Name: Brother QL-500
Brand: Brother

After 14 days, you can choose between a one-time license or an inexpensive monthly label software subscription that you can cancel at any time. Try it out and see how easy label printing can be.

14 Day Free Trial

No risk, no credit card. Design labels today

It's easy to learn our software so you can get the job done. Label LIVE has just 4 menus, each with a specific purpose. We've simplified label printing.

Fun and Easy to Learn

Like cooking in your own kitchen, everything has a place

Fun and easy to learn

Label LIVE is the only label printing software that works out of the box on both Windows and Mac. Print labels with flexibility and ease, no matter your operating system or printer model.

Works on Windows and Mac

Finally, effortless labels in both worlds

We are available every day by email and phone. Since we're a small independent shop, you get to talk directly to developers and entrepreneurs who live and breathe label printing.

Dependable Support

Our customers rate our support the best in the industry

Anyone can download and use Label LIVE to print labels. It's easy to use, priced right, always available without Internet, helpfully supported by humans when you need us, and constantly improving based on your feedback.

Trusted Worldwide

The best printing experience starts with the right hardware. Get a mydpi thermal printer, designed for seamless compatibility with Label LIVE - so you can print labels faster, easier, and without restrictions.

Recommended Label Printers

Need a new label printer? Bundle and Save

Bundled with mydpi

It can be a pain to fire up your spreadsheet program to print a set of labels. To work faster, just pop open Label LIVE's built-in spreadsheet editor. Add as many columns and rows as you need.

Built-in Spreadsheet

Edit data and print labels without leaving Label LIVE

Create thousands of label variations based on data from Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers or plain CSV text files. Use your own serial numbers, prices, descriptions, weights and dates. Easily integrate shared data from Google Sheets, Dropbox, OneDrive, and others.

Excel, CSV and Cloud Data

Turn a spreadsheet into individual labels

Use variables to update text, barcodes, images and even colors across an entire set of unique labels. Label LIVE connects smoothly with your spreadsheets to determine how and where your data gets printed. 

Variables

Data Forms enable operators to get the job done with less error. Each Form is progressively simpler. Choose the level of detail your operators feel the most comfortable using.

Forms

Three different ways to view your data and print labels

When you need a serial number, you can handle it in a few clicks with Label LIVE. Each time a label prints, the number will change by an amount you specify. You can count up or count down.

Serial Number Generation

If your spreadsheet lists time in one format, but your labels need to use another, Label LIVE can translate. Our data tools can even handle adding time onto dates.

Date and Time Support

Calculate and print date and time in the formats you need

Convert effortlessly between weight units and display the weight in a format that makes sense to your customers.

Weight Calculation

Price-computing label machines can be cumbersome to use. Label LIVE makes it easy to set up and maintain beautiful custom label designs that use existing prices for bulk repack.

Price Calculation

Multiply quantity and price-per variables

Round currency, define precision, and format prices with leading or trailing zeros. There's a lot you can do with a spreadsheet and formulas. For everything else, use Label LIVE.

Price Formatting

When data on your label needs to toggle between a few known values, you can add them as a list, making them easily selectable.

Simple Lists

Capture and crop full-color photos for ID cards, visitor badges, and employee passes. Label LIVE uses your computer’s camera with built-in on-device face detection to automatically center and size each photo, giving every label a professional look.

Camera + Face Detection

Use any camera to instantly add color portraits to visitor badges and ID cards

Camera and Face Detection

When it's time to print, a simple arrow points in the direction that the label will be come out. Design labels in the orientation that makes sense to you, without waste or confusion.

Size and Orientation

Take the guesswork out of clunky "landscape" and "portrait" modes

Label Size and Orientation

Label LIVE automatically scales text size to fit within your label width, anchors text fields to corners, and deletes blank lines. When you need to incorporate a lot of information into your label, our design tools keep it neat and consistent.

Complex Text

Complex Text Handling

Label LIVE lets you customize your design with squares, circles and lines. Each object has separate fill and outline colors. Outlines can sport custom dash-dot patterns and squares can round their corners for a professional look. Read more in our guide below.

Shapes and Lines

Full control over dashes, dots, thickness and color

Label LIVE handles high-resolution images both large and small. Add any image you want to your design, and you can make it work with full-color printers and black-and-white low DPI models alike.

