adobe Photoshop to design the tag then lay it out in a desktop publishing program like Quark Xpress or a word processing program like Microsoft Word.
Step 2
Size the hang tag appropriately for your needs in your graphic design program. For instance, if you are creating a hang tag to attach to clothing that you are selling, size the file about 1.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. If you are creating a hang tag for a door, size it at about 6 inches wide by 1 foot tall.
Step 3
Draw a circle at the top of your tag design as a guideline for where you will punch out the hole where the tag will be hung. For a clothing tag, this will be a very small hole about a quarter-inch in diameter. For a door hang tag, the hole will be about 3 inches in diameter—slightly larger than a doorknob.
Step 4
Save the design as a TIF file (CMYK color mode, which is full color) at 300 dots per inch resolution in your graphic design program. TIF image files produce high-quality printouts.
Step 5
Open your layout program. Most home printers can accommodate sheet ranges from the standard 8.5-by-11 inches to 8.5-by-14 inches (legal size), so set your layout document at either of these sizes.
Step 6
Insert your TIF file into the document. Add a thin gray border around the tag.
Step 7
Copy and paste the tag image throughout your document. Fill the page with as many of the tag designs as you can fit comfortably on one sheet. For example, if you have a tag sized at 1.5 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall, you can fit about 15 of them side by side and bottom to top on a page.
Step 8
Print the tags on 100 pound glossy cover stock or cardboard stock paper in the color of your choice. Cut the tags out along the border lines that you created using an X-Acto knife or cutting board, which can be found at a copy shop.
References
Tips
- If you have a large circle to trim out on the top of the tag, find a large circular object like a glass or bowl to place on top of the tag. This will help you cut out an almost-perfect circle. You can also cut a slit out on the top that will allow you to slide the hang tag onto an item, like a doorknob, more easily.
- Use a hand-held hole puncher to punch holes in small tags.
Writer Bio
Louise Balle has been writing Web articles since 2004, covering everything from business promotion to topics on beauty. Her work can be found on various websites. She has a small-business background and experience as a layout and graphics designer for Web and book projects.