Sequentially numbered labels on a Mac: asset tags, tickets and batch numbers

Numbered labels are a mail merge in disguise: if a spreadsheet can count, any label tool that reads a spreadsheet can number. That is the free way, and it works. Software with a numbering feature built in saves the spreadsheet step and, more usefully, remembers where you stopped. This guide covers both, plus dates and times stamped at print, for asset tags, raffle tickets, batch and lot numbers.

The free way: let a spreadsheet count

1. In Numbers, Excel or Google Sheets, put a header such as number in the first cell.
2. Type 1 and 2 below it, select both, and drag the fill handle down until you reach the last number you need.
3. For a fixed width such as 0001, format the column as text and use a formula, or a custom number format of 0000, before exporting. Without that, leading zeros disappear.
4. Add a prefix in the next column if you want one: a formula such as ="IT-"&TEXT(A2,"0000") in Excel or Google Sheets turns 1 into IT-0001.
5. Use the sheet as the data source for a label mail merge in Word, or import it into Avery Design & Print. Each label takes the next row.

Printing labels from a spreadsheet covers the merge itself and the traps in the spreadsheet.

Tools with numbering built in

• Avery Design & Print Online can add sequential numbers, in text or as a barcode, without a spreadsheet. Free, and the obvious choice on Avery sheets.
• DYMO Connect and Brother P-touch Editor both have numbering for their own printers, which is how many offices make asset tags on a LabelWriter or a P-touch.

What none of the spreadsheet methods do is remember. Next month you need to know that the last tag was 0347, and that lives in your head or a note.

Numbered labels in LabelPrint

The designer in LabelPrinthas three fields that fill themselves in at print time. Type them into any text element, or into a barcode or QR code's value:

• {{serial}}: a running number. You set how many digits it has (so 7 prints as 0007 with four) and the step between labels.
• {{date}}: today's date, or a date a set number of days ahead, in a format you pick, including MM/dd/yyyy, yyyy-MM-dd and dd.MM.yyyy.
• {{time}}: the time of printing, as a 24-hour HH:mm.

Then Print a series: choose how many labels (up to 1,000 at a time on the Mac, 500 on the iPhone) and the starting number. The app shows the range, for example 0001 – 0250, before anything prints. The series goes to the print queue, or on the Mac can be saved as one PDF. Afterwards the label remembers where it stopped, so the next series suggests starting at 0251.

Three common jobs

Asset tags

Start from the asset tag or inventory tag template. Put IT-{{serial}}in a Code 128 barcode and the same text below it, set four or five digits, and print a series. Each laptop, monitor or tool gets a scannable number that matches your inventory spreadsheet. If you want the tag to carry an item's name or location as well, that is data per item, so use a CSV rather than a series. Barcode labels on a Mac explains why Code 128 is the right type here.

Raffle and event tickets

The raffle ticket and event ticket templates are a starting point. Put {{serial}} in two places, one on the part you keep and one on the part you hand out; every copy of the field on a label gets the same number, so the stub and the ticket match. Print the series, cut along the line. One caution: this is not a tamper-proof ticket, and anyone with a label printer can make one. For a school raffle, that is fine.

Batch and lot numbers

The lot number template, or any product label, takes a line such as Lot {{serial}} · packed {{date}}. For food, add a best-before line with {{date}} set 30 days ahead, or however long your product keeps. Both dates come from the day you print, so print on the day you pack. More on product labels in designing product labels on a Mac.

Limits worth knowing

• On the free tier, each label in a series counts toward the five a day, so any real run needs Unlimited. Labels that contain a barcode or QR code also need Unlimited to print. Pricing.
• Numbers are not checked against anything. Nothing stops you printing 0001 to 0250 twice. Keep a log of the ranges you print where uniqueness matters.
• A series repeats the same design with a different number. If each label needs different words as well, use a CSV.
• On a thermal printer, numbers in a small font are where faint printing shows first. If digits look broken, see faded thermal labels.