How to Create Gift Labels

Whether you're piling up presents for the holidays or any other upcoming occasion, losing track of what gift is for which person can wreck the pretty wrapping job. Label gifts and let recipients know who their presents are from by creating your own custom gift labels. Take advantage of one of a number of different computer programs offering quick label creation software. With just a few clicks, you'll be ready to stick and give.

Using Microsoft Paint

• 1

  Open Paint and click the Paint button in the top-left corner of the window. Select "Properties." Type the gift label dimensions into the "Width" and "Height" boxes, such as "2.63" and "1" respectively. Select "Inches" from the "Units" column and click the "OK" button to resize the workspace.

• 2

  Click the "View" tab at the top of the screen. Click the "Zoom in" button multiple times to increase the apparent size of the workspace for more room to work. Click the "Home" tab.

• 3

  Select a colored square from the "Colors" section of the ribbon/toolbar, such as black or orange for Halloween labels. Click the "Text" tool, which looks like an "A" on the "Tools" section of the ribbon/toolbar.

• 4

  Click the label and select a font and text size. Type "To" on the label. Move the cursor slightly lower and type "From." For custom labels, type the recipient's name and your name. Otherwise, leave them blank to use as a template and hand-write the names in later.

• 5

  Click the "Select" button on the toolbar and choose "Select All." A dotted line appears around the label. Press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys on the keyboard to copy the label. Click the Paint button and select "Properties." Change the "Width" and "Height" of the page to "8.5" and "11" respectively. When the larger page opens, press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys together to paste in a copy of the label. Drag it into place on the page.

• 6

  Continue to press "Ctrl" and "V" to paste additional copies of the label, filling up the sheet. Click the Paint button and select "Print." Turn on the printer and load in sticker paper. Nudge the "Number of copies" box on the "Print" window up to the number of sheets of labels to print and click the "Print" button.

Using Microsoft Publisher

• 1

  Open Publisher and click the "Labels" button in the middle of the "Available Templates" screen. Click the "All Mailing and shipping" folder and scroll through the label designs. Labels may be customized from shipping to gift theme. Double-click a label and it opens in the Publisher workspace.

• 2

  Click once on the first line of name or address text on the label. The name or address becomes highlighted. Type directly over it with the word "To." Click into the next line on the label and type the word "From." Add your name and the recipient's name if desired. Click once on any other placeholder text boxes on the label and press the "Delete" key to remove them.

• 3

  Highlight the new text and click the "Home" tab at the top of the screen. Change the font, text color, text size or position to match the gift occasion.

• 4

  Click once on a graphic on the label and press the "Delete" key to remove it from the label. Click the "Insert" tab at the top of the screen. Click the "Clip Art" button below the tab. Type a word or phrase such as "present," "gift boxes," "balloons" or a holiday term into the "Search for" box and click "Go." Scroll through the results, double-click a graphic and it appears on the gift label.

• 5

  Click the "File" tab at the top of the screen. Click "Print." Publisher automatically fills the page with as many labels as will fit on it and shows a preview of the page on the right side of the screen. Nudge the "Copies of print job" up to the number of sheets of labels to print. Turn on the printer, load in the sticker paper and click the "Print" button to print the labels.

Using Adobe Photoshop

• 1

  Open Photoshop, click the "File" menu and select "New." Type "GiftLabel" into the "Name" box. Type the label dimensions into the dimensions boxes, such as "4" for both "Width" and "Height." Pull down the dimensions boxes and select "inches" for each. Click the "OK" button to open the Photoshop workspace.

• 2

  Click the "Type" tool, which looks like a "T" on the "Tools" pane on the left side of the screen. Select a font, text color and text size from the toolbar at the top of the screen. Position the cursor near the top left of the label and type "To." Move the cursor lower on the label and type "From." Type names if desired.

• 3

  Double-click the top-left square of the "Color Picker," the two overlapping colored boxes at the bottom of the "Tools" pane. Select a background color for the label, one not used in the text colors, and click "OK."

• 4

  Click the "Paint Bucket" tool, which looks like a tipping can of paint, on the "Tools" pane. If you don't see the tool, right-click a rectangle made of shaded lines. This icon, the "Gradient" tool, shares the same space with the "Paint Bucket" tool. Select the "Paint Bucket" and click the white space of the label, filling it with a background color.

• 5

  Pull down the "Window" menu and select "Layers" to open the "Layers" palette. Click the small lined icon in the top-right corner of the palette and select "Flatten Image." Pull down the "Select" menu at the top of the screen and click "All." Press the "Ctrl" and "C" keys on the keyboard to copy the label.

• 6

  Click the "Image" menu at the top of the screen and select "Canvas Size." Type "8.5" and "11" into the "Width" and "Height" boxes and click "OK." The Photoshop workspace adjusts, with more room on the screen. Press the "Ctrl" and "V" keys to paste in a copy of the label and drag it into an empty space. If there is additional room, continue to paste in label copies to fill up the page.

• 7

  Turn on the printer and load in the sticker paper. Click the "File" menu, select "Print" and change the number in the "Copies" box to print additional copies of the label sheet. Click "Print" to start the printing process.