Filament label generation: Direct print with Brother QL printers

Brother QL printers are compact thermal label printers that print on Brother DK rolls: die-cut labels or continuous tape. With SimplyPrint's direct print feature, you can send filament labels straight from your browser to a Brother QL printer, without downloading files or opening P-touch Editor.

In this guide you'll learn which Brother printers and rolls work, how to set up your computer, and how to fix the most common problems.

• What is direct print?
• Supported printers and rolls
• Two ways to connect
• Setup on Windows
• Setup on macOS, Linux and ChromeOS
• Printing your first label
• Good to know
• Troubleshooting

What is direct print?

Direct print sends labels from the SimplyPrint label generator directly to your Brother printer. Click Direct print, pick your printer, and the label comes out ready to stick on the spool.

Benefits:

• Print without leaving SimplyPrint
• Print a single label or a whole batch of spools in one go
• Labels are cut automatically on printers with a cutter (every supported model except the QL-500)
• SimplyPrint checks that the loaded roll matches your label before printing, so you don't waste labels

Direct print is built for computers. It isn't available on iPhone or iPad, and phones and tablets aren't supported.

Supported printers and rolls

Brother printers

Direct print works with the Brother QL series:

On macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, the printer must be connected to your computer with a USB cable. Wi-Fi and network connections can't be used there, even on the network-capable models (W, NW, NWB and N). On Windows, SimplyPrint prints to the printers set up in the Brother driver, and a USB connection is the setup we recommend.

Label presets

SimplyPrint includes ready-made presets for the most common Brother DK rolls. You find them under Brother QL in the preset dropdown.

Which rolls can I print on?

This depends on how your computer connects (see the next section):

• Windows (b-PAC): the six rolls in the presets table above: DK-11201, DK-11202, DK-11204, DK-11208, DK-11209 and DK-22205.
• macOS, Linux and ChromeOS (USB): most DK rolls, including continuous rolls from 12 mm to 102 mm wide, die-cut labels and round labels. The 102 mm wide rolls (such as DK-22243, DK-11240 and DK-11241) only fit the QL-1000 series.

Use genuine Brother DK rolls. The printer reports which roll is loaded, and SimplyPrint uses that to check the label fits.

Two ways to connect

SimplyPrint picks the right connection method for your computer automatically. You only see the one that works on your system when you choose Brother in the direct print menu.

The two methods differ because on Windows, the Brother printer driver takes control of the USB connection, so SimplyPrint has to go through Brother's own b-PAC software. On other systems, the browser can talk to the printer directly.

On macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, Brother only appears in Chrome and Edge. On Windows, use Chrome or Edge with the b-PAC browser extension.

Setup on Windows

On Windows, SimplyPrint prints through Brother b-PAC, Brother's own printing software.

Step 1: Install the Brother printer driver

1. Download the driver for your QL model from Brother's support site
2. Install it and connect the printer with a USB cable
3. Print a test page from Windows (or from P-touch Editor) to make sure the printer works

Step 2: Install the b-PAC Client and browser extension

1. Go to Brother's b-PAC download page
2. Download and install the b-PAC Client
3. Install the b-PAC browser extension for your browser from the same page
4. Make sure the extension is enabled, then restart your browser

You can also reach the download page from SimplyPrint: choose Brother in the direct print menu and click Download and setup guide.

Step 3: Open the label generator

1. Go to Filament in the left menu
2. Select one or more spools and click Generate QR codes
3. Choose a Brother QL preset that matches the roll in your printer

Continue with Printing your first label.

Setup on macOS, Linux and ChromeOS

No Brother software is needed. The browser talks to the printer directly over USB.

Step 1: Turn off Editor Lite

Many newer QL printers have an Editor Lite button with a green light. When Editor Lite is on, the printer shows up on your computer as a USB drive instead of a printer, and SimplyPrint can't print to it.

1. Hold down the Editor Lite button until its light turns off
2. Keep the light off whenever you use direct print

Step 2: Connect the printer

1. Connect the printer to your computer with a USB cable
2. Turn the printer on and load a DK roll
3. Close P-touch Editor or any other app that may be using the printer

Step 3: Linux only, give the browser USB access

On most Linux distributions, the browser isn't allowed to use the printer until you allow it. You need to do this once:

1. Create a udev rule for Brother printers (USB vendor ID 04f9). For example, create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/50-brother-ql.rules (with sudo) containing SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="04f9", TAG+="uaccess"
2. Reload the rules with sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger
3. Unload the usblp kernel module, which otherwise takes over the printer: sudo modprobe -r usblp
4. Unplug the printer and plug it back in

If your browser is installed as a Snap or Flatpak, it may also need permission to use USB devices. For the Chromium Snap, run sudo snap connect chromium:raw-usb.

macOS and ChromeOS don't need this step.

Step 4: Pair the printer in SimplyPrint

1. Go to Filament in the left menu
2. Select one or more spools and click Generate QR codes
3. Choose a Brother QL preset that matches the roll in your printer
4. Click Direct print and choose Brother
5. Click Connect USB printer
6. Your browser shows a list of USB devices. Select your Brother printer and click Connect

You only need to pair the printer once. After that, your browser remembers it and SimplyPrint finds it automatically.

