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Brother P-touch QL-500 User Manual
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Brother P-touch QL-500 User Manual

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Summary of Contents for Brother P-touch QL-500

  • Page 1 www.brother.com...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Contents.............................. i INTRODUCTION....................1 General Precautions .......................... 1 QL-500/550..........................1 DK Rolls (DK Die-cut Labels and DK Continuous Tape) ............. 2 CD-ROM & Software ........................3 AC power cord ..........................3 Cutter unit ............................ 3 Symbols Used in this Guide ....................... 3 GETTING STARTED ..................

  • Page 4: Contents

    CONTENTS Creating Bar Code Labels ......................34 Creating Other Types of Labels ....................36 Using Help ..........................37 The Label List........................... 39 How the Label List works......................39 Views ............................39 Using the Label List ........................40 Creating Labels Using a Layout Style and Data from the Label List ......... 42 Using P-touch Editor with Other Applications ..................

  • Page 5: Introduction

    INTRODUCTION Congratulations on purchasing the QL-500/550. Your new QL-500/550 is a label printer that connects to your personal computer, enabling you to quickly and easily print professional custom labels that you have created on your personal computer using the label editing software provided. We strongly recommend that you read this User’s Guide carefully before using your QL-500/550, and then keep it nearby for future reference.

  • Page 6: Dk Rolls (Dk Die-Cut Labels And Dk Continuous Tape)

    • Do not attempt to print labels while the DK Roll compartment cover is open. DK Rolls (DK Die-cut Labels and DK Continuous Tape) • Use only Brother DK Die-cut Labels or Brother DK Continuous Tapes with this machine. Do not use any DK Roll that does not have the mark.

  • Page 7: Cd-Rom & Software

    CD-ROM & Software • Do not scratch the CD-ROM. • Do not subject the CD-ROM to extremely high or extremely low temperatures. • Do not put heavy objects on the CD-ROM or apply force to the CD-ROM. • The software contained on the CD-ROM is meant for use with the QL-500/550 only. See License on CD for further details.

  • Page 8: Getting Started

    GETTING STARTED Unpacking Your QL-500/550 Check that the package contains the following before using your QL-500/550. If any item is missing or damaged, please contact the retail outlet where the QL-500/550 was purchased. P-touch QL-500/550 QL-550 QL-500 USB cable Quick Start Guide CD-ROM DK Label &...

  • Page 9: Ql-500/550 Components

    QL-500/550 Components QL-500/550 Label Printer Front QL-500 QL-550 DK Roll compartment cover DK Roll compartment cover FEED button FEED button CUT button LED lamp LED lamp ON/OFF button ON/OFF button CUT lever If the DK Roll compartment cover is left open, dust will collect on the print head. Always close the cover. Back QL-500/QL-550 AC power cord inlet...

  • Page 10: Button Descriptions

    GETTING STARTED Button descriptions The functions of the buttons on the QL-500/550 are described below. Button Condition ON/OFF button Turns power to the QL-500/550 on and off. CUT button Cuts the label from the DK Roll. Use this button to cut labels when the (QL-550 only) "Auto Cut"...

  • Page 11: Connecting To The Power Supply

    Connecting to the Power Supply Connect the AC power cord to the QL-500/550. Plug the AC power cord into a standard electrical outlet. • Check that the electrical outlet is 220 - 240 V before inserting the plug. • Remove the AC power cord from the electrical outlet after you have finished using the QL-500/550.

  • Page 12: Installing The Dk Roll

    A roll of continous film tape for printing labels of varied length that are durable in water. To obtain optimum performance, use only genuine Brother accessories and DK Rolls. Installing the DK Roll Press the ON/OFF button to turn the QL-500/550 off.

  • Page 13: Installing The Paper Guide

    Lift the label lever and then thread the end of the DK Roll into the slot immediately before the cutter. When unable to thread the end of the DK Roll to the slot, thread it as far as possible, lower the label lever and close the cover, then press the FEED button to set the roll.

  • Page 14: Installing Software

    INSTALLING SOFTWARE Software Overview To design and print professional labels with your QL-500/550 install the following print driver and label editor software on your personal computer. P-touch Editor Version 4.1 Use this powerful label design software to create a wide variety of custom labels such as address labels, file folder labels, CD/DVD labels, etc.

