Brother VC-500W Label Printer CLI

This repository contains a command-line tool for controlling a Brother VC-500W label printer over TCP/IP.

This project is a fork of https://gitlab.com/lenchan139/labelprinter-vc500w, which itself was forked from https://m7i.org/projects/labelprinter-linux-python-for-vc-500w/.

Licensed under AGPL-3.0-or-later. See LICENSE for details.

Disclaimer

This is an unofficial, community-maintained tool. It is not affiliated with or supported by Brother. You are responsible for how you use it, and it may behave unexpectedly or interact poorly with your printer.

Installation

On Debian/Ubuntu

You can install labelprinter-vc500w via deb-get:

sudo deb-get install labelprinter-vc500w

Alternatively, download the latest .deb package from the Releases page for this repository and install it with apt:

sudo apt install ./labelprinter-vc500w_<version>_all.deb

From PyPI

pipx install labelprinter-vc500w

Finding your printer

You must pass the printer's IP address with --host.

If you do not know the printer IP, you can find it with the official Brother app or by scanning your local network. On Debian and Ubuntu, one option is nbtscan:

sudo apt install nbtscan
nbtscan -v -s : 192.168.1.1/24 | grep "VC-500W"

Usage

You can either install this script (see above) or run it from a checkout of this repository.

Minimum request to print an image:

# if installed
bclprinter --host 192.168.5.5 --print-image /home/user/my_screenshot.jpeg

# from a checkout
./labelprinter.sh --host 192.168.5.5 --print-image /home/user/my_screenshot.jpeg

Print with additional options:

# if installed
bclprinter --host 192.168.5.5 --print-mode vivid --print-cut full --print-image /home/user/my_screenshot.jpeg

# from a checkout
./labelprinter.sh --host 192.168.5.5 --print-mode vivid --print-cut full --print-image /home/user/my_screenshot.jpeg

If a print job is done or jammed but the printer still appears locked, release the stale job lock with:

# if installed
bclprinter --host 192.168.5.5 --release JOB_ID

# from a checkout
./labelprinter.sh --host 192.168.5.5 --release JOB_ID

Command reference

The module can be started with the included labelprinter.sh helper script or via python3 -m labelprinter.

For the full CLI reference, please refer to the built-in help or the man page:

# if installed
bclprinter --help
man bclprinter

# from a checkout
./labelprinter.sh --help

Technical details

Read the original post, thank you. https://m7i.org/projects/labelprinter-linux-python-for-vc-500w/