A Barcode Printer Review – DYMO LabelWriter 450

The DYMO LabelWriter 450 is a well-reviewed and popular barcode printer. It’s a thermal label printer, which means it uses heat instead of ink to print labels.

So, no need to buy ink cartridges, but you do need to purchase special labels. The good news is, since it’s such a popular printer, labels are relatively inexpensive and widely available. For example, you can buy 500 address sized labels from labelvalue.com for under $12. That’s about $0.02 a label.

What can the DYMO LabelWriter 450 do for me?

Well, chances are if you’re running a small business, you’re already in need of labels! The DYMO LabelWriter 450 can print a variety of labels from the most basic to some more interesting ones.

For example, you can print:

• Return address labels
• Address labels (and import an Excel list of names and addresses)
• Holiday greeting labels
• BIN/location labels
• Product information labels
• Internet postage stamps in the USA
• Rat tail price tags
• Barcode or Universal Product Code (UPC) labels
• File labels
• Appointment reminder cards
• Time expiring visitor name badges
• Even veterinary prescription labels!

How do I print barcodes, stickers and labels using the DYMO LabelWriter 450?

The DYMO LabelWriter series of printers also come with printing software that lets you edit and create labels very easily. Although this article mentions barcodes, your labels do not have to include barcodes on them.

You first select your label type by scrolling through a list in the Labels tab. Unfortunately, there’s no search field where you can search for the label type you’re looking for. Once you find the correct label you can then add objects to your label. These include:

• Static and circular text
• Smart Address Box (uses different addresses loaded from a spreadsheet)
• A counter (lets you number your labels individually)
• Date and time (automatically prints today’s date)
• Barcode (20 different types including code 39, UPC and QR)
• Shapes (rectangles, circles, lines)
• Images and clip art (use your own image or use DYMO’s own built in clip art library of over 200 images)

After you’ve designed your label, you simply press the big blue Print button and you are sticker printing in no time! We’ll look at more specific case examples below.

How do I use the LabelWriter as a barcode printer?

Say you make and sell candles and just finished a batch of 50 pieces that you need to label.

First, you would pick an appropriately sized label and then go to Insert and click Barcode.

You then have the option to select the barcode data and the type of barcode you wish to create. After you select your options, you can select 50 copies and then click Print. In a few moments, you’ll have 50 sticker barcodes ready to attach to your candles.

Generally speaking, Code 39 is a safe bet to create barcodes for internal purposes. If you’re looking to send your products to a large retail store, then you would want to use the UPC (Universal Price Code) format. You’ll also have to purchase UPCs from GS1.

Using inFlow Inventory to manage your inventory makes this even easier. inFlow can communicate directly with DYMO printers so that you can print labels as you receive them. It takes just a few minutes to set up and after that, you can print labels and manage your inventory from one app on your PC.

How do I print return address sticker labels?

Similar to printing barcodes, you would select your label size, then go to “Insert” and click “Text” Use that space to put your address in. You can also add your company logo by inserting an image.

How do I print label stickers with multiple mailing addresses from a list?

In this scenario, there’s one extra step which involves adding addresses from an address book. You’ll find this process is very similar to Microsoft’s mail merge feature (except it’s a whole lot easier!).

As always, you first select your label size, but this time you go to insert and then address. This puts in a text box (or a variable field) that you will enter your addresses in to or yo can import your addresses to this location.

Next, get your addresses ready by saving them in Microsoft Excel. Have a column for the recipient’s name, address, city, province, country and postal/zip code (there’s no need to include headers). As a helpful hint, try to cut down on addresses that are exceptionally large by using abbreviations where possible. This is important because the DYMO software will automatically resize the font to fit the entire address on the label. If you have too much information, the font size could end up being very small.

Now, inside the DYMO software, go to Address Book at the top menu and choose Import. You can now select your saved Excel file and arrange the fields as you like. Be sure to use spaces and hit the enter key for new lines (the spaces will show up as a blue dot shown below):

Once imported, you can now go over to the Address Book tab, select all addresses and press Print. Now each label you print will have a unique address!

Things to watch out for, and other label printing tips and tricks

Don’t bother installing the software that comes bundled with the printer – it will be outdated and useless. Instead, head over to the DYMO website and download the latest version here. You can also download the latest DYMO software by clicking here.

Since we’re located in Canada, label sizes inside the software were quoted in millimeters. However, if you’re buying labels from the US, they will be quoted in inches. This made it a pain to try to find the correct label type before printing. We had to go to Edit > Preferences > General and change the units of measure from Metric to English.

Overall, the DYMO label printing software is really well designed. We do have one quick tip though: if you’re re-editing a template, you need to select the Insert tab in order to make changes. If you’re not on the Insert tab, you won’t be able to change anything on an existing label template.

Where to buy a DYMO LabelWriter 450?

Since it’s a popular product, any major retailer will typically carry the DYMO LabelWriter 450. Amazon.com typically has the lowest price.