Your Clover inventory already holds what a label needs: item names, prices, and the codes your scanner reads. The trick is getting them onto a label that's sharp enough to scan on the first try. Here's how to do it with the printer you already have.
Step 1: Give every item a code to scan
Open your inventory on the Clover dashboard and check each item has something a scanner can read:
- Items with a manufacturer barcode: put the 12-digit UPC (or 13-digit EAN) in the item's product code field. Scanners read these instantly.
- Items you make or buy unbranded: give each one a short, unique SKU, like
CND-SAGE-8. Short codes make barcodes that scan easily, even on small labels.
- Variants: if you sell sizes or colors as separate items, give each one its own code, so the register rings up the right one.
Step 2: Choose your labels
You don't need a special printer:
- Sheet labels on any laser or inkjet printer. Avery 5160 (1" × 2⅝", 30 per sheet) is the classic price tag; Avery 5167 is smaller for jewelry and small goods; Avery 5163 makes big shelf tags.
- Thermal rolls for DYMO LabelWriter, Zebra, Rollo or Brother printers. No ink, one label at a time, handy for tagging deliveries as they arrive.
Our label & printer guide lists every size and what it's best for.
Step 3: Why barcodes come out blurry or won't scan
- The print is being scaled. In the print dialog, choose "Actual size" or 100%, never "Fit to page". Scaling shrinks the barcode and blurs its bars.
- The barcode is too small for the code. Long codes make long barcodes with very thin bars, which blur together on small labels. Use shorter SKUs, or a wider label.
- The barcode is an image, not sharp lines. A low-resolution barcode looks fine on screen and fuzzy on paper. Barcodes printed as vector graphics stay crisp at any size.
- No white space around it. Scanners need a clear margin (the "quiet zone") on both sides. Don't let text or the label edge crowd it.
- Thermal paper size is wrong. Set the printer's paper size to your exact label size, or each label prints shrunk and off-center.
Step 4: Print a test first
Print one page on plain paper and hold it behind your label sheet up to a window. If the labels line up, print the real thing. Then scan one label at your Clover register before printing a big batch.
Coming to Clover: Tillbright Labels
We built Tillbright Labels because label printing kept being the annoying part of running a shop. It's coming to the Clover App Market, and it turns your Clover items into print-perfect labels:
- Sharp vector barcodes sized for each label, so they scan.
- Items without a UPC get a Code 128 barcode from their SKU automatically.
- Avery sheets on any printer, or DYMO, Zebra, Rollo and Brother rolls.
- Start mid-sheet, and nudge alignment if your printer runs a little off.
Clover is a trademark of Clover Network, LLC. Tillbright is an independent app and is not affiliated with Clover.
Tillbright