Philipp Klaus
101 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
101 lines
5.2 KiB
Markdown
## brother\_ql ##
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A Python package to control Brother QL label printers.
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This package basically replaces the driver because it implements
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the raster language of those printers.
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Here is a list of printers claimed to be supported:
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QL-500, QL-550, QL-560, QL-570, QL-580N, QL-650TD, QL-700, QL-710W, QL-720NW, QL-1050, and QL-1060N.
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### Installation ###
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pip install https://github.com/pklaus/brother_ql/archive/master.zip
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Upgrade to the latest version using:
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pip install --upgrade https://github.com/pklaus/brother_ql/archive/master.zip
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### Usage ###
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#### Create ####
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You can create a new instruction file to be sent to the printer with
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the `brother_ql_create` tool:
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brother_ql_create --model QL-500 ./720x300_monochrome.png > 720x300_monochrome.bin
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If you want to find out about its options, just call the tool with `--help`:
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brother_ql_create --help
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Currently, the `brother_ql_create` tool is still lacking quite some important features like:
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* setting the media to something different than 62mm endless labels
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* using the 600dpi mode
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Please open an issue on Github if you want the tool to support more use cases.
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State what you want to be supported and what the command call could look like.
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#### Analyse ####
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To analyse a binary file containing Brother QL Raster instructions and
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create an image of what would be printed:
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brother_ql_analyse 720x300_monochrome.bin --loglevel DEBUG
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This tool also has the `--help` option.
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#### Printing ####
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Once you have a Brother QL instruction file, you can send it to the printer like this:
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cat my_label.bin > /dev/usb/lp1
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Be sure to have permission to write to the device (usually adding yourself to the *lp* group is sufficient.
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Or via network (if you have a LAN/WLAN enabled Brother QL):
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nc 192.168.0.23 9100 < my_label.bin
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You can also use the tool `brother_ql_print` to send the instructions to your printer.
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brother_ql_print 720x151_monochrome.bin /dev/usb/lp0
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# or
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brother_ql_print --backend network 720x151_monochrome.bin tcp://192.168.0.23:9100
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# or (requires PyUSB: `pip install pyusb`)
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brother_ql_print 720x151_monochrome.bin usb://0x04f9:0x2015
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#### Debugging
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If your printer has problems printing the instructions file, it may blink its LED (green or red) depending on the model. This can have many reasons, eg.:
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* The selected label doesn't match.
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* End of paper.
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* Unsupported opcode (some printers require a mode switching opcode, others fail if such an instruction is sent; some do support data compression, others don't)
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To debug this situation and find out which command could be the culprit, connect your printer via USB. (You don't get any status information via network).
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You can use the supplied tool `brother_ql_debug` to send your problematic instructions file to the printer. It will be split into single instructions sent one after the other.
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After every instruction, the printer will be given a chance to send a status response containing error information. Here is an example:
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philipp@lion ~> brother_ql_debug ./720x151_monochrome.bin /dev/usb/lp0
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INFO: CMD preamble FOUND. Instruction: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 [...] 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
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INFO: CMD init FOUND. Instruction: 1B 40
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INFO: CMD status request FOUND. Instruction: 1B 69 53
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INFO: Response from the device: 80 20 42 30 4F 30 00 00 00 00 3E 0A 00 00 15 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
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INFO: Interpretation of the response: 'Reply to status request' (phase: Waiting to receive), 'Continuous length tape' 62x0 mm^2, errors: []
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INFO: CMD media/quality FOUND. Instruction: 1B 69 7A CE 0A 3E 00 97 00 00 00 01 00
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INFO: CMD margins FOUND. Instruction: 1B 69 64 23 00
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INFO: CMD raster FOUND. Instruction: 67 00 5A 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 FF FF FF 1F FF FF FF FF FF F0 00 00 00 00 00 0F FF FF 03 FF FF FF FF E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 [...] 00 07 FF FF 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
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INFO: Response from the device: 80 20 42 30 4F 30 00 00 00 00 3E 0A 00 00 15 00 00 00 06 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
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INFO: Interpretation of the response: 'Phase change' (phase: Printing state), 'Continuous length tape' 62x0 mm^2, errors: []
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INFO: CMD print FOUND. Instruction: 1A
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TIME 1.60
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INFO: Interpretation of the response: 'Printing completed' (phase: Printing state), 'Continuous length tape' 62x0 mm^2, errors: []
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TIME 1.60
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INFO: Interpretation of the response: 'Phase change' (phase: Waiting to receive), 'Continuous length tape' 62x0 mm^2, errors: []
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Here, a command file was successfully printed. The last response should state the *Waiting to receive* phase.
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If you want to confirm the sending of every single command individually, you can add the `--interactive` argument to the command line call.
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If you're seeing any error there, open a new issue on Github containing the debugging output to get your device supported.
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