A method and apparatus for printer compensation is disclosed. A label stop sensor (LSS) detects a time T(1) associated with an initial label position near the beginning of a print job. The label stop sensor detects a time T(L) associated with a label position that is L labels later in the print job. From at least the times T(1) and T(L) and a printer media feed rate a processor calculates a difference between the initial label position and the later label position. A start adjustment factor is compensated by the difference between the initial label position and the later label position to account for changes in print position between the first label and the later label.