Printing your first label, without the headache
A short guide to getting a label printer connected and printing cleanly — before your event, not scrambling the morning of.
Why 2.4" × 3.9" labels?
Every label Gear Swap App prints is sized for Brother's DK-1202 die-cut label roll — 2.4" × 3.9". That's not an arbitrary choice: it's large enough to read the price and item details across a folding table, small enough to fit cleanly on a standard hang tag, and it can be stuck directly onto hard goods (skis, boots, a helmet) when there's nothing to hang it from.
Recommended printers
Gear Swap App doesn't require any specific printer — it just needs one that prints on 2.4" × 3.9" labels. The simplest path is any printer in Brother's QL series, since they all take the same DK-1202 roll:
Brother QL-800
USB only — the simplest, cheapest way in if you don't need wireless printing.
Brother QL-810W
Adds Wi-Fi to the QL-800 — print from any station without a cable run.
Brother QL-820NWB
What we use ourselves. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Ethernet, so it's never the printer that's offline on event day.
Using a different printer or a different label size? It can still work if your printer's driver lets you set a custom 2.4" × 3.9" continuous or die-cut label size — it just takes more manual setup than dropping in a DK-1202 roll. If that's your situation and you get stuck, reach out and we'll help you get it dialed in.
Setting it up, step by step
Install the printer driver
Connect the printer to power and to your computer (USB or Wi-Fi, depending on the model), then install Brother's driver and software from support.brother.com — search your exact model number. Follow Brother's setup wizard; it'll walk you through connecting to your Wi-Fi network if you're using a wireless model.
Load a roll of DK-1202 labels
Open the roll compartment and drop in a roll of Brother DK-1202 labels (2.4" × 3.9" die-cut) — these are the exact ones Gear Swap App's labels are designed around, so there's no sizing to figure out. Any DK-1202 roll works in any QL-series printer, not just the one you bought it for.
Confirm it shows up as a printer
On the computer you'll use at Intake, open your system's printer settings and confirm the Brother printer appears and is set as ready (not offline/paused). Do this before event day, not during it.
Print a real test label
Log a test item at Intake in Gear Swap App and click "Print." A real browser print dialog will open — this is the moment that trips people up, so see the setting below before you click Print in that dialog.
The one setting that matters: scale must be "Actual size," not "Fit to page"
Gear Swap App tells the browser the exact label size (2.4" × 3.9"), so the print dialog should already match it automatically. If your browser's print dialog has a "Scale" or "Fit to page" option, make sure it's set to 100% / Actual size — not "Fit to printable area," which is the #1 cause of a label printing shrunk, off-center, or with the QR code cut off.
Common hiccups
The printer doesn't show up when you click Print
Check it's powered on and actually connected to the same network (for Wi-Fi models) or plugged in (for USB). Reinstalling Brother's driver fixes this more often than you'd expect.
The label prints, but blank or mostly blank
Almost always a scale/fit setting in the print dialog, or the wrong media size selected in the printer's own driver settings — it should be set to DK-1202 (2.4" × 3.9").
The QR code looks cut off or squished
Set "Scale" to 100% / Actual size in the print dialog — see the step above. A "Fit to page" setting is the cause of this almost every time.
It prints two labels, or a blank one after the real one
Usually a margins setting in the printer driver fighting with the page size. In the driver's printing preferences (not the browser dialog), confirm margins are set to 0 and the paper size matches the DK-1202 roll exactly.
Still stuck? Test it well before your event, not the morning of — you'll want time to sort out a driver issue without a line forming at the intake table. Start your swap once you're ready.