Change of shipping labels Deutsche Post / problems with label printer

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Hello community, once again there has been a change in the layout of the purchased labels (mail) from Deutsche Post.

Just a few months ago, Ebay chose the layout in a really poor way, so a label printer cannot recognize the postage label and you have to cut the label to size by hand so it can be printed correctly.

Since today, Ebay has apparently been “tinkering” again, because as of today the postage labels have shifted down again, so the cutout that was already manually adjusted before no longer fits the label printers. I simply can’t print the label to fit with my Brother QL-1100, because the preset label from Ebay is in DIN A4 format (unfortunately still). That wouldn’t really be the problem, adjusting the label to the 102mm width of the label printer, but unfortunately in my settings I can only make the label bigger downward so that the label fits on the label. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but maybe someone understands me. Why doesn’t Ebay just make the label WITHOUT a border/background, i.e. only the size of the actual label? Unfortunately that doesn’t exist, and it would save so much work.

Attached is a screenshot showing the problem, that the label doesn’t fit exactly into the label cutout; previous attempts to center the label have also failed, so I wouldn’t know what else I could do.

samsgarage.eu

8529 View listings

Posted 1 year ago·Last reply 7 months ago

11 comments

sunrise1605

·7 months ago

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Exactly these problems are why I never wanted to use a label printer.

And to everyone else I have to say: for heaven’s sake, all of that would have been way too much hassle for me.

I had an order processing program where the DHL labels were created with one click (API interface to the DHL business customer portal).

At the beginning, I defined the printer tray once, set up the size of the special DHL labels so that everything would fit, and that was it.

Clicked sales, hit print, selected the printer tray, and boom, the things were printed.

And not just from Ebay, but also from A and my own online shop. All in one go.

Invoicing by email, credit notes, and so much more, all with just a few clicks.

The time saved was definitely worth the money the software cost (back then €45/month).

bixtron

·7 months ago

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Hello,

I solve it like this:

In the settings tab of Firefox, I set the default zoom for PDF to 700%.

With the program "ShareX", I can create screenshots using hotkeys.

In addition, I can create a "mask" to size.

So I can use a hotkey to take a screenshot where the tag is perfectly cropped out.

I attached 2 screenshots that show this. This is what the "mask" looks like:

Maske Mask

So the result:

Ergebnis Result

The label printer receives the file and can print it without any further ado (if necessary, "Fit to page" has to be deselected).

Printing is done in a batch. I select all the screenshots I made, right-click, and then click "Print". That way they are all printed one after the other.

edv-hosting

·8 months ago

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So, this is the script I’m currently using. But it still needs to be customized for your own situation (label printer, label size) and, if necessary, dependencies like phython need to be installed. For me, the script is in autostart. Don’t know how well the average eBay user knows IT..

import os
import time
import fitz
from watchdog.observers import Observer
from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
import subprocess

DOWNLOAD_PATH = r"C:\Users\corne\Downloads"
LABEL_PREFIX = "ebay label"
PRINTER_NAME = "Brother TD-4210D"
ACROBAT_PATH = r"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"

class PDFHandler(FileSystemEventHandler):
    def on_created(self, event):
        filename = os.path.basename(event.src_path).lower()
        if filename.endswith(".pdf") and LABEL_PREFIX in filename and "_cropped" not in filename:
            print(f"PDF erkannt: {event.src_path}")
            if self.wait_for_file(event.src_path):
                self.process_pdf(event.src_path)
            else:
                print(f"Datei nicht rechtzeitig gefunden: {event.src_path}")

    def wait_for_file(self, file_path, timeout=5, interval=0.2):
        elapsed = 0.0
        while elapsed < timeout:
            if os.path.exists(file_path) and os.path.getsize(file_path) > 0:
                return True
            time.sleep(interval)
            elapsed += interval
        return False

    def process_pdf(self, file_path):
        pdf_document = fitz.open(file_path)
        page = pdf_document.load_page(0)

        crop_rect = fitz.Rect(40, 80, 260, 210)
        page.set_cropbox(crop_rect)

        cropped_pdf = fitz.open()
        cropped_pdf.insert_pdf(pdf_document)

        cropped_pdf_path = file_path.replace(".pdf", "_cropped.pdf")
        cropped_pdf.save(cropped_pdf_path)

        cropped_pdf.close()
        pdf_document.close()

        self.print_pdf(cropped_pdf_path)

        os.remove(file_path)

    def print_pdf(self, pdf_path):
        subprocess.Popen([
            ACROBAT_PATH,
            '/n',
            '/s',
            '/o',
            '/h',
            '/t',
            pdf_path,
            PRINTER_NAME
        ], shell=False)
        print(f"Print job sent to Acrobat: {pdf_path}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    event_handler = PDFHandler()
    observer = Observer()
    observer.schedule(event_handler, DOWNLOAD_PATH, recursive=False)
    observer.start()

    print("Monitoring of the Downloads folder for eBay label PDFs started.")
    try:
        while True:
            time.sleep(1)
    except KeyboardInterrupt:
        observer.stop()
    observer.join()

bixtron

·7 months ago

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Hello @edv-solutions ,

do you maybe also have a tip on how I can stop Firefox from automatically opening the print interface after purchasing the label via eBay?

This now happens twice. After the purchase and when you click on "Print label", i.e. when the PDF opens.

Thanks

edv-hosting

·7 months ago

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Hello,

are you using the script or was that a general question? Unfortunately, the interface opens automatically for me too after the purchase, and I always close it manually. But I click on "Download label" and not on "Print label", then the print interface doesn’t open again either.

In Firefox, unfortunately, there’s only the option to hide the interface and instead print the label directly, but the first view after the purchase is completely broken, so that’s unfortunately not an option. At least for me, it just shows a blank page to print. eBay, typical 😄

Best regards

bixtron

·7 months ago

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No, no script.

I just meant that Firefox doesn't automatically open the print interface. Somewhere there has to be a command from "eBay" that makes it do that. I'll just look into it again...

I didn't know about downloading the label.. But then at least I got rid of the pop-up once. Thanks 🙂

miriam@ebay

Admin7 months ago

Community TeamView listings

Hello everyone! We can see the issues you’ve reported with the changed arrangement of the eBay shipping labels, especially with the automatic opening of the print dialog and the incorrect scaling for label printers. Thanks for sharing your workarounds.

The topic of label formats has been passed on again to one of our shipping teams. It will be reviewed there once more.

Best regards

Miriam

sill-hausundgartenservice

·8 months ago

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Hello, we have the same problem, is there now some way to print it directly WITHOUT having to edit the document afterward in the PDF editor?

edv-hosting

·8 months ago

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Unfortunately not from eBay itself. Depending on how well you know your way around:

I cobbled together a Python script that automatically recognizes as soon as a new PDF lands in the Downloads folder and starts with "ebay-label". Then the right section is cut out of the PDF and printed automatically. If you have someone who wants to mess around with it, I can also send it over briefly this evening.

ttd4it

·1 year ago

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Tip: Use the PRO version of Acrobat Reader to crop "too large" labels.

Then it will also work with the Brother QL-1110.

Alternative: take a screenshot and print the selected area. For that, an image template as a background in the correct size should be enough.

vw1303jeans

·7 months ago

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Greetings from Denmark. I have a MAC, so I take the snippet I need with CMD-SHIFT-4 and then print it. On Windows there is also such a "snipping program".....