Short answer: open the free 4×6 shipping label template, fill in the sender, the recipient, the service, the package weight and the tracking number, then download it as a PDF or PNG and print it at 100% on 4 × 6 inch label stock. It's free, needs no account and has no watermark.
One thing first: a template gives you the layout, not postage. A label with postage on it has to be bought from the carrier or a shipping platform. The rest of this guide covers label sizes, which labels a template is right for, what a label must show, how to print so the barcode scans, and how to make one label per order.
Shipping label sizes at a glance
| Label | Inches | Millimetres | Pixels at 203 dpi | Pixels at 300 dpi | Where it's used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 × 6 thermal | 4 × 6 | 101.6 × 152.4 | 812 × 1218 | 1200 × 1800 | The standard roll for USPS, UPS and FedEx labels; Royal Mail calls it 6 × 4 |
| 4 × 8 thermal | 4 × 8 | 101.6 × 203.2 | 812 × 1624 | 1200 × 2400 | UPS WorldShip, when you want an extra area for references or a logo |
| Half sheet | 8.5 × 5.5 | 215.9 × 139.7 | — | 2550 × 1650 | Two labels on one US letter sheet, for inkjet and laser printers |
| 100 × 150 mm | 3.94 × 5.91 | 100 × 150 | 799 × 1199 | 1181 × 1772 | A common metric thermal roll in Europe, close to 4 × 6 |
| A6 | 4.13 × 5.83 | 105 × 148 | 839 × 1183 | 1240 × 1748 | Four to an A4 sheet of sticky labels |
Pixels are inches times the printer's dots per inch: 4 × 203 = 812, 6 × 203 = 1218. Most desktop thermal printers run at 203 dpi; 300 dpi models print finer bars. A6 is from the ISO 216 series that gives you A4. Carrier details follow USPS, UPS, FedEx and Royal Mail help pages as of November 2026.
Which size should you pick? With a thermal printer, use 4 × 6. UPS says its website works with most thermal printers that print 4" × 6" labels, FedEx's printer guide lists 4 × 6 thermal labels (plus a 4 × 6¾ version with a doc tab), and Royal Mail's Click & Drop has a 6 × 4 format for label printers. With an office printer, use paper or sticky label sheets: USPS Click-N-Ship can put two labels on one 8.5 × 11 sheet, and UPS WorldShip and Click & Drop can print one, two or four per sheet.
In Europe, "A6" is often used loosely for any label around 100 × 150 mm. A true A6 is 105 × 148 mm, a few millimetres off 4 × 6. Close enough for an address, not for stretching a carrier's barcode, so pick the paper size of the roll you actually loaded.
What a template is for (and what it isn't)
A carrier label is more than a laid-out address. On a USPS label the tracking barcode is an Intelligent Mail package barcode (IMpb). USPS Publication 199 describes it as a GS1-128 code that carries the destination ZIP Code, a service type code and a Mailer ID, and requires shippers to pass label and file certification before printing their own. Other carriers have their own systems. A barcode you make from your own number scans fine, but it isn't postage.
So buy the postage label from the carrier or your shipping platform and print that file as it comes. Use a template for labels that are yours to design:
- Your own deliveries. Local delivery, your own vans or click-and-collect, where your team scans your own codes.
- Warehouse and internal labels. Transfers between sites, pick-and-pack bins, office mail.
- Packing and return-address labels. Your address, the order reference and a handling note, next to the carrier's label.
- Parcels you pay for at the counter. Many post offices take a parcel with a clear address and add the postage label when you pay. Check your local rules.
- Data you already have. Order numbers, routing codes or a carrier tracking number on your own packing label, for your records. The carrier's label still goes on the box unchanged.
What a shipping label must show
Whatever it's for, a label needs these parts:
| Part | What goes in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sender | Name or business, street, city and postal code | Where the parcel goes back to if it can't be delivered |
| Recipient | Name, street, apartment or unit, city, postal code, and country for international parcels | The one block a driver or sorter must read without guessing |
| Service | The delivery service, such as express, priority or ground, often as a large code | Lets the person sorting see at a glance how the parcel travels |
| Weight and size | Weight, dimensions, and piece count ("2 of 3") for multi-box orders | Needed for handling and to keep multi-box orders together |
| Tracking barcode | A scannable barcode of the tracking number, with the number printed under it | The parcel's identity at every scan |
| Ship date and reference | The date it left, plus your order number | Ties the parcel back to the order when a customer calls |
Placement matters too. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual puts the address and barcode squarely on the parcel's largest surface, not over an edge, with the barcode at least one inch from the edge.
The free 4×6 shipping label template
The shipping label template is built on a 1200 × 1800 canvas, 4 × 6 inches at 300 dpi, with a field for everything above:
- A header with your brand name and a service box with a large one- or two-letter code (P, G, I) and the service name.
