New three-column label format for Brother P-touch EDGE PT-E560BT asset tags:
logo | three static lines + variable field | QR code.
Layout and rendering
- ptouch_label.py: geometry engine with PDF and preview renderers. Both
consume the same geometry, so the preview matches the print exactly.
- Code symbols are snapped to whole printer dots per module. Fractional
modules are the usual reason a small QR code will not scan.
- QR is maximised to the printable height by default (16.4 mm, 4 dots per
module) instead of a fixed 16 mm box (12.3 mm, 3 dots per module).
- Code payload is composed as prefix + inventory + suffix. A legacy
{inventory} template is migrated on first save.
Hardware handling
- print_area.py reads the driver's real printable area via GetDeviceCaps.
The PT-E560BT head is 128 dots at 180 dpi, so the maximum print height is
18.06 mm even on 24 mm tape; the driver reports media as 65x24 mm but only
about 61x18 mm is reachable. Content is fitted to the reachable area,
otherwise the driver silently crops it.
- set_printer_resolution.py reads/switches the driver's resolution mode. The
driver offers 180x180 (symmetric) and 180x360 (anisotropic, 2x across the
tape); the anisotropic mode scaled output incorrectly.
GUI
- label_printer_ptouch_gui.py: 600x300 two-column panel - controls on the
left, live preview on the right. Advanced settings for logo, static lines,
code prefix/suffix and error correction.
- native_file_dialog.py: the standard Windows file picker, run in a
subprocess because Tk and Kivy both want the main event loop.
Printing
- Print failures are reported honestly. print_to_printer previously returned
True unconditionally, so a failed print claimed success and was logged as
SUCCESS.
- SumatraPDF exit codes are now checked (4 = no printer, 5 = driver error).
- The PDF is sent with noscale so driver-side scaling cannot distort the QR
module pitch.
Tests
- validate_ptouch_layout.py decodes the QR back out of the rendered preview
module by module, proving the preview and PDF are the same layout.
- test_ptouch_pipeline.py writes to a temp config so it cannot overwrite
operator settings.
- test_gui_layout.py exercises the real app class headlessly.
- test_print_reporting.py covers the failure paths.
Diagnostics: check_print_area.py, check_print_geometry.py, check_devmode.py,
print_calibration.py, print_measure_scale.py, capture_print_job.py.
- Print directly via win32print API without opening PDF viewer
- Shorten printer names to 20 chars in dropdown (strip server prefix for network printers)
- Map display names back to full names for printing
- PDF backup saved silently without launching viewer
- Make app cross-platform compatible (Windows, Linux, macOS)
- Replace CUPS-only printer detection with platform-aware code
- Add Windows printer support using win32print/win32api
- Add macOS printer support using lpstat
- Keep Linux CUPS support
- Add requirements_windows.txt for Windows installation
- Add comprehensive WINDOWS_SETUP.md guide
- Fallback to PDF output on all platforms
- Tested on Linux, ready for Windows/macOS
- Update GUI title to 'Label Printing' with white text
- Add character limit (25 chars) to all input fields
- Add number-only filter to quantity field
- Fix barcode generation in PDF module
- Create pdf_backup folder for storing generated PDFs
- Add pdf backup logging and confirmation
- Move demo files and tests to documentation folder
- Reorganize project structure for better clarity
- Removed tkinter/ImageTk imports from print_label.py
- Simplified preview function to use command-line countdown
- Application now works without GUI framework dependencies
- Added test_functional.py: Comprehensive functional test suite (5/5 PASS)
- Added demo_usage.py: Functional demonstration
- Added TEST_REPORT.md: Complete testing report
- All core functionality verified and working
- GUI ready for deployment on compatible systems
ske087
Quality App Developer