Images

What you see on the label designer screen is what prints on the label

Generate just about any kind of barcode. As you input your data, labels update instantly. All of our supported barcodes integrate seamlessly with your business workflow.

Barcodes

Beautifully boring UPCs to magically mundane QR Codes

Save all of your custom Label LIVE designs to your computer for future printing. Need to make a new label based on an old design? Duplicate a saved design template with a single click, then keep customizing. Read more in our FAQ below.

Saved Label Files

Save and re-use designs on Windows and macOS

Saved Design Files

When you're printing labels from a spreadsheet, text and barcodes can grow larger or shrink smaller. Anchor points help you rein in the complexity of dynamic data.

Anchor Points

When text or barcodes change size, make sure they stay put

Non-printable objects let you set aside space in your layout to incorporate what's already on your labels. Check out the related guide below.

Non-Printing Objects

Design around die-cut borders or pre-printed label art

You can "program" your label based on spreadsheet data. Label LIVE gives you easy-to-use variables for advanced label printing. Read more in a guide below.

Dynamic Color

Change the color of text, shapes and barcodes using spreadsheet data

Until now, generating labels with dynamic images would have involved a programmer. With Label LIVE, you can use your data to pull up the right image for each label, via URLs or filesystem paths on your computer.

Dynamic Images

Printing to sheets of labels should be easy, but without Label LIVE it's a nightmare. Label LIVE puts the adjustment power in your hands to craft pixel-perfect PDFs. Use the Sheet Setup feature to align your sheets precisely, without tedious trial-and-error.

Multiple Labels on Sheets

Render multiple labels per page and align with popular sheets from Avery and U-LINE

You choose the best printer for the job and Label LIVE will make it work. You can easily take a design from one printer and modify it to work on another, totally different printer.



Full Color or Black & White

Works with one-color thermal printers and full-color CMYK inkjet and laser printers.

AirPrint is a technology that lets you print wirelessly without the need to download or install drivers. Using an AirPrint printer with Label LIVE is the gold standard in label printing.

AirPrint Support

Automatically detect and print to AirPrint printers

Label LIVE's powerful features help you design for low-DPI printers. Design preview allows you to modify images to look pixel-perfect.

Dithering for Low-DPI Printers

Optimize the dithering (dot-detail) of your label images with two clicks

Trigger your label printing from the command line, across your network, or by saving spreadsheets/CSVs to special batch folders. Read more in our guides below.

Nerd-Friendly Integration

Nerd Friendly Integration

Use a spreadsheet to control how many labels print. Select the variable on the Print tab and Label LIVE will adapt smoothly to your data.

Dynamic Copies

Flexible controls for label selection and data duplication

When you need to print tons of unique barcodes, just get your data and design set up, and Label LIVE will generate and save a set of images in one PDF or PNG file. Read more in our guide below.

Batch PDFs or PNGs

Generate Batch PDFs or PNGs

Once you've created the label design you want with Label LIVE's powerful, intuitive tools, you can keep it consistent. Lock design elements, or freeze out certain buttons to prevent unintentional changes.

Locked Designs

Minimize operator error by locking or freezing a design

Locked and Frozen Designs

No need to install pesky drivers for our supported thermal printers. Just connect your computer and printer and start printing. Label LIVE is compatible with dozens of leading thermal printer models.

Driverless Thermal Printing

Label LIVE directly supports popular thermal printers via USB

Labeling jobs often require a record of what labels were printed. Choose a file and Label LIVE will save the details of each label printed.

Label Log File

Generate history of what labels were printed and when.

FEATURES ORDER

Use Label LIVE with the BROTHER QL-500 on Mac or Windows. Design the label on your computer and print it on this printer. Download Label LIVE for Mac or Windows. Even though the manufacturer has discontinued this printer, it works great with Label LIVE, and lightly used models are often available at a good price.

A compact desktop direct thermal printer for address, shipping and file labels, with drop-in die-cut or continuous label rolls and a manual full cutter with a user-replaceable blade.

BROTHER QL-500 Label Printing Software

Printer Specs

Watch how easily Label LIVE creates labels:

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