NKA design | Printers / QL550LabelPrinterCUPS browse

Official CUPS and LPR drivers from Brother

They can be found from http://solutions.brother.com/bsc_ph/os/linux/index.html and have been compiled for a variety of distributions (RPM and DEB packages are provided).

Note that they only include source code for the CUPS wrappers, which isn't that interesting really.
If you want an Open Source driver with full source code then use Arn's CUPS driver below as the one released from Brother is mostly binary.

Thanks to Nephi531 for pointing them out.

CUPS driver for the P-touch Printer family Version 1.2, updated 22Nov2006:

You can download below the work done by Arne John Glenstrup () based on the current protocol findings and the cups driver for the P-Touch 2450 done by Geoffrey Teale.
This is, however, a full implementation that extends greatly all previous work.

While you can get the latest software from Arne's website, I will include below the latest mirrored version. Please let me know if I'm falling behind.

The major update to 1.0 update included much improved support for the PT family of printers (with extensive testing on the PT-2420PC) and a ConcatPages option to scale multi-page into one for those pesky applications that do not support label-sized pages.

Minor update to 1.1 doesn't inlcude any new functionality. Just improvements on packaging for Fedora Core 5 and 6. There is no need to install this version if you already have 1.0 working. Minor update to 1.2 allows you to download just the filter or just the foomatic data as needed.

ptouch-driver-1.2.tar.gz - Source tarball for version 1.2

ptouch-driver-1.2-1.i386.rpm - RPM file containing the raster filter, compiled on Fedora Core 6.

ptouch-driver-foomatic-1.2-1.i386.rpm - RPM file containing the foomatic XML data, compiled on Fedora Core 6.

ptouch-driver-1.1-1.fc6.i386.rpm - Fedora Core 6 RPM standard i386

ptouch-driver-1.1-1.fc6.x86_64.rpm - Fedora Core 6 RPM 64bit version

Send feedback on this driver directly to Arne John Glenstrup (), with copy to me if you don't mind () so I can follow.

Older Versions (FC5)

ptouch-driver-1.1-1.i386.rpm - Fedora Core 5 RPM standard i386

ptouch-driver-1.1-1.x86_64.rpm - Fedora Core 5 RPM 64bit version

ptouch-driver-1.1.tar.gz - Source tarball for version 1.1

Older Versions (FC4)

ptouch-driver-1.0-1.i386.rpm - Fedora Core 4 RPM standard i386
MD5: 25918217028bd6d232a235ff037f77ef

ptouch-driver-1.0-1.x86_64.rpm - Fedora Core 4 RPM 64bit version
MD5: 4f24ad6e02ae05e1686a7b8705aba369

ptouch-driver-1.0.tar.gz - Source tarball
MD5: e4c7f56fae95abe210987c9722164a6c

Installation

Binary Packages

If you build packages for other distributions, please send them and I'll host them here for others to find.

To install the tar file distribution, run

# tar zxf ptouch-driver-1.1.tar.gz
# cd ptouch-driver-1.1
# ./configure
# make
# make install

If you do not have root access, you will probably need to use the --prefix=... option to ./configure. Run ./configure --help to view available options.

Reporting Bugs

If you think you have found a bug and want to report it, follow these instructions and report your findings to :

Find a minimal input example PostScript document that elicits the bug.
Set up CUPS for debugging by setting LogLevel debug in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf, and restart CUPS, e.g. by service cups restart.
Redirect the raw printer data to a file by setting print to file in your printer configuration application. If you use http://localhost:631 to do this, click on Modify Printer, Continue, select AppSocket, Continue, and then enter a device URI like file:/home/myname/ql500-data.raw, Continue.
When submitting a bug report, include
1. A good description of the bug symptoms and circumstances.
2. The PostScript input example file.
3. The CUPS error log excerpt from /var/log/cups/error_log.
4. The raw printer data file.
5. All possible details about your printer: model number, type of connection, type of tape used.

