LOCAL NETWORK / WINDOWS / LINUX
Every PC is a server: LabelInn on your local network
Every PC running LabelInn is a server for the others: PCs on one network find each other, share designs and printers, encrypted with your company key.
- Server box to buy
- None
- IP addresses to type
- None
- Traffic between PCs
- Encrypted, your company key
- Label content in local data mode
- Stays on your network
- Runs on
- Windows and Linux
THE PICTURE
Your PCs, your network, your printers
Install LabelInn on the PCs you already have. They form one network of equals: each one shares its designs and its printers with the others.
- 1Found automatically
PCs running LabelInn on the same network find each other. No server box to buy, no IP addresses to type.
- 2Every PC is a server
Each PC serves the others. There is no central print server for every PC to depend on.
- 3Encrypted
Traffic between PCs is encrypted and signed with a key unique to your company.
- 4Designs travel
In local data mode, a design saved on one PC appears on the others within seconds, over your own network.
- 5Printers are shared
Choose a printer attached to another PC from the print dialog: the job goes over the network to that PC, which prints it.
- 6The cloud keeps the minimum
In local data mode the cloud keeps only sign-in, the licence, printer status and a print record without label content.
THE SHORT VERSION
A common way to share label printers is one print server in the middle: every PC sends its jobs there, and when that machine is down, nobody prints.
LabelInn works the other way round. Every PC that runs LabelInn is also a server for the others. The PCs on your network find each other, keep each other's designs up to date and pass print jobs to whichever PC the printer is plugged into. There is nothing extra to buy, install or configure.
01 / DISCOVERY
PCs find each other on their own
Open LabelInn on two PCs on the same network and they see each other. There is no server box to buy and no IP address to type.
Each PC announces itself on the local network with a message signed with your company's key, so your PCs recognise each other and ignore everyone else's. A PC that joins later is found the same way. We tested this with a Windows PC and a Linux PC on the same network: each found the other, in both directions.
02 / EVERY PC A SERVER
Every PC is a server for the others
No PC is the master. Each one serves the others, so one PC being switched off does not stop the rest.
- Nothing to host. No separate print server, database server or licence server on your premises.
- Grows with the PCs you have. Add LabelInn to another PC and it joins the others.
- Local printers stay local. A USB printer on one PC can be used from the other PCs, as long as the PC it is plugged into is on and LabelInn is open there.
03 / ENCRYPTION
Encrypted with your company's own key
Everything the PCs send each other, designs and print jobs included, is encrypted and signed with a key unique to your company.
Each PC receives the key when it signs in to your LabelInn company. A PC without your company's key cannot read the traffic between your PCs, and a message that was not signed with that key is refused.
04 / DESIGNS
A design saved on one PC is on the others in seconds
In local data mode, designs travel between your PCs over your own network instead of through the cloud.
Save a design on one PC and it appears on the other PCs, unchanged, within seconds. In our two-PC test the copy arrived byte for byte identical, in both directions, in the same second it was saved.
In cloud mode (the default) designs keep syncing through your LabelInn account as before.
05 / PRINTERS
Print on a printer plugged into another PC
A print job does not have to start on the PC the printer is attached to.
Choose a printer attached to another PC from the print dialog. The job goes over the network, encrypted, to the PC the printer is plugged into, and that PC prints it. In our test, a label printed from the print dialog on the Linux PC came out of a Zebra label printer attached to another PC.
Jobs from your own systems work the same way. Send a job to any LabelInn PC over the local HTTP API, MQTT or gRPC; if the printer is plugged into a different PC, the job is passed to that PC. In our test a job sent to the Windows PC printed on the printer attached to the Linux PC.
06 / LOCAL DATA MODE
Local data mode: label content stays on your network
Local data mode is a company-wide setting the account owner switches on. It keeps label content on your PCs.
| Cloud mode (default) | Local data mode | |
|---|---|---|
| Designs | Synced through your LabelInn account | Stay on your PCs, shared between them over your network |
| Templates, images, Excel and CSV files, fonts | Synced through your LabelInn account | Stay on your PCs |
| Print history with label values and the label image | In your LabelInn account | On the PC that printed, signed |
| Print record: date, printer, design name, label count | In your LabelInn account | In your LabelInn account, without label content |
| AI chats | In your LabelInn account | Stay on the PC; online AI features are off |
| Sign-in, licence, app update check, printer status | Online | Online |
Usage statistics and crash reports also stay on the PC in local data mode.
How we checked. We printed 100 labels in local data mode from a file where every value carried a unique marker, and recorded every connection the app made. The app connected only to sign-in, the licence service, the update check, and LabelInn's own channels for printer status, the print record and instant updates. Afterwards the cloud held one print record (100 labels, no label content) and no files, and the marker appeared nowhere. The full history, with the printed values and the label image, was on the PC that printed it.
07 / REQUIREMENTS
What you need, and the limits
Plainly, so nothing surprises you on the day.
- The printer's PC must be on, with LabelInn open. Other PCs reach a printer through the PC it is plugged into.
- Windows and Linux. macOS has not been verified yet.
- One local network. PCs find each other automatically on the same network. Where the network blocks that (separate VLANs, Wi-Fi client isolation), PCs cannot find each other yet; connecting them by address is being tested.
- Each PC signs in once. That is how it receives your company's key.
- OneDrive. If Windows backs up your Documents folder to OneDrive, design files in it are copied to Microsoft by Windows, not by LabelInn. The app tells you when this is the case.
08 / BEING TESTED
Built, being tested, not available yet
These are built and are going through the same two-PC tests. They are not part of LabelInn until those pass.
- Adding a PC with a 6-digit code shown on both screens, without internet.
- Removing a PC from your network.
- Connecting PCs by address where automatic discovery cannot reach (separate VLANs, Wi-Fi client isolation).
- Workflows printing to a printer on another PC over the local network.
- A copy of each PC's print history kept on another PC.
- macOS.
QUESTIONS / FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a print server for LabelInn on several PCs?
No. Every PC running LabelInn is a server for the others. PCs on the same network find each other, and you can choose a printer attached to another PC from the print dialog: the job goes to that PC over the network.
Do I have to enter IP addresses?
No. PCs on the same local network find each other automatically.
Is the traffic between PCs encrypted?
Yes. Designs and print jobs sent between PCs are encrypted and signed with a key unique to your company. A PC without that key cannot read them.
What happens when the PC with the printer is switched off?
That printer cannot be used from the other PCs until its PC is on again with LabelInn open. The other PCs and their printers keep working.
In local data mode, what still goes to the cloud?
Sign-in, the licence, the app update check, printer status, and a print record without label content (date, printer, design name, label count). Designs, label values and the full print history stay on your PCs.
Does it work on Mac?
It works on Windows and Linux today. macOS has not been verified yet.
KEEP GOING
Related
NEXT STEP / LABELINN
Put the PCs you already have to work together
Install LabelInn on each PC and sign in to your company. · No server box · Encrypted with your company key · Windows and Linux