GLABELS-BATCH-QT(1)

✨ glabels-batch-qt — the "print my labels from the terminal" era ✨

okay so bestie, imagine you made a whole cute label project in gLabels and now you want it printed without ever touching the GUI. that's literally what this is. glabels-batch-qt is a utility for printing a glabels project file from the command line. she takes exactly one project file, FILE, and that's it. no extra files, no "oops I passed three", just one.

and if FILE is -? then she's expecting an XML glabels project to be handed to her on standard input. yes, piping is valid and we love her for it. 💖

glabels-batch-qt [options] FILE

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

every single flag, no skips, periodt:

• -h, --help — shows you the usage info and then dips. bless. 🙈
• -v, --version — short lil version info, then exits.
• -V, --Version — the detailed version info (yes the capital V matters, she's different), then exits.
• -p <printer>, --printer <printer> — send the output to printer. your fave printer, chosen by you. 🖨️
• -i <source>, --input <source> — set the merge input to source, which is typically a filename. if source is -, she reads from standard input. and heads up: this option overrides the merge source specified in the original glabels project file. she said "your project's default? cute. we're doing this instead." 💅
• -o [<filename>], --output [<filename>] — set the output filename to filename. if filename is -, she writes to standard output. (Default="output.pdf")
• -s <n>, --sheets <n> — for simple projects, sets the number of full sheets to n. (Default=1)
• -c <n>, --copies <n> — set the number of copies to n. (Default=1)
• -a, --collate — collate merge copies. the whole set, together, in order. ✨
• -g, --group — start each merge group on a new page. fresh page, fresh vibes. 🌸
• -f <n>, --first <n> — set the starting position to n. (Default=1)
• -l, --outlines — print label outlines. show me the borders, bestie. 📏
• -m, --crop-marks — print crop marks. scissor girlies rise up. ✂️
• -r, --reverse — print in reverse (a mirror image). yes, everything flipped, intentionally.
• -D <var>=<value>, --define <var>=<value> — set the initial value of user variable var to value. custom variables? slay. 🫶

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🦋 FILES 🦋

where everything lives, no cap:

• ${prefix}/share/glabels-qt/templates/ — the directory holding all the predefined product templates that ship with glabels. the starter pack. 👑
• ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/glabels.org/glabels-qt/ — the directory for user defined product templates, the ones you made with the gLabels Product Template Designer.

⚠️ do NOT place manually created templates here!! she said what she said!! that folder is for Designer-made templates only, okay bestie? 🙈

• ${HOME}/.glabels/ — the directory for manually created product templates. this is where the handmade ones go. 💖

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💀 KNOWN ISSUES 💀

okay this one's important so listen up.

On GNU/Linux platforms, glabels-batch-qt must be run from within a windowing environment, such as X or Wayland. why? because Qt requires a suitable platform to obtain system font information. she's dramatic like that. 😭

a work-around is to run glabels-batch-qt using a virtual X server environment:

xvfb-run glabels-batch-qt -o output.pdf myProject.glabels

xvfb-run save of the day, fr fr. 🌈

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💜 REPORTING BUGS 💜

found a bug? want a feature? you can report both via the gLabels issue tracking system at GitHub (https://github.com/j-evins/glabels-qt/issues). fair warning: you will need a GitHub account to submit new issues or to comment on existing issues. that's just how it is. 🎀

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🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

• glabels-qt(1)
• The gLabels homepage at http://glabels.org/. iykyk, go visit her. 🌸

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⭐ COPYRIGHT ⭐

2020, Jaye Evins <evins@snaught.com>

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and that's the whole page, bestie — this little icon of a manpage is from glabels-qt, dated Jan 01, 2026, and you literally just read the entire thing. obsessed with you for real. go print your labels. 💅✨🎀