How To Adjust UPS HAZMAT Label Printed Offsets

When printing HAZMAT labels, the text can become offset from the label’s fields. If the text is not aligned properly within the label’s field boxes, carriers such as UPS could reject the shipment (see https://www.ups.com/us/en/support/shipping-support/shipping-special-care-regulated-items/hazardous-materials-guide/shippers-responsibilities/49-cfr.page ).

If printed label text is being offset, first check the following:

Make sure you are using up-to-date printer drivers obtained from the manufacturer’s website.
Make sure that the default printer settings in the operating system (specifically, the paper size) are correct. It should be default format: Letter (8.5 x 11).

If the problem persists, ShipHawk Support can adjust the printed label offsets, which are measured in pixels from the initial starting point (the upper left corner) of the label.

For example, the field text is misaligned by 10 pixels to the right and downwards, ShipHawk can add an offset of 10 pixels to the ‘x' (horizontal, rightwards) and 'y’ (vertical, downwards) starting point.

Contact ShipHawk Support to make these changes.

ShipHawk Support Details (Active Admin)

In ShipHawk’s Active Admin, for the account, navigate to Edit Account > Hazmat Defaults section > Positions for text in UPS Hazmat Label.

Video example: https://recordit.co/22Lw8KW1W5

The window displays a tree view you can use to identify the starting position(s) in pixels of field data.

You can then edit the positions as needed. For example, you can adjust position_1 by 10 pixels, changing :

Tip: When you use Cmd+Shift+4 on a mac for a screenshot, when you drag the cursor, it measures the pixel distance from where your cursor started. This can be a useful way to identify how you want to change the pixel settings. (There are also various measuring tools available, such as Screen Calipers and PixelSnap.)

A further example: this window lists a tree view of the label text components, specifying the position of each component:

For example, the in the tree view, the starting position for position_5 (below) is x = 332 pixels and y = 752 pixels:

To adjust position_5 so that x is 20 pixels rightwards, change 332 to 352:

NOTE: Measuring the right number of pixels for the offset can be difficult. The process can be iterative, where you specify offsets, save the settings, print the label, and then adjust again as needed. Depending on printer characteristics and other factors, on a given page, the offset (e.g., the x position) can potentially vary for the positions as you go down the page.