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Print Plant Labels

Havard Ostgaard
Modified on: Tue, 15 Oct, 2024 at 7:34 PM

Introduction

Plant labels of various kinds help reliably identify plants in the collection and inform visitors with facts about the plants. There are several types of labels, and gardens might consider using one or several of these label types:

  • Temporary Label. Upon arrival, the initial label is attached to plant material for tracking before a permanent label is prepared. 
  • Accession Label. This label is created after the plant material is accessioned. It includes at least the accession number and may also feature the scientific name, family, or barcodes if used by the institution. This is sometimes referred to as an accession tag and is often made of durable material, such as embossed metal. Some gardens combine the accession and interpretation labels as one label.
  • Interpretation label. This permanent label is made when the material is planted in the garden. It identifies the plant for visitors and might include other helpful information.
  • Pre-numbered Metal Tags (dog tags). A cost effective solution to track plants is to purchase pre-numbered metal tags that you fix to the plant. These will then work as a secondary identifier. 


Interpretation Label Example from Brooklyn Botanic Garden. 

Accession Label Example from Longwood Gardens. 


Recommended Label Printing Workflow in Hortis

Our recommended approach for managing plant labels in Hortis is as follows:

  1. Assign Tags: To keep track of all the plant material that needs a plant label, assign a tag. For example, “Needs label.”. 
  2. Filter for Printing: When you're ready to print, use the filter on the plant material list to find all items tagged with “Needs label.”
  3. Download Records: In the top right corner, click the download button to export a CSV file containing the relevant records.
  4. Design and Print Labels: If you design and print the labels yourself, you can use Mail Merge with a word processor or professional label printing software (links to some options are provided below).
  5. Update Tags with batch actions: After printing, tidy up the tags for the plant materials:
    1. Select list: Select all the plant materials in the list by ticking the check box in the top left corner.
    2. Start Actions: Click the “Actions” menu at the bottom of the screen or use the context menu.
    3. Choose "Add/Remove tags."
    4. Assign "Has Label" tag: Assign the “Has label” tag to all selected plant materials (optional but useful for tracking which plants have labels).
    5. Remove "Needs label" tag: To remove the “Needs label” tag, use the tag name filter at the top, start typing, and when “Needs label” appears, click the “-” (minus) button to remove the tag.



Label Printing Software


printIf you are printing the labels yourself, the label printer may include label design software. Alternatively, you can design labels using a word processer or a dedicated label design software. Here are some examples that might be worth exploring:



Label Printing Companies

We recommend that you contact other botanic gardens or botanic garden networks for recommendations for label printing companies that operate in your region.

Other resources


H
Havard is the author of this solution article.

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