Create a Custom Printer Page Size for Labels

When printing on tractor fed labels or any label that is not on a standard 8.5x11" sheet, it is often best to create a custom page size to accommodate the label. This custom paper size is created in the printer configuration which then makes this new size available for applications to use. The method for doing this differs among printers. For some printers with simple drivers, like some dot matrix printers, the paper size is added as a Form in the Print Server Properties. Other printers require custom page sizes to be set in their print driver using their Printer Properties dialog.

Below are two examples, one of each type, to illustrate how custom page sizes are created.

Custom Paper Size using Print Server Properties

The first example below demonstrates the steps required to create a custom paper size on a simple printer that does not include paper size configuration in the print driver. Note that some printers do not adhere to the paper settings in Print Server Properties, particularly if their driver supports custom page size settings.

1. In Windows, open the Control Panel > Devices and Printers.
2. Click on the printer you'll be adding the custom paper size to.
3. Click Print Server Properties near the top of the window.
    
4. Check the Create a New Form Box.
5. Enter a Form name.
6. Enter the size of the label in either English or Metric units. This size should be the overall size of a single label.
   
   
7. You may need to click Change Form Settings and satisfy the UAC prompt in order to create/edit a paper size.
8. Click Save Form.
9. Click Ok.
10. Now you can optionally set this new paper size as the default for the printer. Right-click on the printer and choose Printing Preferences.
11. Select the new Paper Size to use as the default.

Custom Paper Size Using Printer Driver from Printer Properties

The example below illustrates the method to define a custom page size for the Xerox 6010N.

1. In Windows, open the Control Panel > Devices and Printers.
2. Right-click the printer you are adding the paper size to and choose Printer Properties.
3. Click the Configuration tab.
   
   
4. Click Custom Paper Size.
   
   
5. This particular printer provides 20 custom sizes that can be adjusted and renamed. In this example, we'll modify Custom Size 1 to suit our requirements.
6. With Custom Size 1 selected in the details list, we can adjust the short edge and long edge, as well as set a name.
   
   
7. Click Ok
8. Click Ok again, on the Properties dialog.
9. Now you can optionally set this new paper size as the default for the printer. Right-click on the printer and choose Printing Preferences.
10. Select the new Paper Size to use as the default.