ThermalPrint Manual
ThermalPrint is a native Linux desktop app for people who print labels on a thermal label printer: shipping labels downloaded from a carrier or marketplace, price tags, shelf labels, inventory stickers, and anything else that fits on a roll. Everything happens on your computer; your files are never uploaded, and you do not need an account with anyone. Although it is made for thermal printers, it prints through the standard Linux printing system (CUPS), so it works with regular laser and inkjet printers too: choose their paper size, or place several labels on an A4 or Letter sheet. This manual explains every feature of the app, page by page, with screenshots.
How to read this manual#
- New here? Start with Getting started: install, set up your printer, and print your first label.
- Have a shipping label file? Go to Import and Convert.
- Making your own labels? Go to Label Designer and Objects.
- Printing many labels from a spreadsheet, or a numbered run? See Batch printing and the numbered runs and sheets in Label Designer.
- Looking for a barcode type, a setting, or a limit? See the Barcode reference and Settings and privacy.
- Something is not working? See Troubleshooting.
- Press / anywhere in the manual to search it.
The pages of this manual#
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Getting started | Install ThermalPrint, set up your printer, and print your first label. |
| The workspace | The window, sidebar, main menu, light and dark mode, language, drag and drop, and keyboard shortcuts. |
| Import and Convert | Open PDF and image labels, crop away instructions, check the result, and print one or many in order. |
| Label Designer | Create, edit, save, and print your own labels on a canvas that matches your stock exactly. |
| Objects | Text, barcodes, QR codes, shapes, and images, with every setting. |
| Batch printing | Merge a spreadsheet into a design and print one label per row, with a preview and a safety check. |
| Print Center | Choose your printer and media, remember settings per printer, fix off-center printing, and reopen recent prints. |
| Watch folder and history | Let new downloads join the queue automatically, and reopen anything you printed recently. |
| Exporting | Save a finished label as PDF, PNG, SVG, or ZPL, and print raw ZPL to a compatible printer. |
| Settings and privacy | What ThermalPrint remembers, where it is stored, the built-in limits, and how your data is handled. |
| Using the Snap | What the Snap package can reach, the optional connections, and double-click opening. |
| Barcode reference | The eleven barcode types plus QR codes: what each accepts and how to make them scan. |
| Troubleshooting | Fixes for printers that are not listed, labels that print wrong, extra blank labels, and more. |
| Glossary and FAQ | Plain-language explanations of the printing and barcode terms, and common questions. |
| What's new | The tools added in versions 0.6.0 to 0.12.0, how each one works, and where to read more. |
Principles#
- Free and open source. ThermalPrint is released under the MIT license. There is no account, no advertising, and no tracking.
- Private by design. Labels are processed on your computer. The only things that leave it are the print job you send to your printer and the links you click yourself, such as this manual.
- Prints through CUPS. If your printer works in other Linux programs, it works here. Nothing is installed or changed on your printer.
- Careful before it prints. A label that would be cut off is blocked, and a batch is checked row by row before anything is sent.
- Accessible. Every button has a name for screen readers, and everything works from the keyboard.
- In your language. The app follows your system language: English, Spanish, German, and French. This manual is in English.
Getting help#
- In the app, press F1 or click the ? button in the title bar to open this manual at the page for the screen you are on.
- Found a bug or have an idea? Open an issue. Please remove personal addresses and tracking numbers from anything you post.
- ThermalPrint's author also makes two other free Linux apps with manuals in this same style: Voltkit and Battery Health Center.