Holiday card labels from Google Sheets

Publish the sheet

1. Open the holiday list in Google Sheets.
2. Choose File, then Share, then Publish to web.
3. Pick the tab that holds the addresses, choose Comma-separated values, and publish it.
4. Copy that link. It looks like a docs.google.com spreadsheet link with output=csv.
5. Paste it into the Google Sheets tab below and choose Load sheet.

A normal share link is not enough. If the sheet is not published, the load stops. This browser fetches the rows from Google. Nothing is uploaded to LabelCSV. Publishing makes that tab readable by anyone with the link, so publish the address tab only and stop publishing from the same dialog when the cards are done.

Which preset, and which columns

Choose Avery 5160 for the envelope address: 1 in by 2.625 in, 30 per sheet. Avery 8160 and 18160 use that same layout, so those boxes take the same PDF. For the return address, switch to Avery 5167 (80 per sheet) or Avery 5195 (60 per sheet) and download a second PDF. LabelCSV is not affiliated with Avery.

Leave "First row is column names" on. Name, Full Name, Recipient, Address, Address 1, Street, City, State, Zip, and Postal Code map themselves. "Envelope name" does not, until you select it or rename it to Name. Leave Gift, Sent, and nicknames on Skip. City, State, and ZIP print as one line, and a blank Address 2 is removed.

Publish the tab you are printing. When the link includes a gid, that tab is the one that loads. After you add a household, choose Load sheet again. The PDF is the rows from the last load.

Free-form lines, when the columns are odd

Use the free-form template when you need a column the six address fields do not cover, such as Country. Click a column button under the box to insert it. Empty lines are dropped, so a blank Country cell does not leave a hole.

{Name}
{Address}
{City}, {State} {Zip}
{Country}

The name inside the braces has to match the header. Capitalization does not matter. At the default 10 point Helvetica, a 5160 label holds five lines. A sixth line is cut. The preview shows the cut before you print. You can set the size from 6 to 24 points.

Print alignment

Download the alignment test and print it on plain paper at 100 percent. Turn off fit-to-page and headers and footers, or some browsers shrink the page to make room for a URL. If the whole page is shifted the same way, set Nudge right or Nudge up, from -0.5 to 0.5 inches. A higher number moves the print that way. Print the test again. The nudge is saved in this browser. Start at label skips peeled labels on the first sheet only. On 5160, a missing top row means you start at 4. A free PDF is one sheet, 30 labels, with a small LabelCSV.com line in the bottom margin.

Questions