Sorting out shipping labels is one of the more mundane tasks that any Amazon marketplace seller has to do. Thankfully, a combination of the right software and an excellent thermal printer can make the whole process much more manageable.
In this article, we’ll be looking at how to print FBA labels on DYMO thermal printers.
Amazon’s fulfillment program, called Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA), streamlines the shipping process by allowing you to ship your products to an Amazon fulfillment center.
Once there, Amazon will take over the task of getting your goods to your customers.
In order to make sure your goods are shipped to the correct warehouse and to identify which products belong to which sellers, Amazon uses one of two labels:
FBA Box Label - The FBA box label contains a unique barcode that associates your shipments with your seller account. When your shipment arrives at the warehouse, this barcode ensures it is stored in the correct section and picked for your customer orders. The FBA label looks like this:
The Shipping Label - The shipping label is precisely what it sounds like. It allows delivery companies to identify where your shipment is going. Delivery companies associated with Amazon, such as UPS and FedEx, offer discounted shipping on goods being sent to Amazon FBA warehouses. The shipping label looks like this:
Why Use a Thermal Printer to Print Your FBA Labels?
Your shipping and FBA labels can be printed using a standard inkjet printer, but using the thermal printer offers a range of additional benefits:
Thermal printers use a combination of heat and specific paper to create images, so you’ll never have to pay out for toner or ink again.
The lack of drying time and high print-speed of a thermal printer is ideal for producing large amounts of FBA and shipping labels when sending bulk orders.
Thermal printers do not have as many moving parts are regular inkjet printers, reducing the need for maintenance and increasing their lifespan.
Setting up Your DYMO Printer
Before we get to the printing instructions, you’ll need to get your DYMO printer set up and ready to go.
Setting up a new thermal printer can be a little complicated, so we’ve put together an easy-to-follow guide with step-by-step instructions on how to get your DYMO up and running.
How to Create an Amazon Shipping Label
Once you have products you need to ship to the Amazon FBA warehouse, you’ll need to create some shipping labels.
Shipping labels can be printed directly from seller central and are reasonably easy to manufacture, just follow the simple steps below:
On the Manage Orders page, click the Buy Shipping button for the order you want to ship.
On the Package Details page, verify the product(s) and enter the package weight and dimensions. Click Continue.
On the Shipping Services page, select a service type and any optional services. You have the option of choosing an Amazon-affiliate shipping service such as UPS or FedEx, in order to take advantage of their discounted shipping, or selecting a carrier of your choice.
When you have selected your desired service, click Continue.
On the Confirm Shipping page, click the Buy Shipping Services & Confirm Shipment button.
After you approve the shipment cost, click on the button to Print Box Labels.
After you’ve hit the Print Box Labels button, Amazon will then generate your shipping and FBA labels for you in a PDF file called package.pdf.
By default, these labels are set up to be printed on regular 8.5" x 11" printer paper in portrait view, so they are easy to print on standard printer paper.
Unfortunately, Amazon does not support printing directly to a DYMO printer from the Seller Center in the common 36 mm x 89 mm or 54 mm x 101 DYMO shipping label formats,
In order to have your DYMO printer print your FBA barcodes on standard 36 mm x 89 mm or 54 mm x 101 thermal labels, you'll need to take a few extra steps. Thankfully we're here with an easy step-by-step guide to walk you through it.
How to Print FBA Labels on DYMO Printers (PDF Snapshot Method)
Open your package.pdf file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Under Edit in the Menu bar at the top of the screen choose the Take a Snapshot option.
Below the Menu bar is the Tool Bar.
In the Tool Bar, click on the Minus (-) sign several times. This will reduce the image size to make taking a snapshot easier. An image size of 50% should work.
Make sure your shipping label is entirely visible.
Click, drag, and release your mouse so that all borders of your label are within the darkened area.
Then Right-click within the label and select Print.
To the right of the Print Window, you should see a preview image of the label you are about to print.
If you correctly selected the entire label, you should be able to see all of it in there.
If it doesn't look right simply repeat the click and drag from step 6 until you can select it all.
Change the Printer selection to your DYMO printer.
Click on the Advanced tab on the right of the printer window, then select the Custom setting before selecting Print As Image.
Set your DPI (dots per inch) setting to the highest possible number to give your printed barcodes the best clarity. On most DYMO printers this will be 600 DPI.
Click on the Page Setup option and select your DYMO printer. Then click on the Paper Size and select the label size you are using from the Multipurpose Labels dropdown menu.
Click the Print button to print your barcode.
How to Print FBA Labels on DYMO Printers (Create Barcode Method)
To use this method, you'll have to have the DYMO Label application software installed.
Once you’ve created your FBA labels in your seller center, select the 30-up Labels option and print your labels as a PDF.
Open your package.pdf file in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Open the DYMO Label application program.
Select Label Types and choose the label size you are using from the dropdown menu.
Select the Blank Template Option.
Click on the Insert option and then select the Barcode.
Once your new barcode has been inserted onto your blank label, double click on it to access its options.
Change the Barcode Type to Code 128 Auto and then enter the characters from under the barcode on your Amazon FBA label into the Barcode Data box.
Change your Barcode Size to Large.
Adjust the size of your new barcode until it fits into the top 50% of your label template.
Select the Text option in the Label Objects menu.
Copy the text from beneath your Amazon FBA label into the text box that appears.
Adjust the text so that it fits below the barcode you created.
You can now save and print your barcode from your DYMO printer.
To print multiple different barcodes using the PDF Snapshot or Create Barcode methods, you’ll have to repeat all these steps for each new barcode. This can be very time consuming if you are printing barcodes for a range of different items.
Happily, there is another way:
How to Print FBA Labels on DYMO Printers (The Easy Way)
Create your shipment to the Amazon FBA warehouse in the seller center.
Instead of wasting time snapshotting a PDF or creating each barcode individually, simply click on the Print Thermal Labels button that has been added to your browser by our extension. The button looks like this:
Let our super-fast servers process your shipping data and generate DYMO compatible labels based on your chosen specifications. Snapshotting or barcode creation might take several minutes per barcode, whereas our servers can create approximately 100 shipping labels in just 8 seconds.
Once we're done, your labels will automatically be converted into a PDF file and downloaded onto your computer, ready to print with you DYMO printer.
Even better, if you’ve chosen to sign up for one of our Business or Enterprise accounts, you can use our AZLabels Instant service to print directly to your DYMO printer, cutting out the PDF middle man.
Streamline your shipping with AZLabels swift and easy label printing services.
Try it for Free!
If you’re still not sure that AZLabels is right for you, why not try it for free?
Sign up for our basic account, and you'll be able to print up to 100 product and 10 shipping labels every month without needing to make any form of payment or even enter any payment details.
Once you've experienced how much easier AZLabels makes shipping your FBA products, it's easy to upgrade to one of our three premium accounts, each offering bespoke services designed specifically for your business!
Print Thermal Labels Straight from Seller Central
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