Not every box in a Scout store is the same shape.
A tent bag is long and narrow. A patrol crate is wide and shallow. A wire-cable hanging pouch is tall and thin. A shelf edge is thinner still. A standard luggage-tag label happily fits some of these. It does not happily fit all of them.
That is the gap custom label sizing closes.
The problem with one label size fitting everything
Most label systems, printed or digital, pick one shape and ask the world to fit it. That works fine right up until it doesn't — until someone tries to stick a wide landscape label on the narrow side of a storage box, or wrap a luggage-tag-sized code around a hanging pouch, and it just looks and works wrong.
Scout stores are full of exactly these mismatches. Kit lives in boxes, crates, bags, pouches, trailers and on shelves of every shape, often inherited, improvised or bought whatever-was-cheapest-at-the-time. A quartermaster reorganising a store shouldn't have to choose between "use the label that doesn't quite fit" and "give up on labelling that shelf at all".
What custom sizing actually gives you
Wogglebox's QR label printer starts with six built-in presets covering the common cases: a standard luggage-tag size for bags and boxes, a smaller label for tight equipment cases, a large sign-sized format for crates and shelf stations, a compact minimal label for small kit, and two portrait formats built specifically for box sides and hanging pouches.
If none of those is quite right, a group admin can define one custom size instead:
- Width and height, entered in millimetres, centimetres or inches — whichever your tape measure speaks
- Orientation, portrait or landscape, worked out automatically from the dimensions you enter but overridable if you want to force one or the other
- Location emphasis, an optional toggle that makes the storage location the biggest, boldest thing on the label instead of just another line of text
There's one custom size per group — set it, and it slots in alongside the built-in presets, ready to select and print like any of them. Change your mind later and saving a new size simply replaces the old one; nothing is left half-configured or forgotten in a settings page nobody remembers exists.
Portrait labels for box sides
Landscape labels make sense when you're looking at a box from above or reading it while it's sat on a shelf facing you. They make a lot less sense on the narrow vertical side of a storage box, where a wide label either overhangs the edges or gets squashed illegibly small to fit.
A portrait label solves this properly rather than just shrinking the problem. The QR code sits as a band across the top, with the item name and details stacked underneath — a shape that actually matches the side of a box rather than fighting it. Scan it while you're crouched in front of a shelf of identical-looking crates, and you get the right record without needing to pull the box out first.
Sizing for hanging kit pouches
The other common mismatch is hanging storage — the tall, narrow wire-cable pouches some groups use for smaller kit, ropes, or anything that's easier to grab off a hook than dig out of a crate. These are a genuinely awkward shape for a standard label: too tall and thin for a landscape design, and often larger overall than any of the fixed presets.
Custom sizing handles this the same way as the box-side case: pick portrait, enter the dimensions that match your actual pouch insert, and print a label that fills the space properly instead of leaving three-quarters of it blank or cramming everything into a corner.
Keeping the QR code scannable
There's an obvious temptation once custom sizing exists: make it as small as possible to save paper, ink or shelf space. Wogglebox lets you do that, but it also looks out for you.
If a chosen size would shrink the QR code down to the point where phone cameras are likely to struggle with it, a friendly on-screen warning appears explaining that the code might be a squint too small to scan reliably. It's advisory, not a locked door — you can still save and print the size exactly as entered if you have a good reason to (a genuinely tiny bit of kit, for instance). It just means you're choosing that trade-off deliberately rather than discovering it three months later when nobody's phone will focus on the label.
Who can change the label size
Setting or changing the group's custom label size is a group admin action — it's a shared setting, not a personal preference, so it makes sense that it sits with the same people who manage other group-wide configuration. Once a custom size is saved, though, anyone who can already print labels — quartermasters, leaders, whoever normally handles the label printer — can select it and print with it. Nobody needs special permission just to use a size someone else has already set up.
A Wogglebox+ feature
QR code labels, including custom sizing and portrait formats, are part of Wogglebox+. If your group already prints QR labels for equipment, custom sizing and the portrait presets sit alongside the existing landscape presets in the same label picker — there's nothing extra to set up or subscribe to separately.
Frequently asked questions
Can I print portrait QR labels for Scout equipment?
Yes. Wogglebox includes two built-in portrait presets — one sized for box sides and one for hanging kit pouches — and you can also define your own custom portrait size if neither fits your storage exactly.
What units can I use for a custom label size?
Millimetres, centimetres or inches. Enter the value in whichever unit is easiest to measure with; Wogglebox converts and stores it consistently behind the scenes.
How many custom label sizes can a group have?
One at a time. Saving a new custom size replaces the previous one — it's a single, clearly-labelled slot rather than a growing library to manage.
Will Wogglebox stop me printing a very small custom label?
No. Very small or very large sizes outside a sensible working range are rejected outright, but anything within that range is allowed even if the QR code would be small. You'll see an advisory warning if scannability might suffer, but it never blocks you from saving or printing.
Does everyone in the group need permission to use a custom label size?
No. Only group admins can set or change the custom size, but once it exists, anyone who can already access QR label printing can select and print it.
Final thought
A label that doesn't fit the thing it's stuck to ends up either ignored or ugly, and sometimes both. Custom sizing isn't about chasing perfection for its own sake — it's about making the label as easy to trust and use as the digital record it points to, whatever shape the box, pouch or shelf happens to be.