Press firm and hold for half a second when punching your labels but don't squeeze too hard. A few times something inside sounded like it shifted and I was afraid I broke it. So far, so good.. to enter a space between words give the trigger a half squeeze. To cut, full squeeze and release with no hold. I found the labels are cleanest when you enter a space at the beginning and end. No spaces at the beginning and end gives me a mangled beginning and letters getting chopped off at the end. So far I've had no problems with the adhesion.
The label maker comes with a roll of tape inside the unit, and two extra rolls. One black, one red.
Edit: after making a dozen or so labels, I've noticed that sometimes the letters don't come out in a straight line. Not a huge deal but if you really like everything lined up perfectly, this will bother you.