ShipStation's major function is to create labels for your shipments. There are several ways to create labels to suit your workflow needs:
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Create a single label for a single order.
Review the Edit Order Details and Configure Shipping articles if you need to make changes to an order before creating the label.
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Create multiple labels for a single order (called multi-package shipments).
Review the Multi-Package Shipments article to learn how to create multiple package shipments and which carriers support this option.
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Create shipments in bulk (called Batch Shipping).
Creating shipments in bulk automatically creates a Batch in ShipStation. To learn more about Shipment Batches, review the Batch Shipping article.
You can create labels for orders in either the Awaiting Shipment or On Hold status. You cannot create labels for orders in the Awaiting Payment status. For Awaiting Payment orders, you can either wait until the store refresh updates the order to Awaiting Shipment, or select the Mark as Paid button to move it to the Awaiting Shipment status.
For options on how to reship an order that is in the Shipped status, please see our Reship an Order article.
This is the most basic scenario: a single order results in a single label.
To create a single label for one order:
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Configure the shipping options for the order (see the Configure Shipping article for details on the various methods to configure shipping).
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Click Create + Print Label.
If you would like to create the label, but print it at a later time, click the drop-down on the Create + Print Label button and choose Create Label instead.
The Cost Review Screen
If creating a label with a ShipStation Carrier, you will see a Cost Review screen if your available balance is insufficient for the cost of the label and you do not have auto-funding enabled.
Add the necessary funds ($/£/€10 is typically the minimum allowed) and click Continue.
Review the Manage Your ShipStation Balance article to learn how to add funds and auto-fund your ShipStation Balance!
ShipStation will then display the label in the print pop-up screen and allow you to choose a print method (print to a printer using ShipStation Connect, browser print, or download the label to print through a PDF viewer). For details on the printing process, review the Print Labels articles.
To skip the print pop-up and have ShipStation automatically send your labels to a specific printer, set a default printer for your labels.
Shipment and Order Statuses
When you create the label, ShipStation creates a shipment record, which you can view in the Shipments tab.
Additionally, ShipStation will then update the order's status to Shipped, unless there are other shipments associated with the order that have not had labels created for them yet. In that case, the individual shipment on the order will show as Shipped, but the order will remain in the Awaiting Shipment status.
If you need to create a label to ship a package for a customer that already exists in your Customers tab, you can do so with the Create Label option in the Customer Details pop-up.
This process creates a label with a shipment record but does not create an order. Additionally, this shipment record will not have any items associated with it.
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To learn about how to include company logos and label messages to your labels, please review the Document Options section of the ShipStation Print Settings article.
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Some carriers have limitations for their labels, such as character limits and support for label messages. For details, review the article for your specific carrier on our Integrations Help Guide.
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Most carriers in countries that use a Roman-based alphabet do not support non-Roman characters on labels created through their APIs. If an address contains non-Roman characters (like Kanji, Hanzi, and Cyrillic), this can result in ??? appearing where the text should be.
You will need to void the label, translate the characters into English (either by contacting the customer or using a program like Google Translate), and copy the Roman text into the recipient fields before creating a new label.
To also include the original address, copy / paste the original address into a text editor, print separately, and tape it to the package next to the label.
Creating single labels in ShipStation Legacy differs somewhat than the process used in the new layout.
Once you have configured an order's shipping details, you can create a label from the Order Grid or Order Details screen. Follow the steps below, or scroll down to watch a demo video.
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Select an order in the Orders grid.
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Click the Create Label button.
ShipStation will open the Cost Summary screen to view the rate and make any necessary changes (if Quickship is enabled, ShipStation will skip this screen).
If you use a postage provider with a balance and the balance is not sufficient for the cost of the label(s), you will be prompted to add funds.
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Click Create Label and ShipStation will request the label from the carrier.
Once the label generates, a pop-up will display your print methods:
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Via ShipStation Connect.
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View it from your browser, then print.
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Download the PDF to your device, then print.
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Select one of these options to view and print out the shipping label.