Configuring Printed Bottle Labels
- Sam Goddard
Remote Sampler supports Bluetooth printing of LIMS bottle labels in the field.
The label output generated by the Remote Sampler application may need to be adjusted to ensure that labels are printed correctly since label sizes and types can vary. A wide range of label settings can be configured on the Printer Settings screen within the app.
The Printer Settings screen can be accessed in two different ways.
Method 1 - From the Home Screen
From the Home screen, scroll down and tap on the Options button to open the Options screen. Tap on the Printer button to open the Printer Settings screen.
Method 2 - From the Job Menu
From any of the screens in the main job completion workflow after a job location has been confirmed, the Print Labels option is available from the menu button at the top right of the screen.
From the Print Labels screen, tapping on the grey Change Settings button opens the Printer Settings screen.
Configuration Settings
Remote Sampler performs several actions to a LIMS label as it is printed:
Action 1 - Erase the existing label location data
Action 2 - Write the confirmed job location on the label
Action 3 - Convert the label to black and white
Action 4 - Print the label
There are configuration settings available to fine-tune the behaviour of each of these steps.
Printer Settings
Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
Default Printer | The Bluetooth label printer to which the system will default without explicit instruction from the user. | None |
Label Settings
These settings include configuration values that allow the overall shape, size and position of the label to be adjusted.
Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
Label Width (pixels) | Width of the original label jpg files. | 530 |
Label Height (pixels) | Height of the original label jpg files. | 288 |
Label Origin X | The x-coordinate of the top left corner of the label. | 50 |
Label Origin Y | The y-coordinate of the top left corner of the label. | 50 |
Label Scale Factor X | An integer number used to scale the label output relative to the input. | 1 |
Label Scale Factor Y | An integer number used to scale the label output relative to the input. | 1 |
Monochrome Threshold | From 0-255. The higher this number, the more grey pixels will be set to black. | 150 |
Print Delay | The delay in milliseconds between sending a label image to the printer and the send of the subsequent print command. | 750 |
Address Overwrite Settings
These settings allow fine-grained control over the behaviour of the application when overwriting the existing location text on the label.
Name | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
Background X Position | The x-coordinate of the top left corner of the background for the overwritten address. | 15 |
Background Y Position | The y-coordinate of the top left corner of the background for the overwritten address. | 40 |
Background Height | The height of the background for the overwritten address in pixels. | 120 |
Background Width | The width of the background for the overwritten address in pixels. | 350 |
Address Text X Position | The x-coordinate of the top left corner of the overwritten address text. | 15 |
Address Text Y Position | The y-coordinate of the top left corner of the overwritten address text. | 65 |
Line Height | The height of each address line in pixels. | 25 |
Maximum Line Character Count | The maximum number of letters allowed on a line of text. | 30 |
Maximum Address Lines | The maximum number of lines over which to print the overwritten address text. | 3 |
Font Type | The font style for the overwritten address text. | 22px Arial |
Understanding the Settings
Original LIMS Label
The initial LIMS label looks like the example shown below. The label image itself is generated by LIMS and the fundamental dimensions and aspect ratio of the image are defined there. Remote Sampler controls how this image should be positioned and printed on the physical labels.
The dimensions marked on the diagram are controlled by settings in the Remote Sampler app as follows.
A = Label Height (pixels)
B = Label Width (pixels)
+ = The X coordinate of this green cross is the Label Origin X
+ = The Y coordinate of this green cross is the Label Origin Y
The Scale Factor settings can be used to scale the whole label image according to an integer factor. For example, when this is set to 1, the label is printed at exactly the resolution output by LIMS. If the number 2 is used, the height and width of the label will be multiplied accordingly generating a much larger image. Note that this factor must be an integer value and fractional values will be ignored.
Thermal label printers print in black and white and interpret shades of grey as either black or white. The outcome of this process can lead to anti-aliased text looking somewhat jagged around the edges. The Monochrome Threshold setting in Remote Sampler can be used to define a value between 0-255 that is used to determine whether a grey pixel in the label image is interpreted as black or white. A higher number yields more black pixels in the final printed label.
The Print Delay setting can be used to insert a configurable pause between each label printed by the label printer if necessary.
Erasing the Location Data
Before Remote Sampler sends label data to the printer, the area of the label that contains the original job location data is erased. The erased area is shown as the red box below.
The dimensions marked on the diagram are controlled by settings in the Remote Sampler app as follows.
C = Background Height
D = Background Width
+ = The X coordinate of this red cross is the Background X Position
+ = The Y coordinate of this red cross is the Background Y Position
Changing these settings allows control over the area of the label that is erased before any updated location data is written to the label.
Adding New Location Data
Once the original location data has been erased, Remote Sampler then writes updated job location data back to the label. The updated location data is written into the area shown as a blue box in the diagram below.
The dimensions marked on the diagram are controlled by settings in the Remote Sampler app as follows.
E = Maximum Address Lines
F = Maximum Line Character Count
G = Line Height
+ = The X coordinate of this blue cross is the Address Text X Position
+ = The Y coordinate of this blue cross is the Address Text Y Position
The Font Type setting can be used to change the font and its size for the updated location text.
Changing these settings allows control over the updated location text that is written onto the label.