Templates
Cryovial label template
Cryovial labels fail for one reason far more often than any other: they were applied to a vial that was already cold. The size is the easy part.
The size is set by the barrel, not the vial
A 2 mL cryovial has roughly a 12.5 mm barrel, which gives about 39 mm of circumference — but the straight, unribbed run is shorter, nearer 28 mm on most internally threaded vials. A label wider than that straight run has to bridge the moulding ridges, and a bridged edge is where frost gets underneath.
28.6 × 12.7 mm leaves a small gap rather than butting the ends together. That gap matters: a wrap that overlaps itself has a step the tape edge can catch on, and a wrap that just meets has nowhere to go when the film contracts in the cold.
What actually fails, in order of frequency
- Applied to a cold or frosted vial
- Pressure-sensitive adhesives need to flow to wet the surface. On a vial straight out of a −20 °C freezer the adhesive never bonds, and the label lifts on the first handling. Apply at room temperature to a dry vial.
- No dwell time before freezing
- Adhesive bond strength keeps climbing for hours after application. Giving a labelled rack 24 hours at room temperature before it goes down is the single cheapest improvement available.
- Liquid-phase immersion
- Vapour-phase storage is hard on labels; immersion in liquid nitrogen is far harder, and nitrogen that enters the vial can make it burst on warming. Few label materials are rated for immersion, and none should be assumed to be.
- Direct thermal print, not the label
- The label survives, the printing does not. Direct thermal images fade with warmth and abrade against rack walls. Use thermal transfer with a resin ribbon, or laser toner on a cryo-rated polyester face.
- Handwriting over the print
- Solvent markers on a frozen label bead and smear. If a vial needs annotating, annotate the box lid.
What fits on a cryovial 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 |
Put the detail in a QR code, not on the vial
A cryovial has no room for a full provenance record, and a −80 °C freezer is not a place to stand and read one. A short identifier plus a QR code that resolves inside your own inventory system gets you both.
The editor generates QR codes locally, so the payload never leaves the browser. Keep the payload short — an identifier, not a URL with tracking parameters — because every extra byte adds modules, and modules on a 12 mm code get close to the limit of what a phone camera resolves through frost.
Common questions
- What size label fits a 2 mL cryovial?
- 28.6 × 12.7 mm is a good default. The barrel is about 12.5 mm across, giving roughly 39 mm of circumference, but the straight run between mouldings is nearer 28 mm — and that is the dimension that matters.
- Do cryogenic labels survive liquid nitrogen?
- Vapour phase, generally yes with the right material and application. Immersion in liquid phase is a different question and depends entirely on the specific material's rating — check it rather than assuming, and note that immersion carries its own vial-rupture risk.
- How long before freezing should I apply the label?
- Apply at room temperature to a clean dry vial and give it 24 hours before it goes into the freezer wherever the workflow allows. Adhesive bond strength continues to develop for hours after application.
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 2026-08-24.