  • Page 15: Installing The Software

    Installing the Software The installation procedure differs depending on the operating system running on your personal computer. Refer to the installation procedure for the appropriate operating system to install the software.   Refer to “When using Microsoft Windows 98 SE” on page 16 for the installation procedure for that operating system.
  • Page 16 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Carefully read the license agreement. If you agree to the terms and conditions of the license agreement, click [Yes] to continue installation. The Customer Information dialog box appears. Enter your “User Name” and the “Company Name”, and then click [Next].
  • Page 17 The Add Shortcut dialog box appears. Specify where to add shortcuts (for easy, one click access) for the Brother software, and then click [Next]. If you do not want a shortcut created for an area, clear the check box for that area.
  • Page 18 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Review the settings to ensure all are correct, and then click [Next]. If the settings are incorrect, click [Back] to go back and correct. • The InstallShield Wizard completes preparations for installing the software, and then the Setup Status dialog box appears.
  • Page 19 Check that the QL-500/550 is turned on, and then plug the connector on the USB cable into the USB port on your personal computer. When the QL-500/550 is recognized, the installer proceeds with the driver software installation. When connecting the QL-500/550 to a personal computer via a USB hub, a proper connection may not be possible due to the type of hub used.
  • Page 20 INSTALLING SOFTWARE   When using Microsoft Windows 98 SE Start your personal computer and insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. A dialog box automatically appears, allowing you to select the language of the Installer. Select the desired language, and then click “OK”.
  • Page 21 Enter your “User Name” and the “Company Name”, and then click [Next]. The Setup Type dialog box appears. Select the type of setup you prefer. Change the default destination folder if you wish to place the program files elsewhere, and then click [Next]. •...
  • Page 22 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Specify where to add shortcuts (for easy, one click access) for Brother Software, and then click [Next]. If you do not want a shortcut created for an area, clear the check box for that area. Clear all check boxes to add no shortcuts.
  • Page 23 When the Driver Setup dialog box instructs you to connect the QL-500/ 550, plug the connector on the USB cable into the USB port on the back of the QL-500/550. Check that the QL-500/550 is turned on, and then plug the connector on the USB cable into the USB port on your personal computer.
  • Page 24 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Click [Next]. The next Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears. The settings displayed on the screen may vary depending on the operating environment the software is being installed on. The software will automatically make the appropriate settings, so it is not necessary to change these settings.
  • Page 25 Proceed with one of the following. When the Add New Hardware Wizard dialog box appears. Click [Finish]. The new hardware has been detected. Return to step 10. If an error dialog box appears, refer to Error Recovery on page 23 to correct the error.
  • Page 26 INSTALLING SOFTWARE Select on option and then click [Next]. When “Yes, display the page.” is selected, the online user registration web page is opened in your web browser. When “No, do not display the page.” is selected, installation continues. The InstallShield Wizard Complete dialog box appears.
  • Page 27   Error recovery (when installing printer driver on Microsoft Windows 98 SE) Click [OK]. The Driver Setup dialog box appears. Click [Cancel]. The Confirmation dialog box appears. Turn the QL-500/550 off, and the click [Yes]. The dialog box displayed before beginning to install the printer driver appears.

  • Page 28: Uninstalling Software

    This procedure removes the P-touch Editor software and associated software files. The printer driver is not removed by this procedure. Start (→ Settings) → Control Panel → Add or Remove Programs → Brother P-touch Editor Version 4.1 (/Brother P-touch Quick Editor) → Change/Remove (Add/Remove...) The InstallShield Wizard dialog box appears.

  • Page 29: Uninstalling The Printer Driver

    Open the Printer control panel (Printers and Faxes for Windows XP (Home/ Professional)). For details, refer to Windows Help. Select the Brother QL-500 (or Brother QL-550) icon and then select “Delete” from the “File” menu. Refer to Windows Help for other methods of removing a printer driver from your personal computer.

  • Page 30: Connecting The Ql-500/550 To Multiple Computers

    INSTALLING SOFTWARE Connecting the QL-500/550 to Multiple Computers Using the QL-500/550 as a Shared Printer The QL-500/550 can be shared by multiple personal computers connected by a network. To share the QL-500/550, connect the QL-500/550 to a computer and set it to be a shared device. The QL-500/550 can now used as a network label printer.

  • Page 31: Creating Labels

    CREATING LABELS Overview This section describes the general procedure for creating labels using your QL-500/550. Refer to the sections indicated for details and additional information related to each operation. Choose the label you want to create shown below are a few label samples. Your QL-500/ 550 includes a standard address label.
  • Page 32 CREATING LABELS Enter the text. There are two main methods of entering text on the label. Enter text into a Microsoft Office software Enter text with P-touch Editor our easy application and use our Add-In feature. to use label creation software. p.

  • Page 33: Starting P-Touch Editor

    Starting P-touch Editor To start P-touch Editor, click the Start button on the task bar, point to All Programs (or Programs), point to P- touch Editor 4.1, and then click P-touch Editor. You can also start P-touch Editor by double-clicking the short-cut icon on the desktop or clicking the short-cut icon in the Quick Launch Tray if these were created during installation.

  • Page 34: Using P-Touch Editor

    CREATING LABELS Using P-touch Editor After installing and starting the software, you are now ready to create your own labels. While you can create a wide range of labels using P-touch Editor, there is generally a common work flow for creating any label. Select the type and size of label Enter text Apply formatting to text...

