Label your hanging files clearly and legibly.
Hanging file folders won't help with organization if the folders themselves aren't organized. Clearly labeling the files is key to having a user-friendly filing system, so label legibility is paramount. Typed labels will be easy to read at a glance. The folders sold at office supply stores usually come with their own perforated sheet of labels; however, it is easier to type and cut out your own labels.
Instructions
1. Measure the height and width of one individual label on the perforated sheet or sticker sheet. If you are using the perforated sheet, measure the whole perforated box, including the part that will be folded down as the back of the label.
2. Open a new document in your program, such as Microsoft Excel, MS Word or Open Office. Insert a table. For Excel or other spreadsheet programs, use the new document without inserting anything as they will already have cells in the document. If you are going to use the stickers for labels, look at the sheet of stickers to check for margins. This is very important for lining up the text. Measure these margins on all four sides, then set the margins of your document to match these exactly. If the pages you will be printing on have no margins, set them all to zero.
3. Set the size of cell to match the size of the labels, which you already measured. Type your desired text into the cells. Smaller sets of folders will have only one column of perforated labels, not a whole page. If you have only one column, use only the first column of cells to type your labels. Use a bold font for greater readability.
4. Double check your cell sizes and margins, and then do a test run and print the labels onto a plaiin sheet of paper first. Place this test sheet over your labeling sheet to confirm that it does indeed line up with the stickers or perforated boxes. Adjust your margins and cell sizes accordingly and reprint if it does not match.
5. Feed the label sheet that came with your file folders into your printer. Be sure the page is facing the correct direction. This will depend on the type of printer you have, so check this first. Run a test sheet through to determine which side is up.
6. Insert the perforated labels into the slots in the folders, or adhere the stickers in their designated places.
Tips Warnings
If you do not have the original labels, you can simply use the test sheet you printed and manually cut out the individual labels. For the perforated variety, simply insert the slips you cut out into the slots. For the sticker variety, use clear tape to adhere the label to the file.
Tags: type, labels, hanging, file, folders, perforated sheet, test sheet, cell sizes, have only, have only column, into slots, only column
