Label stock
28.6 × 12.7 mm labels
Three millimetres wider than the microtube label, for a reason that only becomes visible after a year in vapour phase.
Where the three millimetres go
A 2 mL internally threaded cryovial has roughly a 12.5 mm barrel, which is about 39 mm around. That sounds like room for a much wider label, but the straight unribbed run is shorter — nearer 28 mm on most vials, because the moulding ridges and the base skirt take the rest.
28.6 mm is sized to that straight run rather than to the circumference. A label wider than the straight run has to bridge the ridges, and a bridged edge is not in contact with the vial. In vapour phase, the space under a bridged edge is where water vapour condenses and freezes, and a frozen wedge under an edge lifts labels slowly and irreversibly.
What this size is
- In inches
- 1.13 × 0.5 in. Only the height came from inches. The width is what a sheet of paper divides into, which is why the two numbers look unrelated.
- Vessels it wraps
- Anything from a 2 mL cryovial upwards, so also a 50 mL conical tube and a GL45 reagent bottle. The tightest of those has a usable band of about 36 × 20 mm, which this label fits inside.
- Die-cut sheets
- No stock sheet in the editor is cut to this size. On plain paper it packs 132 per A4, 147 per Letter, cut by hand along printed marks.
- Roll stock that carries it
- 38.1 mm, 50.8 mm, 57 mm, 62 mm, 76.2 mm, 101.6 mm. The narrowest that takes it is 38.1 mm, and a roll narrower than the label is reported as an error rather than trimmed.
What fits on a 28.6 × 12.7 mm label
| Type size | Lines | Plex Sans | Barlow Condensed | Atkinson Hyperlegible | Plex Mono | Space Mono | Courier Prime |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.5 pt | 5 | 34 | 48 | 35 | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| 5 pt | 5 | 31 | 43 | 31 | 25 | 24 | 25 |
| 6 pt | 4 | 26 | 36 | 26 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 7 pt | 3 | 22 | 30 | 22 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| 8 pt | 3 | 19 | 27 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| 10 pt | 2 | 15 | 21 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
What actually decides whether the label is still there
- The vial was at room temperature
- Pressure-sensitive adhesive has to flow to wet the surface. On a vial straight out of a −20 °C freezer it never bonds, and the label lifts the first time the vial is handled.
- It had time before it went down
- Bond strength keeps climbing for hours after application. Twenty-four hours at room temperature before the rack goes into storage is the cheapest improvement available, and it costs nothing but patience.
- It is in vapour, not liquid
- Vapour-phase storage is hard on labels. Immersion in liquid nitrogen is far harder, and few label materials are rated for it. Assume none are unless the datasheet says so.
- The print, not the label, survived
- Cryo-rated polyester face stock will come back fine while a direct thermal image on it has faded to nothing. Thermal transfer with a resin ribbon, or laser toner, is what survives the trip.
Common questions
- Does the same size work for 1.8 mL and 2 mL vials?
- Yes. The difference between 1.8 and 2 mL vials of the same brand is usually height rather than diameter, and both sit around a 12.5 mm barrel. The label wraps the same way on either.
- Should the label go on the vial or the box?
- Both, doing different jobs. The vial carries an identifier that has to survive being handled with a cold glove. The box lid carries the map, which can be far more detailed because it never goes below the freezer's own temperature and is read at arm's length.
Open it in the editor
The editor loads at 28.6 × 12.7 mm with a worked example in place. It runs entirely in your browser: nothing you type is uploaded, and there is no account to make.
Last reviewed 2026-09-13.