Command line tools and printserver (webserver) for DYMO LabelWriter (Wireless, 450, 550).
This project implements 3 applications:
dymon_pbmallows printing of labels from command line.dymon_srvimplements a webserver, that allows printing of labels through a REST-API. In addition it serves a site (which is using this REST-API) that allows label printing via a web form.txt2pbmis a little helper tool, to create a pbm file from text.
2018 I bought DYMO's new wireless label printer (LabelWriter Wireless). I had the idea to print labels out of an (web)application containing data like numbers and barcodes dynamically retrieved from a database.
My starting point was the DYMO's LabelWriter SDK. Unfortunately there was little information for LabelWriter Wireless. I found LabelWriter 450 Series Printers Technical Reference Manual via Google but none for LabelWriter Wireless. I got in contact with DYMO's support and asked for a Reference Manual for LabelWriter Wireless but I got only the one for LabelWriter 450.
The Reference Manual for LabelWriter 450 Series Printers had some useful information but not exactly that what I wanted to know. Searching around the internet ended up in two interesting projects whose sourcecode contains additional information:
Nevertheless I still didn't have all required information to "operate" the LabelWriter Wireless out of my own application. So it was time for Wireshark to capture the communication between the DYMO's label creator software DYMO Label and LabelWriter Wireless... To make it short: Based on the information provided in the resources noted above I managed it to figure out the majority of the TCP communication protocol. The details are documented in protocol.md.
Most of the application code relates to the creation of the bitmap (text and barcode). The actual code to interface with the LabelWriter can be found in the files in folder dymon and in src/print.cpp.
- Dymon is an abstract class. There is a specialization for Windows and one for Linux. Those child classes only handles the TCP network access.
- To change the orientation of the label, the bitmap must be rotated. The bitmap class in this project demonstrates this.
- To get an idea how to change the label size/format have a look into
src/print.cpp. There is an implementation for two different label formats with different orientation.
See build.md.
Print P4 portable bitmap on DYMO LabelWriter.
Usage: dymon_pbm
[--help] [--version] [--usb=<DEVICE>] [--net=<IP>] [--model=<NUMBER>] [--copies=<NUMBER>] [--debug] <INPUT>
Options:
--help Print help and exit
--version Print version and exit
--usb=<DEVICE> Use USB printer device (e.g. '/dev/usb/lp1')
--net=<IP> Use network printer with IP (e.g. '192.168.178.23')
--model=<NUMBER> Model number of DYMO LabelWriter (e.g. '450')
--copies=<NUMBER> Number of copies to be printed [default: 1]
--debug Enable debug output
<INPUT> PBM file to be printed
The printer backend is selected by exactly one of the following options:
--usb— connect to a printer attached via USB.--net— connect to a network printer by IP address. Useful for the LabelWriter Wireless or any printer accessible over TCP.
Note: At least for LabelWriter 450, it is mandatory to set --model
Note: On Windows you have to specify the --usb DEVICE by means of vendor-/product-id. E.g. vid_0922 or more specific vid_0922&pid_0028.
See pbm.md for details on how to create PBM files using txt2pbm, GIMP, or Imagemagick.
Examples:
In folder doc you can find some example files that can be printed (on the respective labels) like this:
./dymon_pbm --net 192.168.178.23 ../doc/manu_25x25.pbm
./dymon_pbm --usb /dev/usb/lp0 ../doc/eagle_25x25.pbm //Linux
./dymon_pbm --usb vid_0922 ../doc/eagle_36x89.pbm //Windows
Usage: dymon_srv
[--help] [--version] [--usb=<DEVICE>] [--net=<IP>] [--dir=<DIRECTORY>] [--model=<NUMBER>] [-p <NUMBER>] [--serve=<PATH>] [--debug]
Options:
--help Print help and exit
--version Print version and exit
--usb=<DEVICE> Use USB printer device (e.g. '/dev/usb/lp1')
--net=<IP> Force use of network printer with IP (e.g. '192.168.178.23')
--dir=<DIRECTORY> Print labels as PBM files into directory
--model=<NUMBER> Model number of DYMO LabelWriter (e.g. '450')
-p, --port=<NUMBER> TCP port number of server [default: 8092]
--serve=<PATH> Path to directory statically served by HTTP server
--debug Enable debug output
The printer backend is controlled by the following options:
- (none) — default mode: sends each label to a network printer using the
ipfield from thePOST /labelspayload. This allows one central server to distribute labels to multiple different printers. --net— forces all labels to the given IP address, ignoring theipfield in the payload. Useful when all labels should always go to the same printer.--usb— sends labels to a USB-attached printer. Theipfield in the payload is ignored.--dir— instead of printing, writes each label as a PBM file into the given directory. Theipfield in the payload is ignored. The optionalmetafield is embedded as a comment in the generated PBM file. Useful for testing, previewing labels, or integrating with other tools that consume PBM files.
Note: At least for LabelWriter 450, it is mandatory to set --model
Note: On Windows you have to specify the --usb DEVICE by means of vendor-/product-id. E.g. vid_0922 or more specific vid_0922&pid_0028.
Examples:
./dymon_srv --serve ../../www
./dymon_srv --serve ../../www --net 192.168.178.23
./dymon_srv --serve ../../www --usb /dev/usb/lp0 //Linux
./dymon_srv --serve ../../www --usb vid_0922 //Windows
Start the webserver like shown in the example below. Then open your webbrowser to localhost:8092 and follow the links to the examples. Click the print button in the respective example to get a label.
Eg. Labelwriter:
This will print a label like:
REST API example:
curl -X POST "http://localhost:8092/labels" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"ip": "192.168.178.67",
"width": 272,
"height": 252,
"orientation": 0,
"text": "Hello World\nminlux.de",
"meta": "my-label-id",
"count": 1
}'The optional meta field is embedded as a comment in the generated PBM file when dymon_srv is run with a --dir output directory. It can be used to tag generated files with an identifier (e.g. a record ID) for later reference.
The format specifiers that can be used in the text string are explaind in pbm.md.
See also the openapi description of the REST endpoints:
The LabelWriter 550 includes NFC-based hardware DRM. Original DYMO label rolls contain an NFC chip in the paper core that transmits the label type and the number of labels remaining. If non-DYMO labels are inserted, the printer refuses to operate.
If you want to use third-party labels with a LabelWriter 550, have a look at free-dmo-stm32, a hardware hack that emulates the NFC chip.