Alternative ressource

Thomas Seiler () contacted me a few weeks ago with his first shot at a cups driver.
His work is based on the original dymo cups filter and requires you to replace the original cups source for rastertodymo.c with his version and then compile cups as usual.
While this version is not as extensive as Arne's it may be a useful departure point for other implementations.

ql5x0.2205-12-17.tar.gz - source tarball
MD5: c44cab4f41de48c011d44c959fd5a1ac

Links

Comments

Tim BoWednesday 08 February 2006, at 06:43 GMT+8 [X]
for some reason the printer alwas feeds alot of paper. no matter which paper size i use. things like "negative" work perfect... i use "kprinter helpme.pdf" to print the file. and yes, the file is only as big the text is :)

RenaudFriday 10 March 2006, at 08:28 GMT+8 [X]
Arne added option ConcatPages to version 1.0 of the driver. This should solve this issue.

KCSaturday 12 August 2006, at 13:41 GMT+8 [X]
The feeding seems to be related to default 100mm length, so no matter how small a page is, it will always spew out 100mm (about 4 inches) for every print. Is there a way to vary the length instead of always printing 100mm, short of editing the PPD file everytime the length changes? BTW, ptouch driver also works with PT-2300 and PT-2300 is not shown in the hardware list.

Arne GlenstrupFriday 08 September 2006, at 22:33 GMT+8 [X]
KC: Problem is that foomatic doesn't support fixed-width-variable-height page sizes, only fixed and custom-height-and-width sizes. If custom page size doesn't work with CUPS, you might be able to use the ConcatPages option to get what you desire. What are the options you used for PT-2300? Are they PageSize=24x100mm, Align=center, BytesPerLine=14, LabelPreamble=0, PixelTransfer=RLE, Resolution=180x180, SoftwareMirror=0 ?

Brad TempletonFriday 15 December 2006, at 05:34 GMT+8 [X]
It's largely working for m on my new ql-500, but I find that with the standard 29 x 90mm label roll, it always feeds about 1cm too much after doing the label and I have to open the printer and back up the roll before cutting it. It also starts too soon, in that once I have cut the strip between the precut labels, I do need to add about .6cm of margin on the left. Are there places where I can tweak my settings?

Brad TempletonFriday 15 December 2006, at 14:37 GMT+8 [X]
Ok, I wasn't paying close enough attention -- I was having the same problem. concatpages almost fixes it, I will continue looking at it.

Antonio HonThursday 21 December 2006, at 21:19 GMT+8 [X]
I have to modify the ppd file (PageSize, PageRegion, ImageableArea, PaperDimension) so whenever you found [82 255] will need to be changed to [82 230]. These numbers are image area. And when creating label in your PDF writer, the page size will need to be 29x80mm, not 29x90mm. So, it should fix the over feeding problem.

nephi513Tuesday 13 March 2007, at 08:12 GMT+8 [X]
I know this is some what of an old article, but I would like to point out that I have found Offical Brother Test Drivers. I don\'t know for sure if they have anymore as this is the only page I was able to find. With a little copying and paste of the ppd file in the right location for ubuntu I was able to get it to work. (ppd file should go in /usr/share/ppd, copy it form /usr/share/cups/model/brql5*0.ppd). Here is the link. solutions.brother.com/bsc_ph/os/linux/linux_ql500550.html

RenaudTuesday 13 March 2007, at 11:16 GMT+8 [X]
Thanks al lot Nephi513, I have amended the page to point to them.

213.188.237.106Wednesday 14 March 2007, at 01:57 GMT+8 [X]
It's nice that Brother provides Linux drivers now, but where did you get the source code for it? On the download page I only find the source code for the CUPS wrapper, but not for the drivers?

RenaudThursday 15 March 2007, at 18:14 GMT+8 [X]
You're right, I was a bit too quick: the source code is only for the wrappers, wihch isn't that interesting. There is no source code for the drivers themselves and only some OS are supported.

dallerThursday 26 June 2008, at 23:53 GMT+8 [X]
To compile in debian / ubuntu you need to install these packages: aptitude install build-essential libcupsys2-dev libcupsys2-dev