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How do you Print in Black and Red with Brother Label Printers?

Building on the success of the QL-700 series, Brother’s new range of label printers improves and expands on an already excellent range of features. And now, the QL-800 series lets you print in black and red.

Brother’s new black and red feature is perfect for different scenarios whether you want to highlight food allergens, mark files as confidential or make a general labels stand out, the QL-800 series black and red feature has no end of uses.

 

view brother ql-800 printer range

 

Brother QL-800 Range

Brother QL-800 Thermal Label Printer

Brother QL-810W Thermal Label Printer

Brother QL-820NWB Thermal Label Printer

With your QL-800 you’ll also receive Brother’s fantastic editing software suite – P-touch editor. The software allows you to edit your labels as you need and this is where you can configure your labels to display and print in black and red text using the Brother DK Labels

 

view brother ql-800 dk tape range

To do this on Windows, once you’ve loaded the P-touch software select paper and then click the ‘Detect Size and Colour’ button to detect the correct settings.

 

P-Touch Editor Screenshot

Click the Text tab and at the bottom under colour, click the drop-down arrow next to what you want to change the colour of text, fill etc.

 

P-Touch Editor Screenshot

Then create the label and print!

If you’re using a Mac, this process is similar. Select ‘Inspector’ in the top right, then click the paper tab again at the top of the inspector window ensure the label printer is selected and under ‘media size’ click ‘Detect Size and Colour’.

 

P-Touch Editor Screenshot

Then click the text tab and at the bottom, select the colour –

 

P-Touch Editor Screenshot

If you need any further help with this, take a look at the Brother web guide.

Brother DK-22251 Tape needed to print red.

 

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20 comments

M.harvey 22 February 2020 at 8:59 am

Can you make vinyl stickers with this machine thanks

Reply
Adam Whitehead 24 February 2020 at 9:42 am

Good morning.

This label printer cannot print on Vinyl stickers. It only does paper or their film labels.
You would need dedicated Vinyl sticker paper for use in normal printers on these.
Thank you
Adam
Printerbase

Reply
Sibusiso Mabhena 4 December 2020 at 9:55 am

hi

Can any one help. I have a brother label printer QL 800. I want to disable the monochrome and select a red and black, but there’s no option Monochrome is solid

Reply
Adam Whitehead 4 December 2020 at 10:00 am

Hi Sibusiso

Great question, the QL-800 requires a specific label to print red. It’s the DK-22251
https://www.printerbase.co.uk/brother-dk-22251-black-red-continuous-paper-62mm-tape.html

Hope this helps
Thank you
Adam

Reply
C Ward 23 October 2021 at 8:05 pm

Is it possible to print red coloured images on the QL810 please?

Reply
Adam Whitehead 26 October 2021 at 10:18 am

Hi Chris

The QL-810W can print red images when using the DK22251 tapes.

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
Jess 9 July 2023 at 1:34 am

Is there a circle label available for the QL-800 to print in black and red?

Reply
Adam Whitehead 10 July 2023 at 9:28 am

Hi Jess.

Thank you for your comment.
There is no circular labels available which can print in black and red on this printer. The only one is the DK-22251 which is a 62mm wide continuous roll.
https://www.printerbase.co.uk/brother-dk-22251-black-red-continuous-paper-62mm-tape.html

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
Ron Spillinger 10 August 2023 at 3:12 am

Can I use the QL-800 to print OSHA hazard classification pictograms? Symbol on a white background framed within a red border and represents a distinct hazard(s). I’m looking to upgrade from the QL-700.

Reply
Adam Whitehead 10 August 2023 at 9:16 am

Hi Ron

The Brother QL-800 can print the labels you’re looking for. However, for the red print, you need to use the DK22251 label roll.

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
June 29 October 2023 at 4:44 pm

Is this compatible with Windows 11

Reply
Adam Whitehead 28 November 2023 at 10:29 am

Hi June

Thank you for your question.

Yes, all of the Brother QL-800 series of printers are compatible with Windows 11

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
Zen 7 June 2024 at 1:51 pm

Can you print a complete red background with black words with the DK22251 label roll?

Reply
Adam Whitehead 7 June 2024 at 2:03 pm

Hi Zen

Thank you for your question.
The Brother DK22251 label can print a full red label, with black text

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
Jacob 29 January 2025 at 4:59 pm

The Paper Type option is grayed out on Windows, but the driver won’t print because it says the paper is red black. These drivers are terrible, on top of “device descriptor request failed” while trying to set it up being complete stupid. Why make this such a terrible experience, and not work on top of it? Just print. How hard is that.

Reply
Adam Whitehead 30 January 2025 at 9:25 am

Hi Jacob

Thank you for your comment, in regards to the Red/Black option being greyed out, are you definitely using the Brother DK22251 label roll? This is the only roll that supports black & red printing.

As for “Device descriptor request failed” this could be caused for a few reasons based on “Communication” issues.
If printing via USB, is the cable in full working order?
Besides that, it could be a faulty download of the driver, I’d recommend deleting these off your PC, then re-downloading again.

Try these out, let us know if it works.

Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
Pekka 4 February 2025 at 1:13 pm

I am on a Mac printing from Adobe InDesign. I can print red by setting the colour to R 255 G 0 B 0, however it comes out with a moiré pattern, not solid red. Do you know which colour I need to specify to get solid red, or if there’s anything else I need to do to get this right?

Reply
Adam Whitehead 4 February 2025 at 3:13 pm

Hi Pekka

Thank you for your question.

For Brother label printers, the best way to print in red is by using the Brother iPrint&Label app. You also need the DK22251 labels, as these are the only Brother labels that support black and red printing.

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply
James 5 May 2025 at 9:19 pm

Can you print red and black using other programs?

Reply
Adam Whitehead 6 May 2025 at 11:23 am

Hi James

Thank you for your comment.
No, the Brother iPrint&Label, or P-Touch Editor are the only apps that can print in black and red on the brother DK-22251 labels.

Hope this helps
Thank you
The Printerbase Team

Reply

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