Making your gift tags
- Pick a design. Plain frame draws a double rounded frame, Dotted border a ring of dots in two shades, Stripes corner a band of diagonal stripes in the top left corner, and Scalloped edge a frame with small scallops all around.
- Choose the size: small tags, 12 to a sheet, or medium tags, 6 to a sheet with room for a short note.
- Pick a greeting from the list or type your own, such as the name of your family. Leave it on No greeting for tags that work for any occasion.
- Type the names if you want them printed, one tag per line as "To | From". Choose whether the hole mark prints, pick the paper and a color, and download the PDF.
The preview shows the whole sheet. Every tag has a To line and a From line; printed names sit on the lines in italics, and empty lines stay free for handwriting.
Choosing the paper
A gift tag hangs from a ribbon and gets pulled, so it needs more body than printer paper. Light cardstock is the sweet spot for home printers; very heavy stock tends to jam or to smear. Look up the heaviest paper your printer takes in its manual or on the tray label, set the paper type to cardstock or heavy paper in the print dialog, and feed the sheets one at a time through the rear or manual tray if your printer has one.
Print one sheet on plain paper first to check the spelling and the colors, and print at 100 % or actual size. White cardstock shows the colors as in the preview; kraft or cream stock makes the terracotta and green designs look warmer, and the black design works on any shade. For tags that will be taped flat onto a parcel, plain paper is fine and a glue stick holds them.
Cutting and punching
The dashed lines between the tags are the cut lines, and the outer dashed line is the edge of the grid. Cut the long lines first with a paper trimmer or a craft knife along a metal ruler, then the short ones, so every tag keeps a clean edge. With scissors, cut along the dashed line with the dashes just inside the blade; small errors are hidden by the frame, which stays a few millimeters inside the cut.
The small circle at the top of each tag marks the hole. A single hole punch makes a hole that takes most ribbons and string; line up the punch so the circle sits in the middle of the window. For a reinforced hole, stick a small ring reinforcement over it on the back before you punch. Turn the hole mark off for tags that you tape onto a parcel or tuck into a bow.
Ribbon, string and finishing
Thin ribbon, baker's twine or jute string all fit the hole. Cut a piece about as long as your forearm, fold it in half, push the loop through the hole from the front and pull the two ends through the loop. That knot sits flat against the tag and never slips off. Tie the ends to the ribbon on the parcel or around the neck of a bottle.
If you write the names by hand, use a pen that dries fast on coated cardstock, such as a fine felt tip or a gel pen, and test it on the strip you cut off. Fill in the tags before you tie them on, while they still lie flat.
Drawing names for a gift exchange
For a family or office exchange, the Secret Santa generator draws who gives to whom from a list of names, with exclusions for couples, and tells every person only their own match. Print the tags blank or with the From line filled with "Your Secret Santa", so the giver stays a secret until the exchange. The printable gift list keeps track of who you buy for, the budget per person and whether each gift is bought, wrapped and given, and the thank-you cards print folded or flat cards for the notes afterwards.
More tools for wrapping day
The QR code generator turns a link to a video message, a photo album or a playlist into a QR code; print it small, cut it out and glue it onto the back of a medium tag for a gift with a surprise inside. When you shop the gifts, the discount calculator shows the final price after a percentage off and the amount you save, which helps when you compare offers across shops to stay within the budget you agreed with the group.
Frequently asked questions
Are the gift tags free?
Yes. Pick a design, download the PDF and print as many sheets as you need, for the holidays, birthdays, a baby shower or a classroom gift exchange. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line in the margin of the sheet names our website, and it falls off when you cut the tags.
How big are the tags?
Small tags are 1.9 x 3.25 in (48 x 83 mm), 12 to a sheet, and fit a bottle neck or a small box. Medium tags are 3 x 3.3 in (76 x 85 mm), 6 to a sheet, with room for a short note between the greeting and the lines. Both sizes print the same on US Letter and A4; only the margin around the grid changes.
Can I print names on the tags?
Yes. Type one tag per line in the Names box as "To | From", for example "Mia | Grandma". A line with only a name fills the To line, and "| Santa" fills only the From line. Tags without a name keep blank lines to write on. Tick Repeat to use the typed pairs again for the rest of the last sheet, which is handy when one family signs every tag.
What paper should I use?
Cardstock makes a tag that stands up to a ribbon. Check the heaviest paper your printer takes in its manual or on the tray, pick a matching paper type in the print dialog and feed thick sheets one at a time. Plain paper works for tags that are taped straight onto the wrapping. Print at 100 % or actual size, not fit to page.
Why does the custom greeting wrap or shrink?
A greeting longer than the tag is wide breaks into two lines at the best gap between words, and a very long single word gets smaller down to 9 points before it is shortened with an ellipsis. Up to 30 characters fit well; the preview shows exactly how it will print.
Why are some characters missing from my text?
The PDF uses the standard Helvetica and Times fonts, which cover English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters lose the accent, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text exactly as it will print.