I've been using a P-touch label maker and "Cable/Wire Labels" to establish ownership; these, I position about a foot from each end of the cable, covered in clear heat shrink tubing.
I spray paint one end of 1/4" instrument cables with glow-in-the dark paint to make ownership plain from 20 feet (guitar players
).
I started out numbering both ends of cables with silver Sharpie, but switched to letters to reduce confusion.
What kinds of labeling schemes are the rest of you using, and how are you using color-coding? Do you label for length?
Are there certain labeling practices that are fairly consistent accross the industry?