  • Page 35: Creating An Address Label

    Creating an Address Label This section describes the process of creating an address label as an example. In this example we will create a standard sized address label with the addressee’s name in bold and a slightly larger font size, and with a simple single-line frame with rounded corners. In the Page properties box, select Standard Address from the pull-down list of label types.

  • Page 36: Printing The Label

    When Printing Speed over Quality has been checked, some objects may not print or the printed image may appear slightly different. Click to open the Brother QL-500/550 Properties dialog box and then select one of the Quality radio buttons. Using P-touch Editor...

  • Page 37: Saving The Label

    Saving the Label You can save the label you have created in a file for later use. Click in the Standard toolbar. The Save As dialog box appears. When the current label layout has already been saved, changes are saved to the existing file name. Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file, enter the file name, and then click The label layout is saved in the location specified.

  • Page 38: Creating Bar Code Labels

    CREATING LABELS Creating Bar Code Labels You can create labels with bar codes for use with cash registers, stock control systems or other bar code reader systems. In the Page properties box, select Normal Format from the pull-down list of label types. The tape length and width settings are automatically set to the size of a standard address label.
  • Page 39 • Brother shall not assume any responsibility for any loss or damage caused by bar code labels being misread. • If the bar code reader is not able to read bar code labels printed using the "Give priority to print speed"...

  • Page 40: Creating Other Types Of Labels

    CREATING LABELS Creating Other Types of Labels The following are examples of the variety of labels that can be created using P-touch Editor and some optional features. Refer to How To in the online P-touch Editor Help for further details. Sample Options 1: Making an address...

  • Page 41: Using Help

    Using Help P-touch Editor has its own Help application that offers further detailed information on the features available with P-touch Editor and how to use these features. Opening Help Start P-touch Editor. Refer to “Starting P-touch Editor” on page 29. The layout window appears.
  • Page 42 CREATING LABELS Printing Help The contents of the Help topics can be printed to a standard printer (not the QL-500/550). Select a topic in the Contents tab. Click on the toolbar. The Print Topics dialog box appears. Select the range of topics to be printed, and then click The Print dialog box appears.

  • Page 43: The Label List

    The Label List The Label List is a built-in database for storing information from previously created labels or for potentially new labels. How the Label List works The Label List is displayed in the Label List window, and works similarly to a Database connection. Refer to “Using a Database”...

  • Page 44: Using The Label List

    CREATING LABELS Form view Displays the selected record data in a form rather than as a list. Field data Field name Using the Label List As an example we will create a set of address labels using the Label List. Before beginning, create a new layout and select the label size.
  • Page 45 To add the next record, right click in the Label List window, and select “Create New Record” from the pull down menu. A new record appears in the list. Enter the name and address, etc., in the new record. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to add more records. The Label List...

  • Page 46: Creating Labels Using A Layout Style And Data From The Label List

    CREATING LABELS Creating Labels Using a Layout Style and Data from the Label List The label layout can now be created using the fields in the Label List as a guide. What is a Layout Style? • A Layout Style lets you easily use a variety of previously registered label layouts. •...
  • Page 47 Select the appropriate layout for the label you want to create, and then click The Merge Fields dialog box appears. Each label size has default Layout Style. For each, the layout style used the last time for that specific label size will be automatically saved and used the next time.
  • Page 48 CREATING LABELS To add the field from the Label List to the label layout, click on the field selector of the field you want to add to the label, and then drag and drop it on the layout. A pop-up menu appears. Select “Text”...
  • Page 49 Printing labels from the Label List Click in the Print properties box to open the Print dialog box and select the print options. Refer to “Print Options” on page 32 for details. The “Auto Cut” option is not available when using the QL-500.

  • Page 50: Using P-Touch Editor With Other Applications

    P-touch Editor 4.1, point to P-touch Tools, and then click Add-In Utility. In the Brother P-touch Add-In Settings dialog box, check the checkbox of the applications that you want to use the P-touch Add-In with, or uncheck the checkbox of the applications that you do not want to use the P-touch Add-In with.

  • Page 51: Microsoft Word

    Microsoft Word You can start the P-touch Add-In and copy the highlighted data directly onto a label from Microsoft Word. The highlighted data is copied as text and automatically added to a new record created in the Label List. The Title and Body fields of the new record are then merged into a new label layout, which is displayed in the Add-In Preview window.
  • Page 52 CREATING LABELS Click in Microsoft Word’s standard toolbar. P-touch Editor starts and the Add-In Preview window appears showing the newly created label. Toolbar Preview window Displays a preview of the label with the copied data Add-In Preview window toolbar Print button Prints the current label.