Printing your first label

1. Design your label in the label generator, or use one of the Brother QL presets as-is
2. Click Direct print in the bottom right
3. Choose Brother (if you haven't already)
4. Select your printer from the Printer dropdown. Click Refresh if it isn't listed yet
5. Click Send to Brother

If you selected several spools, SimplyPrint prints one label for each.

Once set up, SimplyPrint remembers your printer for that preset. Next time, you'll see a Send to Brother button for one-click printing.

Good to know

Visual labels only

Brother printers print labels made with the visual label designer. The raw Zebra (ZPL) and DYMO template modes are for those printers only. If your preset uses one of them, switch Template mode back to Designer to print it on a Brother printer.

Black and white

Brother QL printers print in black. SimplyPrint converts your label to black and white before sending it, so light colors may disappear. Selecting a Brother QL preset turns on Black & white (no colors) automatically. Keep it on, and use dark text and QR codes for the clearest result.

The label must match the roll

Before printing, SimplyPrint checks that the label size matches the roll loaded in the printer, within 2 mm. If your label is the other way around (for example the 90×29 mm preset on a 29×90 mm DK-11201 roll), it is rotated automatically. If it doesn't fit at all, nothing is printed and you see a message telling you which roll is loaded.

On continuous rolls, the label width must match the roll width. The length follows your label's height.

Labels are cut automatically

On printers with an automatic cutter, each label is cut after printing. There is no setting for this. The QL-500 has no cutter, so tear or cut the labels off by hand.

Printing without direct print

You can always print through your browser instead: click Print in the label generator and choose your Brother printer in the browser's print dialog, or download a PDF. If labels then come out shifted or scaled, see Fixing label printing alignment issues.

Troubleshooting

Brother doesn't appear in the direct print menu

Solutions:

1. On macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, use Chrome or Edge. Brother doesn't appear in Safari or Firefox there
2. Use a computer. Direct print isn't available on iPhone or iPad

Brother shows a lock icon

Direct printing is part of the Pro plan and higher, and the Filament Manager plan. Clicking Brother shows the upgrade options. See the pricing page for a full comparison.

Windows: "Is the Brother software running on this device?"

Problem: SimplyPrint can't reach b-PAC. Under the Direct print button, the same problem can show as "Brother b-PAC is not responding" or "The b-PAC browser extension did not answer".

Solutions:

1. Check that the b-PAC Client is installed
2. Check that the b-PAC browser extension is installed and enabled. Open your browser's extensions page and make sure it's allowed to run on simplyprint.io
3. Restart your browser after installing either of them
4. Click Retry connection

The Download and setup guide link in the warning opens Brother's b-PAC download page.

Windows: no printers found

Solutions:

1. Check that the printer is connected with USB and turned on
2. Make sure the Brother printer driver is installed. b-PAC lists the printers that have a Brother driver installed
3. Click Refresh to look for printers again

Windows: "can't be printed through b-PAC yet"

Problem: You see "Labels on ... rolls can't be printed through b-PAC yet" or "The printer has ... loaded, which can't be printed through b-PAC yet".

Solution: On Windows, only the six rolls in the presets table are supported. Load one of them (for example DK-11208 or DK-22205) and use the matching Brother QL preset.

Windows: "b-PAC has not confirmed the print yet"

Problem: The print took longer than expected to confirm.

Solution: The label may still print. Check the printer before you click Send to Brother again, so you don't print it twice.

USB: "The printer is in Editor Lite mode"

Solution: Hold the Editor Lite button on the printer until its light turns off, then click Connect USB printer again.

USB: "Could not connect to the printer"

Solutions:

1. Close P-touch Editor and any other app that may be using the printer
2. Unplug the USB cable, plug it back in, and try again
3. On Linux, give the browser USB access as described in Setup on macOS, Linux and ChromeOS (Step 3). On ChromeOS the message also mentions udev and usblp, but you can skip that part: unplug the printer, close other apps and try again

USB: my printer isn't in the browser's device list

Solutions:

1. Turn off Editor Lite (the light must be off)
2. Check the USB cable and that the printer is turned on
3. On Linux, check the udev rule from Step 3

"This Brother printer model is not supported for direct printing yet"

Problem: The printer isn't one of the supported QL models.

Solution: Check the model list under Supported printers and rolls. You can still print through your browser's print dialog or a PDF download.

"The printer has ... loaded, but this label is ... mm"

Problem: The label size doesn't match the roll in the printer.

Solutions:

1. Pick the Brother QL preset that matches your roll, or
2. Load the roll that matches your label

"This label size has no matching Brother roll"

Problem: Your preset's size doesn't match any Brother roll, for example when you use an A4 or Zebra preset.

Solution: Switch to a Brother QL preset, or print through your browser's print dialog.

"Brother printers print visual templates"

Solution: Your preset uses a raw Zebra or DYMO template. Switch Template mode to Designer.

"The printer's loaded labels are not recognised"

Solution: Use a genuine Brother DK roll. Some third-party rolls don't report their size to the printer, so SimplyPrint can't check that the label fits. The same message appears for a 102 mm wide roll in a printer that isn't from the QL-1000 series.

Printer errors

SimplyPrint shows the error the printer reports:

Related articles

• The Filament Label Generator feature
• Direct print with DYMO printers
• Direct print with Zebra printers
• Fixing label printing alignment issues
• Scanning filament label QR codes and barcodes

Updated on: 21/10/2026