Label Printing

Print spool labels directly from HelixScreen to a compatible thermal label printer. Labels include spool name, material type, color swatch, temperatures, and a QR code linking back to Spoolman.

Supported Printers

HelixScreen supports five families of label printers:

Brand	Connection	Models
Brother QL	Network (TCP) or Bluetooth	QL-820NWB, QL-810W, QL-800, TD-, RJ-
Brother PT	Bluetooth	PT-P300BT, PT-P710BT, PT-P910BT, and other P-Touch models with Bluetooth
Phomemo	USB or Bluetooth	M110, M120, M02, Q199, and other M/Q series
Niimbot	Bluetooth only	B21, D11, D110
MakeID	Bluetooth only	E1 (advertises as “YichipFPGA-XXXX”), L1, M1 — 9/12/16mm continuous tape

Note: Bluetooth label printing requires a Bluetooth adapter on your HelixScreen device (Raspberry Pi 4/5 have built-in Bluetooth). Devices without Bluetooth hardware will only see Network and USB options. If Bluetooth is disabled for UART, see the Bluetooth Setup Guide.

Setting Up Your Label Printer

Step 1: Open Label Printer Settings

Go to Settings (gear icon in the sidebar)
Scroll to Label Printer
Tap to open the Label Printer settings overlay

Step 2: Select Connection Type

Choose your printer’s connection method:

Type	When to Use
Network	Brother QL printers connected via Ethernet or WiFi
USB	Phomemo printers connected via USB cable
Bluetooth	Any supported printer paired via Bluetooth

Bluetooth only appears when HelixScreen detects Bluetooth hardware on your device.

Step 3: Configure Your Printer

For Network printers:

Enter the printer’s IP address
Port defaults to 9100 (standard for Brother QL)

For USB printers:

Connect the printer via USB
HelixScreen auto-detects the printer

For Bluetooth printers:

Turn on your label printer and make sure it’s in pairing mode
Tap Scan to discover nearby printers
Select your printer from the dropdown
If the printer isn’t yet paired, HelixScreen will prompt to pair it (most label printers use “Just Works” pairing — no PIN required)

Step 4: Choose Label Size

Select the label size that matches your loaded label roll:

Brother QL sizes: 29mm, 62mm, 29x90mm, and more (300 DPI)

Brother PT sizes: 3.5mm, 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, 18mm, 24mm continuous tape (180 DPI). Tape width is auto-detected — HelixScreen reads the installed tape cassette and adjusts the label layout automatically. Narrow tapes (≤9mm) use a compact minimal layout.

Phomemo sizes: 40x30mm, 50x30mm, and more (203 DPI)

Niimbot B21 sizes: 50x30mm, 40x30mm, 50x50mm, 40x20mm, 50x80mm (203 DPI)

Niimbot D11/D110 sizes: 12x40mm, 12x22mm, 12x30mm, 12x50mm, 12x60mm, 12x70mm (203 DPI)

MakeID E1 sizes: 9x30mm, 12x30mm, 12x40mm, 16x30mm, 16x40mm (203 DPI)

Tip: The size list updates automatically based on the detected printer model. A Niimbot D11 shows different sizes than a B21.

Step 5: Choose Label Preset

Preset	Description
Standard	Full label with spool name, material, color, temps, and QR code
Compact	Condensed layout for smaller labels
Minimal	Just the essentials — material name and color

Printing a Label

Navigate to the Spoolman panel (via Filament tab)
Find the spool you want to label
Tap the Print Label button
The label prints automatically using your configured printer

A toast notification confirms success or shows an error message.

Troubleshooting

Bluetooth printer not found during scan

Make sure the printer is powered on and in discoverable mode
Move the printer closer to the HelixScreen device (Bluetooth range is typically 10 meters)
Try scanning again — some printers take a few seconds to advertise

Print says “success” but nothing prints

Check that the printer has labels loaded and isn’t in an error state (paper jam, cover open)
For Bluetooth printers, try turning the printer off and on, then print again
Check the label size setting matches the actual label roll loaded in the printer

”Bluetooth not available” error

Your device doesn’t have Bluetooth hardware, or it’s disabled
On Raspberry Pi, check that Bluetooth is enabled: bluetoothctl show should list an adapter
If Bluetooth is disabled for UART (common in Klipper setups), see the Bluetooth Setup Guide for how to enable it or add a USB dongle
The Bluetooth plugin (libhelix-bluetooth.so) must be present next to the HelixScreen binary

”No USB printer detected”

Unplug and replug the USB cable
Try a different USB port
Check that the printer is powered on

Niimbot printer not connecting

Niimbot printers use BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), which requires Bluetooth 4.0 or later
Make sure no other app (like the Niimbot phone app) is currently connected to the printer — BLE only allows one connection at a time
Power cycle the printer and try again

Niimbot first print is slow

The first print after connecting takes a few extra seconds — HelixScreen needs to initialize the BLE connection and warm up the printer’s thermal subsystem
Subsequent prints are faster because the connection stays alive between jobs

MakeID printer not working

MakeID E1 advertises as “YichipFPGA-XXXX” over Bluetooth — look for this name during scanning
Make sure no other app (like the MakeID phone app) is connected to the printer
MakeID printers use Bluetooth Classic (RFCOMM), so any Bluetooth adapter that supports standard Bluetooth will work (BLE-only dongles are not required)
Power cycle the printer and try again if the first attempt fails

Brother PT printer not printing

Brother PT printers connect via Bluetooth Classic (RFCOMM), not BLE — make sure your Bluetooth adapter supports standard Bluetooth profiles
The printer must be paired at the OS level first, then configured in HelixScreen with its Bluetooth MAC address
If auto-detection shows “No tape installed”, check that a tape cassette is properly seated in the printer
If the label is blank or cut incorrectly, the tape width may not have been detected properly — power cycle the printer and try again
For narrow tapes (3.5mm, 6mm), labels use a minimal format with less detail — this is expected

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