- From and Ship to blocks, with two address lines and a country line for the recipient. Addresses resize to fit long names and international lines.
- A routing code box for your own zone or sort code.
- Two codes from one tracking number: a QR code and a Code 128 barcode, with the number printed in full below.
- Package details: weight, dimensions, pieces and ship date.
- An order reference and a handling note, where you can bold or highlight words, such as "FRAGILE, this side up" or "return to sender".
Three sample fills show it working: a domestic express parcel, an international one with a long German address, and a short UK ground delivery. Type over the fields in the browser and download a PDF or PNG, with no account and no watermark. With a brand set up, the header uses your brand's name, website and font.
The PDF keeps text and barcodes as vectors with the fonts embedded, so bars stay sharp edges at any size, which is what a scanner needs. More layouts are in the logistics templates.
Printing a shipping label that scans
- Thermal or office printer. A direct thermal printer marks heat-sensitive stock: no ink, crisp bars, peel-and-stick labels. Inkjet and laser work on sticky sheets or plain paper. Tape plain paper flat, but keep tape off the barcode, where glare can stop a scan.
- Carrier PDFs: print at 100%. A carrier label is drawn at true size. Choose 100% or "Actual size" and turn off "Fit to page" and "Shrink to printable area". Royal Mail warns that resizing its labels can make them unreadable to its scanners.
- The template's PDF: print at 100% too. Its page is exactly 4 × 6 inches, with text and barcodes kept as vectors, so it prints at true size like a carrier label. The PNG is 1200 × 1800 pixels, also exactly 4 × 6 at 300 dpi.
- Match the paper size to the roll in the printer driver, not just the browser. A driver set to letter with a 4 × 6 roll loaded is the usual cause of tiny or cut-off labels.
- Print one test label and scan it with your phone before a batch. Calibrate the printer after loading a new roll.
- Keep a quiet zone. Leave white space either side of the barcode; text or the label edge too close to the bars can stop a scan.
Making shipping labels in bulk
One at a time is fine for a few orders a day. Past that, each order is a row (recipient, service, weight, tracking number) and the template turns each row into a label. In bannx, the parts of a template that change are variables, and a render fills them in.
- From the Bulk tab. Copy the template into your workspace and open its Bulk tab. Paste JSON rows, or upload a CSV whose header row is the variable names, and get one PDF or PNG per row in a ZIP. Flat fields such as
tracking,service,shipDateandordermap straight from CSV columns. The addresses are grouped fields (toholds name, lines, city and country), which a flat CSV column can't fill, so send those as JSON rows or swap them for flat fields liketoNamein your copy. The walkthrough is in generate images from a spreadsheet. Bulk runs are on paid plans. - From the bulk API. Send up to 500 rows per request, poll the job, and download the ZIP. Each row can name its file, such as by order number.
- From your order system. Call the render API with one order's values when it's packed and get its label back as a PDF. A webhook can post a
render.completedevent to your server when the file is ready. Details are in the rendering docs.
What it costs: 1 credit per image or PDF page, so 200 one-page labels use 200 credits, and a free account gets 25 renders a month. The same flow makes the invoice that ships with the order.
What bannx doesn't do: sell postage, compare carrier rates or book pickups. It makes the label file from your design and data; your carrier or shipping platform handles postage and tracking.
FAQ
What size is a standard shipping label?
4 × 6 inches (101.6 × 152.4 mm), the thermal size USPS, UPS and FedEx support; Royal Mail calls it 6 × 4. On office printers, carriers also print on letter or A4 paper.
How many pixels is a 4×6 shipping label?
812 × 1218 pixels at 203 dpi, the resolution of most desktop thermal printers, and 1200 × 1800 pixels at 300 dpi. The 4×6 template is designed at 1200 × 1800, so the PNG prints at a full 300 dpi.
Can I use a free template as a postage label?
No. A postage label has to come from the carrier or a shipping platform, which encodes the service and payment in its own barcode. Use the template for your own deliveries, internal and warehouse labels, packing labels, or a parcel you'll pay for at the counter.
Why does my shipping label print too small?
Usually the printer is scaling the page to different paper, such as a 4 × 6 label squeezed onto a letter sheet. Set the driver's paper size to the stock you loaded, and print carrier PDFs at 100% with "Fit to page" off.
Can I print shipping labels without a thermal printer?
Yes. Carriers support inkjet and laser printers. Use sticky label sheets, or plain paper taped flat with the barcode clear of tape. A thermal printer is faster and needs no ink, but isn't required.
Make your first label
Open the 4×6 shipping label template, fill in the sender, the recipient and the tracking number, and download the PDF. It's free, it takes a couple of minutes, and you don't need an account.