Avery 5163 as Name Tags: The Layout, and When 5395 Fits Better
The 2x4 shipping label works as a name tag if you respect its geometry: ten labels, half-inch top margin, print at 100%. Here's the layout — and when badge stock is the better buy.
·4 min read
Avery 5163 is a shipping label — 2 by 4 inches, ten to a sheet — that gets pressed into service as a name tag because it is big, cheap, and already in the office supply cabinet. It works. Here is the layout it needs, and when a sheet actually made for name badges is the better buy.
The 5163 layout
A 5163 sheet is US Letter with two columns of five labels. Each label is 4 inches wide by 2 inches tall. A 3/16-inch gap separates the two columns, the side margins are just over ⅛ inch (0.156"), and the top and bottom margins are half an inch — five 2-inch rows fill the middle 10 inches of the page exactly. Two things follow from that geometry: any template you use has to place content on those positions precisely, and the print dialog has to be at 100% scale. "Fit to page" shrinks the grid a few percent and everything lands low and drifts further down the sheet.
Using 5163 as a name tag
At 2×4, the label is wider and shorter than a purpose-made badge — closer to a nameplate than a tag. That shape suits a big first name on one line, which is most of what a name tag has to do. The adhesive is permanent shipping-label glue, though, so it is happier on a disposable conference badge or a laptop lid than on a sweater.
What the badge-specific sheet gets you
Avery 5395 — the standard name-badge sheet — trades size for shape and adhesive: 2⅓ by 3⅜ inch labels, eight per page, with the taller proportions the classic badge design expects and a gentler adhesive meant for clothing. If you are buying stock rather than using up what is in the cabinet, it is the sheet made for this job. The exact geometry is in the 5395 template guide.
Skipping the template step
Either way, the fiddly part is not the label spec — it is getting every name positioned, sized, and consistent. The Bulk Name Tag Generator takes a pasted list of names and lays finished badges onto label sheets at true size, shrinking long names to fit one line — and it has a 5163 layout built in: pick Avery 5163 from the label sheet menu and it prints two columns of five, positioned for the stock you already own. Prefer no labels at all? Its plain-cardstock mode with cut lines prints a clean set you can trim and slip into badge holders.
Something out of date or wrong here? Device specs and interface details shift with every release. Tell me and I'll fix it.
Related reading
- Avery 5395 Template: Exact Layout, and a Way to Skip the TemplateAvery 5395 is the standard adhesive name badge — 2⅓ × 3⅜ inches, 8 per sheet. The published geometry, why templates drift a sixteenth of an inch, and how to print a sheet straight from a name list.
- Print Name Tags from Excel Without a Mail MergeMail merge works, but it's a lot of Word for eight badges. Copy the name column, paste it, and print an Avery 5395 sheet at true size — second lines included.
- Name Tag Sizes: The Four Standards and Which One to PrintConference badges run 4x3, adhesive badges 3.38x2.33, pins 3x2, repurposed shipping labels 4x2. The sizes, what each is for, and the legibility rule that matters more.