libptouch: README@cf9d239ac1c9 (annotated)

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README@cf9d239ac1c9 (annotated)

README

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:10:56 +0100

author: Philip Pemberton <philpem@philpem.me.uk>
date: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:10:56 +0100
changeset 17: cf9d239ac1c9
child 18: fd1c6f6066da
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 libptouch: Linux printer driver library for P-Touch label printers
 (C) 2009 Philip Pemberton <philpem@philpem.me.uk>.
 Table of Contents
 =================
 . What is libptouch?
 . Supported printers
 . Building and Using libptouch
   T. TODO, aka Things That Don't Work Yet.
   R. References
 . What is libptouch?
 =====================
 libptouch is a library that allows a user-mode application to print labels
 using a Brother P-touch series label printer. The goal of the libptouch
 project is to create a driver that will allow any Linux application to
 print to a P-touch printer, using a common raster image as a source.
 Brother only release official Linux drivers for a small number of P-touch
 printers, and these all rely on the CUPS printing system to function (not to
 mention the fact that the print filter is completely closed-source). On top
 of the added complexity of having to feed data through CUPS or LPR, the print
 quality was actually pretty poor -- the fonts were covered in jagged edges,
 and printed barcodes looked like they'd been fed through a blender (needless
 to say my PSC 5281 scanner wouldn't read them).
 As a result of this, I started working on a library that could take a number
 of Libgd images, and feed them to the P-touch in sequence. On top of that, I
 wanted to be able to set printing parameters (that is, turn the auto-cutter
 and mirroring options on and off) without having to butcher command lines
 and drop to a shell. Finally, I wanted to be able to run my applications as a
 (relatively) unprivileged user -- the printing apps should not need to be
 'setuid root'.
 So I set to work finding out all I could about the P-touch protocol. It turns
 out that the standard mode for my PT-2450DX printer was the so-called "PT-CBP"
 mode, and that documentation for this printing protocol had been released for
 another printer in the P-touch series, the PT-9500PC[1]. Using the protocol
 details in the PT-9500PC documentation, and after many long nights of coding,
 lots of cups of tea and much wasted label tape, I created a library that would
 eventually be released as libptouch.
 . Supported printers
 =====================
 NOTE: If you don't see your printer on this list, ask me about adding it.
 +--------------+--------------------------------------------------------------+
 |   Printer    | Features                                                     |
 |    Model     +----+----+----------------------------------------------------+
 |    Number    | S  | AC | HC | PHW | DPI | MTH  | MPH  |                     |
 +--------------+----+----+----+-----+-----+------+------+---------------------+
 | PT-2450DX    | Y  | Y  |    | 128 | 180 | 24mm | 18mm |                     |
 +--------------+----+----+----+-----+-----+-----------------------------------+
 S   = Supported/Tested
         Y = Fully working
         P = Partially working
         ? = Not tested
 AC  = Auto Cutter
 HC  = Half Cut
 MI  = Mirror
 PHW = Printhead width (pixels)
 DPI = Dots per inch
 MTH = Max label tape height (mm)
 MPH = Max printing height (mm)
 "Y" = Yes
 " " = No
 . Building and Using libptouch
 ===============================
 To build libptouch, you will need:
   GNU gcc    version 3.1 or later  (libptouch is tested with gcc 4.3.3)
   GNU make   version 3.80 or later (libptouch is tested with make 3.81)
   libgd      version 2.0 or higher (libptouch is tested with libgd 2.0.36)
 Briefly, this means any common Linux distribution (Debian or RedHat based)
 released in 2006 or later should successfully build libptouch. As for other
 Unices, or older versions of Linux.... you're on your own.
 On Ubuntu or Debian, the following command will install all the packages
 necessary to build libptouch:
   $ sudo apt-get install build-essential libgd2-xpm-dev
 Once you have installed the necessary tools and libraries, you can compile
 libptouch by using the following command:
   $ tar -zxf libptouch-$VERSION.tgz
   $ cd libptouch-$VERSION
   $ make
 This will build the libptouch library and documentation from the source code.
 T. TODO, aka Things That Don't Work Yet.
 ========================================
   * Printers with printheads that don't have 128 dots will not work. This
     basically means you can't use any printer whose maximum label tape width
     is less than 24mm.
   * I'd like to implement graphics inversion. Basically, where there is white,
     the printer will print black. This could be useful for printing
     white-on-black labels when you're out of white-on-black tape, or vice versa
     :)
   * There is no support for serial port printers. At all.
   * The PT-PC is not, and will likely never be supported, as it uses a
     different printing protocol and can only print bit image graphics on the
     central 3.5mm (!) of the label tape.
   * The QL-series label printers aren't supported either. I'd love to add
     support for them, but I don't have a QL-series printer to play with. The
     same applies to the rest of the P-touch (PT-series) printers that aren't
     listed as "Supported" in the list above.
   * Data compression. The later PT-series printers support "Packbits"
     compression of each print line. At the moment, this isn't implemented.
     Instead, a "COPY N BYTES" compression control byte is sent, followed by
     a line of print data. Rinse, repeat.
   * No option to set the feed amount. I'm not even 100% sure if this works
     on most PT-series printers, but it might be worth implementing. See
     <http://www.undocprint.org/formats/page_description_languages/brother_p-touch>.
 R. References
 =============
 . Brother Industries, Ltd. "PT-9500PC Command Reference, CBP-RASTER Mode
   (PTCBP Mode) Volume" August 29, 2003, version 1.0.
   Available online: http://etc.nkadesign.com/Printers/QL550LabelPrinter

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README@cf9d239ac1c9 (annotated)

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