Avery 5160 print alignment checklist

A 5160 sheet is a fixed, published grid — 3 columns × 10 rows, 30 labels per U.S. Letter page. When a print comes out shifted, the grid math itself is almost never the cause. Work through this list before assuming the template is wrong.

1. Turn off "fit to page" or any print scaling

This is the single most common cause of misaligned labels. Any print dialog option that scales the page to fit — "shrink to fit," "fit to printable area," or similar — resizes the whole layout slightly, which is enough to throw off a tight label grid. Print at 100% / actual size, never "fit to page."

2. Confirm the paper size matches

Avery 5160 sheets are U.S. Letter (8.5×11 in). If your printer or OS default is set to A4 or another size, the page gets scaled or cropped to fit — check this explicitly rather than assuming it matches your generator's output size.

3. Do one test print on plain paper first

Print onto a blank sheet, then hold it up against an actual label sheet to see which direction it's off before wasting real labels. This also isolates whether the shift is consistent (same offset every time — a calibration issue) or inconsistent (a paper-feed issue).

4. Use the alignment offset if it's consistently off

If the same printer consistently shifts prints in one direction, this site's label generator has X/Y offset fields (in millimeters) specifically for this — enter the measured shift from your test print to correct it, rather than trying to compensate by adjusting anything else.

5. Check your printer's own margin settings

Some printers apply a small non-printable margin by default that can't be overridden from the print dialog alone — if step 1 and 2 don't fix a consistent shift, check the printer's own driver settings or manual for a borderless or full-bleed printing option.

Ready to generate a sheet? Upload your CSV to the label generator.