You've got Label Printer and now you want to generate your shipping labels.
In the ideal world, shipping companies would provide you with a label file that is 4 x 6 inches, in the correct orientation, and at the proper quality. That would make sense because they do want your label to be 4 x 6!
In reality, however, shipping companies think if you don't have a commercial solution (more on that shortly), then you are a very low-volume shipper and are probably printing at home on a standard 8.5" x 11" printer - which is the most common printer at homes.
So you would usually want to print the label they give you into a PDF, then use this handy trick from Adobe (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/print-portion-page-acrobat-reader.html) to print just the label.
This is all fine if you are shipping a few labels here and there. But what if you are shipping dozens or hundreds?
This is where commercial solutions come in handy. Not only these solutions provide you with exactly the right file for your 4 x 6 shipping label, they can also help you download your orders from your selling channels, automate many tedious shipping tasks, and print many labels together.
After signing up with one of these services, you enter your courier credentials (Fedex, UPS, etc.) and they will generate 4 x 6 labels using your negotiated rates and via your account.
Our favorite platform is ShipStation (https://www.shipstation.com). They do offer a free 30-day trial and plans start at $9.99/month.
Other available options are:
1. GoShippo (https://goshippo.com) - They do not have any monthly fees and instead charge $0.05 per label. You do receive bulk discount pricing from USPS.
2. XpsShip (https://xpsship.com) - No monthly or per label charges. They add a small commission to their discounted USPS rates only.