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event-checkin

This is a check-in system written in python to print nametags for people who come to our events. At our events, there will a line where people type in their username and it looks up their information from that to print their nametag.

Drivers and Requirements

Before you do anything, make sure these drivers are installed on your computer:

Also make sure you have Python 3 installed.

Operation/Setup

Mac/Linux/Windows Instructions:

First, clone this repository to your computer. Then, cd into the project folder and create a python3 virtual environment: python3 -m venv venv, or virtualenv venv. Next, activate the virtual environment: source venv/bin/activate, and install the required python libraries: pip install -r requirements.txt. Finally, copy the sample-config.json file over to config.json.

Next, modify config.json as necessary. Below are explanations for the fields:

  • PRINTER_NAME is the name of the printer, it must be correct for printing to work. To find the PRINTER_NAME, plug in the printer and then look through your devices and printers. It's usually one of the following based on your OS:

    • Macs: DYMO_LabelWriter_450 or DYMO_LabelWriter_450_Turbo
    • Linux: LabelWriter-450 or LabelWriter-450-Turbo
    • Windows: DYMO LabelWriter 450 or DYMO LabelWriter 450 Turbo

  • LABEL_WIDTH and LABEL_HEIGHT are two essentially magic numbers that correspond to the dimensions of the image this program sends to the label printers to print. Fiddle around with it, testing different aspect ratios and values until the resulting prints turn out nicely.

  • TRANSPOSE specifies whether the final image will be rotated by 90 degrees. Currently, this doesn't seem to have an effect on the printed label.

  • IP_ADDRESS is only for Windows users, see below.

  • MONGO_URI is the URI of the mongo database where checkin data will be stored.

Finally run python runserver.py and go to localhost:5000 to run the checkin software. Every time someone is checked in, it will save the current timestamp and the person's email to log.csv. It will also write it to a mongo database specified by MONGO_URI in the config file. Make sure to delete the old log.csv file (if applicable) and clear the database before the event begins.

To exit the checkin software, press Control-C twice rapidly (or just hold it).

Windows Instructions (Not Currently Working):

Please also update your computer's ip address in the config file above (with the name of printer and size of label). This can be found with a google search.

If you get an error involving the lpr command being invalid, take the following steps:

Go to Control Panel/Programs/Turn Windows Features on or off. Then, expand "Print and Document Services" and check "LPD Print Service" and "LPR Port Monitor."

This may be helpful for future fixing: https://www.blackice.com/Help/Internet/BILPDManager/WebHelp/How_to_set_up_LPR_LPD_Printer_on_Windows_10_and_Windows_Server_2016.htm

Labels

For nametag-like labels, the correct size is probably LABEL_WIDTH=760 LABEL_HEIGHT=410 For square, badge-like labels, the correct size is probably LABEL_WIDTH=410 LABEL_HEIGHT=410, but this could be wrong.

To modify the content printed on the labels, edit the create_image method of checkin/printer/image.py. There are a handful of methods in this file to facilitate image creation, but the most helpful one is probably draw_horiz_centered_text. It may take a few tries to find values for the y-offset parameter that work with the labels you're using.

While you're finding values that work, comment out the call to lpr in checkin/printer/__init__.py to temporarily disable printing so that you can debug the output images without wasting labels. The output images are located in checkin/printer/labels.

Bugs

Every time a label prints, the USB disconnects and reconnects. The consequence of this is that when you print two labels rapidly one after another, there is about an 8 second delay as the USB disconnects, finds the printer again, and starts the next job. Still looking for a fix for this one!