Archived Repository Notice

Notice: This repository has been archived and is no longer maintained.

Further development for the project has been moved to a repository under the Natural History Museum of Denmark. Please visit the updated repository for the latest code and ongoing work:

https://github.com/NHMDenmark/pinned-datamatrix-label-generator

Thank you for your interest!

Pinned Datamatrix Label Generator

Style	Image
NHMD
NHMA

About

This repository hosts a work-in-progress Python package for generating single or double-sided labels with text, datamatrices, and pin holes. This package, pinned_datamatrix, is particularly useful for generating labels for pinned insects. The generated labels are vector graphics, which are then embedded into PDF files. These labels can be printed at any resolution, making it a versatile tool for various needs.

Please note that since the package is under active development, the code can change at any time.

Key Features

• Generate single or double-sided labels.
• Embed labels with text, datamatrices, and pin holes.
• Create labels as vector graphics, making them resolution-independent.
• Embed generated labels into PDF files for ease of printing.

Installation

Requires Python 3.10 or later.

Prerequisites: Ensure that git is installed on your system for the following installation methods.

Before installing the pinned_datamatrix package, you need to ensure that the libdmtx shared library is installed on your system. This library is a requirement for pylibdmtx, which the package relies on. Depending on your operating system, you might need to install this library separately:

For Mac OS X

You can use Homebrew to install libdmtx:

brew install libdmtx

For Linux

You can use the package manager to install libdmtx:

sudo apt-get install libdmtx0b

On Windows, please note that the libdmtx DLLs are included with the Python wheels, so you don't need to install them separately.

For more detailed information about pylibdmtx, you can visit the pylibdmtx GitHub repository.

Once libdmtx is installed (if needed), you can proceed with installing the pinned_datamatrix package using either of the following methods:

1. Cloning the repository and installing locally

First, clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/lauritsf/pinned-datamatrix-label-generator.git
cd pinned-datamatrix-label-generator

Then, install the package using pip:

python -m pip install .

2. Direct installation via pip

You can directly install the package from the GitHub repository:

python -m pip install git+https://github.com/lauritsf/pinned-datamatrix-label-generator.git

Usage

1. As a library

After installation, you can import components of the pinned_datamatrix package in your Python script or interpreter.

Example:

from pinned_datamatrix import Label, Sheet
# ... your code using these components```

2. Command Line Utility:

You can also generate sheets of labels directly using the command-line interface. The tool can be accessed either via the entry point pinned_datamatrix or using python -m pinned_datamatrix.

Here's how you can view the available options:

python -m pinned_datamatrix --help

This will display:

Usage: pinned_datamatrix [OPTIONS]

  Generate a PDF with datamatrix labels

Options:
  -s, --style [NHMD|NHMA]    The label style  [required]
  -b, --bottom-text TEXT     The bottom text for NHMA style labels
  -n, --numbers TEXT         The numbers as a range or list  [required]
  -o, --output FILE          The output path of the PDF file  [required]
  -p, --label-padding FLOAT  The padding around the label in mm (default: 0.25)
  --help                     Show this message and exit.

Example usage:

NHMD style labels with numbers 1-1000 and 2000-3000

python -m pinned_datamatrix -s NHMD -n 1-1000,2000-3000 -o labels.pdf

NHMA style labels with numbers ranging from 1 to 2000

python -m pinned_datamatrix -s NHMA  -b ENTOMOLOGY -n 1-2000 -o labels.pdf

NHMD style labels with numbers 10-25 and 123456789 and a label padding of 0.5mm

python -m pinned_datamatrix -s NHMD -n 10-25,123456789 -o labels.pdf -p 0.5

Examples

The examples directory contains a variety of examples illustrating the use of the package. These examples include:

• create_examples.py: An example script showing how to create datamatrices, labels, and sheets.
• example_datamatrix.png, example_datamatrix.svg: Examples of datamatrix barcodes.
• NHMD_label.pdf, NHMD_label.png, NHMD_label.svg: Example NHMD style labels.
• NHMA_label.pdf, NHMA_label.png, NHMA_label.svg: Example NHMA style labels.
• NHMA_doublesided_sheet.pdf, NHMD_doublesided_sheet.pdf: Example double-sided sheets of labels.

Tests

The tests directory contains unit tests for the package. These tests cover the datamatrix generation, label generation, and sheet generation. To run the tests, you can use the pytest command from the root directory of the repository:

pytest

Licensing

This project is licensed under the terms of the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Contact

Laurits Fredsgaard Larsen

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or if you would like to contribute.

Contribution

As this is a work in progress, contributions are most welcome. Please feel free to raise issues or create pull requests.

Acknowledgements

This project relies on several open-source packages, including reportlab, pylibdmtx, numpy, Pillow, svglib, and rlPyCairo. Their contributions to the open-source community are greatly appreciated.