  • Page 53: Microsoft Excel

    Click to print the label. To edit or customize the text or label layout, click The full P-touch Editor screen appears and you can edit the label. How Microsoft Word data is added to the Label List A new record is automatically created and the text in the selected data is added to the following fields.
  • Page 54 CREATING LABELS Click in Microsoft Excel’s standard toolbar. P-touch Editor starts and the Add-In Preview window appears showing the newly created label. • Refer to P-touch Editor Help for other methods of starting P-touch Editor from within Microsoft Excel. • An error message appears if there is no data highlighted, or if the data highlighted contains an object not supported by P-touch Editor.

  • Page 55: Microsoft Outlook

    • Uncheck the "Label List" checkbox in the Add-In Preview window when you do not want to register the data in the Label List. • The data is copied onto a label formatted with the default Layout Style. To change the Layout Style, click to open the full P-touch Editor screen and edit the layout or apply a different Layout Style.
  • Page 56 CREATING LABELS • Refer to P-touch Editor Help for other methods of starting P-touch Editor from within Microsoft Outlook. • An error message appears if there is no data highlighted, or if the data highlighted contains an object not supported by P-touch Editor. •...

  • Page 57: Using A Database

    Using a Database What is the database function? The database function allows you to use existing data from another source to quickly create custom labels containing database content - for example name/address labels or inventory labels with codes. The supported formats are mdb (MS Access), csv (generic format) and xls (MS Excel). Creating a name badge label using a database This procedure describes how to retrieve the database information and associate it to the layout.
  • Page 58 CREATING LABELS Navigate to the file containing the data to be used for the labels and open the file. We will be using MS Excel data for this example. After opening the database file, the Database window appears below the Layout work area. Click on the field selector of the field you want to add to the label, for this example we will use the Name field, and then drag and drop it on the layout.
  • Page 59 Use the Text Properties dialog box to update the font, position and size of the new field. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to add more fields to the layout. Once you have competed editing the layout, the label is ready to be printed. You can check the layout and content of each label by selecting the corresponding record in the Database window.
  • Page 60 CREATING LABELS Print the label(s) using one of the methods below • To print the label currently displayed in the Layout work area by itself, click in the Print Properties box. • To print several labels, hold down the [Ctrl] key and select the records in the Database window for the labels you want to print, and then click in the Print Properties box.

  • Page 61: Appendix

    APPENDIX Maintenance Your QL-500/550 may need cleaning from time to time, particularly if you are using it in a dusty environment. Cleaning the Print Head The DK Paper Roll used in the QL-500/550 is designed to automatically clean the print head. As the DK Paper Roll passes over the head during printing or label feeding, the print head is cleaned.
  • Page 62 APPENDIX Thread the end ( ) of the Cleaning Sheet into the slot immediately before the cutter. • Do not peel off section ( ) of the sheet. • Make sure that the printed surface of the Cleaning Sheet is facing up.

  • Page 63: Changing Cutter Unit

    Changing Cutter Unit Repeated use of the cutter unit will eventually reduce the sharpness of the blade. When this occurs, purchase a replacement cutter and then follow this procedure to replace the cutter. Turn off the QL-500/550 and unplug the power code from the electrical outlet. Open the DK Roll compartment cover, lift up the label lever, and remove the DK Roll from the compartment.

  • Page 64: Troubleshooting

    Check that the power supply cord is connected and plugged in. If flash. connected correctly, try connecting it to another electrical outlet. * If the power button still does not light up or flash, contact Brother Customer Service at 1-877-4-P-touch. The printed label...

  • Page 65: Specifications

    Specifications QL-500 / QL-550 Item Specification Display LED lamp (green) Printing method Direct thermal printing via thermal head Max.90 mm/sec, Max.50labels/min. Printing speed (Standard Adress Labels) Printing Print head 300 dpi/720 dot Maximum Printing Width 59 mm Minimum printing length 25 mm ON/OFF button Buttons...

  • Page 66: Index

    APPENDIX APPENDIX Index AC power cord Database ......... 3 ..........53 Add-In function Database properties ........46 ......30 Add-In Preview window Database window ...... 48 ......... 30 Add-In software Date field ........10 ........49, 50, 52 Add-Ins DK Label & Tape Guide ............
  • Page 67 Printing labels from ...... 45 Using ..........40 Page properties ........30 Views ..........39 Paper Guide .......... 4, 9 Label List Object ........43 Power cord ..........5 Label List window ........30 Print properties ........30 Label List/Database window .....
  • Page 68 All titles and copyrights to the software on bundled CD (including but not limited to the program, images, clipboard, templates and text incorporated into the software) and any copies of the software are owned by Brother Industries, Ltd. (and its suppliers). The user may not resale, duplicate, change, reverse-engineer, disassemble or decompile any part or all of the software on bundled CD without prior written permission.

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Ql 550 - p-touch b/w direct thermal printer

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