Print labels on the Epson LabelWorks LW-700 directly over USB from Python - no Epson driver, no print spooler, no proprietary software. Ships with a full web label editor (text, QR, barcodes, images/logos, cable flags, patch panels, an icon palette, CSV batch printing, RU/EN interface) and a reusable encoder library.
Built because Epson's official driver no longer works on modern macOS: Apple
removed third-party USB print-class plugin loading from the CUPS usb backend, so
the LabelWorks driver hangs at "sending data to printer" forever. This talks to the
printer's ESCPL2 language directly instead.
The LW-700 speaks ESCPL2 over a plain USB bulk endpoint. Printing turned out to need no vendor handshake at all:
claim interface 0 -> bulk-write the ESCPL2 stream to endpoint 0x02
The ESCPL2 stream and the (optional) status/cut commands were reverse-engineered from the publicly shipped Epson filter/plugin and validated on real hardware. The full write-up is in docs/PROTOCOL.md.
- Epson LabelWorks LW-700 on USB, powered on, in "PC connection" mode.
- Python 3.10+,
libusb(brew install libusbon macOS). - macOS or Linux. On macOS the stock Epson driver does not need to be installed.
git clone https://github.com/igrbtn/LW700Print
cd LW700Print
python3 -m venv venv && ./venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
# launch the web UI (opens a browser at http://127.0.0.1:8099)
./venv/bin/python app.pyIf the printer is connected it prints directly; otherwise it falls back to saving
the exact print bitmap as a PNG under output/.
python app.py serves the editor at http://127.0.0.1:8099. Layout: a top ribbon
(tape + label type), an editor column on the left, and a live preview on the right.
Toggle RU / EN with the button in the header (the choice is remembered).
Tape (ribbon). Width is Auto (read from the connected printer) or a fixed
value; length is Auto (fit to content) or a fixed mm value; plus margin and an
invert (white-on-black) switch.
Label types. Text and Cable flag are one-click chips; the rest are in the
More types dropdown:
Text- 1 to 8 lines, per-line font / size (0 = auto-fit) / alignment / bold, and line spacing. Seven quick-layout buttons preset common arrangements (1-4 lines, header + 1/2/3 captions).QR- QR code only.Barcode- Code128 / EAN / UPC / ... with optional caption.Text + QR- text with a QR to the left or right (selectable side).Image/Image + text- upload a PNG/JPG logo (scaled to tape height, dithered to 1-bit) or pick from the built-in icon palette (6 themes x 24 monochrome icons: datacenter, arrows, office, home, electricity, emoji).Cable flag/Image + flag/QR + flag- a two-sided cable flag (text, logo or QR at both ends, mirrored, with a centering stripe and a wrap gap sized from the cable diameter).Cable wraprepeats the text along the length.Patch panellays out one labelled cell per port.
CSV batch printing. Load a CSV to print a run. Two modes:
- Placeholder mode: build one label with
{column}placeholders in the text/code, and each row fills them in. - Grouped multiline mode (tick Multiline): a long-format CSV with
group,line,text,bold,align,font,size_pt,line_spacing,tape_mmbuilds one label pergroup, one row per line, keeping per-line formatting.
The table below the preview supports search/filter, column sort, and per-row selection; drag its top border to resize it. Preview shows the whole batch laid out as one continuous tape (wrapping to new rows) with the total length and a per-label number/size caption; already-printed rows are marked. Save label as CSV template exports the current label as a grouped CSV skeleton for a user or LLM to fill and re-import.
Print / Cut / Stop. Print sends the current label (or the selected batch when
a CSV is loaded); Cut feeds and cuts; Stop halts a batch after the current label.
from lw700 import render
from lw700.escpl2 import encode, CUT_EACH_JOB
from lw700.backends import USBBackend
spec = render.LabelSpec.from_dict({
"tape_mm": 18, "label_type": "text_qr",
"lines": [{"text": "Server-01"}, {"text": "192.168.0.1"}],
"code_data": "https://example.com",
})
img = render.render(spec) # PIL 1-bit bitmap
USBBackend().print_label(img, tape_mm=18) # encode + bulk-write over USB
# or just get the raw bytes:
data = encode(img, cut=CUT_EACH_JOB)./lw700 status # printer + auto-detected tape
./lw700 print --tape 12 --line "Server-01" --line "192.168.0.1"
./lw700 print --type cable_flag --line "R4-1 1/1/1 | HOST01" --cable-dia 6
./lw700 print --type qr --code "https://x" --line "Server-01"
./lw700 render --out label.png --line "test" # no printer, save PNG
./lw700 batch --csv data.csv --type cable_flag --line "{marking}" --cable-dia 6
./lw700 batch --csv data.csv --template template.json # {placeholder} substitutionThe batch command substitutes {column} placeholders from the CSV, so an LLM or
script can fill a CSV and print a whole run. --out renders PNGs instead of printing.
Small standalone probes (require the printer connected):
tools/probe_full.py- dump which control requests the printer supports.tools/print_usb.py- render + encode + print a test label.tools/engage_probe.py- inspect the vendor status channel.
app.py web UI launcher (FastAPI)
src/lw700/
escpl2.py ESCPL2 encoder (bitmap -> printer bytes)
render.py label -> 1-bit bitmap (text, QR, barcode, layout)
backends.py USB direct-print backend + PNG preview fallback
fonts.py spec.py fonts and tape geometry
static/index.html editor front-end
docs/PROTOCOL.md reverse-engineered protocol reference
- Tapes: 6 / 9 / 12 / 18 / 24 mm (width auto-detected).
- Label types: text (1-8 lines), QR, barcode (Code128 / EAN / UPC / ...), text+QR, image / image+text, cable flag / image+flag / QR+flag, cable wrap, patch panel.
- Icon palette (144 monochrome icons, 6 themes) and PNG/JPG logo import (dithered).
- CSV batch printing (placeholder and grouped-multiline), continuous-tape batch preview, CSV template export. RU / EN interface.
- Cyrillic and other fonts via bundled DejaVu. Tape cut modes (each job / page / none).
Other models in the family (LW-600P/900P/1000P) use a similar language but were not
tested here; the O/W/t tape-kind parameters and vendor "engage" requests differ.
- The LW-700 auto-powers-off when idle and drops off the USB bus; turn it back on.
- The print head sits ~9 mm before the cutter, so labels get a standard ~9 mm margin
that cannot be printed into. It is applied symmetrically on both ends (
lead/trail, ~9 mm each) for a balanced look, with a single end-cut. - A leading cut / tape back-feed (to shrink that margin) is not implemented: any extra or mid-job cut reliably powers this printer off, and the mechanism the stock driver uses is not visible in the byte stream. Single end-cut is the reliable mode.
- Tape width is auto-detected; the tool also runs without a printer (PNG preview).
- This is an independent interoperability project. It contains no Epson code or binaries. "Epson" and "LabelWorks" are trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation; this project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Epson.
MIT - see LICENSE.