About this tool
A book spine label tells a reader where a book lives on the shelf. This tool turns a list of books into a sheet of spine labels you can print on the label paper you already own. Paste your titles and authors, choose Avery 5160, 5167 or 6873 (or enter your own grid), and print.
It is free, there is no signup, and it runs entirely in your browser. The book list is never uploaded, stored or sent anywhere; close the tab and it is gone.
How to use it
- Paste your books, one per line: title, author, then an optional call number or a genre or reading level. Copying three columns from a spreadsheet works, because cells arrive separated by tabs. Typed lines can be separated by commas; write authors as Jane Smith rather than Smith, Jane, or put the line in tabs.
- Pick your label sheet. The preview shows the first sheet with every label outlined, so you can see how the grid sits on the page.
- Choose what each label shows and set the font size. Small labels such as the 5167 need a smaller font than the big 6873.
- Set the start position if the sheet is partly used. Label 1 is the top left; numbering runs across, then down.
- Print at 100 percent with scaling off.
Call numbers, and how the tool builds one
Libraries use a call number such as 813.54 ROW (a Dewey number plus author letters) or FIC ROW (a shelf section plus author letters). Classroom, church and office libraries usually need something simpler. If you leave the call number blank, this tool makes a code from the genre and the first three letters of the author's surname: a Fiction book by Jane Smith becomes FIC SMI, Biography becomes BIO, Graphic Novel becomes GN, and a reading level such as Level M becomes M.
If you do type a call number, the tool uses it exactly as written. Shelving by the author's surname inside each section keeps books easy to find and easy to put back, and the three letters are enough to sort a few hundred books.
Getting labels to line up on the sheet
The page is set to US Letter with no margin, and each label is positioned from the measured margins and pitch of the sheet you chose, so the geometry matches the real label stock. Whether it prints true depends on your browser and printer settings:
- Choose Letter paper and set scale to 100 percent (Actual size). Fit to page shrinks the grid and shifts every row.
- Turn off headers and footers, and set margins to None if the dialog offers it.
- Print one test page on plain paper and hold it behind a label sheet against a window before you use the real sheet.
- If your printer has an unprintable edge, labels very close to the paper edge can clip. The 5160, 5167 and 6873 layouts leave room for this.
For sheets not listed, choose Custom grid and copy the measurements from the label box. The tool warns you if the grid would run off a Letter page.
Tips for a tidy shelf
Put the label about an inch from the bottom of the spine, at the same height on every book, so the row reads as a line. Cover a paper label with clear tape on books that get handled a lot. For the browse-by-colour approach many classrooms use, print labels on coloured sheets by genre. And keep your list in a spreadsheet; it is the easiest thing to paste back in when you add books. The related book tools can fill in details from an ISBN, and the rest of the free tools are on the AnchorKite tools page.
Frequently asked questions
Which label sheets does the Book Spine Label Maker support?
Avery 5160 (30 labels, 3 by 10), Avery 5167 (80 labels, 4 by 20) and Avery 6873 (8 labels, 2 by 4), plus a custom grid where you enter the label size, margins and gaps from the box. Other sheets with the same measurements, such as Avery 8160 or 5260 for 5160, work too.
How do I make the labels line up on the sheet?
Print at 100 percent, also called Actual size, with page scaling turned off and margins set to None if your browser offers it. Print on plain paper first and hold it against a label sheet up to a window. If the rows drift, scaling is almost always the cause.
What is a call number and how does the tool make one?
A call number is the short code on a spine that says where a book lives on the shelf. If you do not type one, the tool builds a simple code from the genre and the first three letters of the author's surname, so a Fiction book by Jane Smith becomes FIC SMI.
Can I paste a list from a spreadsheet?
Yes. Copy the title, author and optional third column from your spreadsheet and paste them in. Cells copied from a spreadsheet arrive separated by tabs, which the tool reads directly. Comma separated lines work as well.
How do I reuse a partly used label sheet?
Set Start at label to the number of the first free label, counting left to right and then down. The used positions are skipped and shown hatched in the preview, and printing begins at the label you chose.
Is my book list uploaded anywhere?
No. The list is processed in your browser and never sent to a server. Closing the tab clears it.
Is the credit line printed on my labels?
Not on a label. It is a single small line in the bottom margin of the first printed page, outside the label grid, and you can switch it off with the Print AnchorKite credit option.