> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating a Print Batch

> Export a print list from a Collection or the Access Links page — and choose between a tracked draft batch and a plain CSV download that records nothing.

You create a batch by exporting a print list. The export screen offers two outcomes, and the
choice matters: one creates a tracked batch, the other just hands you a CSV file and keeps no
record.

## Before you start

You need links to print. Every Item with a Link already has one; unassigned links work too, and
are the normal starting point for a print-first run where the codes are made before the
equipment arrives.

## Exporting from a Collection

1. Open the Collection and select the Items you want. If you select nothing, the export uses
   whatever your current search, filters and sort produce.
2. Open the **Print Media** menu and choose **Print list**.
3. Pick your columns (below).
4. Choose **Create draft batch** or **CSV**.

## Exporting from the Access Links page

The Access Links page has a **Print List** button in the toolbar and in the row-actions menu.
It stays disabled until you select links — this path always works from a selection, or from
"select all pages", which hands the server your current filters instead of a list of IDs.

On either path, an export built from ticked rows is capped at **5,000 selected rows** — Items from
a Collection, links from the Access Links page. Past that, exporting from the current filters
instead (leave the Collection selection empty, or use "select all pages" on Access Links) has no
such cap, because the server does the selecting.

## Choosing columns

The column picker has two groups:

* **Item Fields** — the fields defined on the Collection, so a printer can put a serial number
  or a location on the label next to the code.
* **Link Fields** — **Full URL** (the complete `qrtub.com/...` address), **Short URL** (the path
  only) and **Active**.

Toggle a column with the eye icon, drag to reorder, or use **Show all** / **Hide all**. Full URL
is included by default, and it is the one column a print shop genuinely needs — most shops
generate the QR image themselves from that value rather than working from image files.

One row equals one link, which in practice means one physical piece. Keep that convention and
the shop's data merge lines up with your order quantity.

## The two export buttons

| Button                 | What happens                                                                                                                       | Record kept |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- |
| **Create draft batch** | The CSV is generated and stored server-side, a batch is created in Draft, and you land on **Access Media** with the new batch open | Yes         |
| **CSV**                | The file downloads to your computer immediately                                                                                    | No          |

**Create draft batch** does not download anything at that moment. The file is kept with the
batch, and you download it whenever you need it — see
[The Batch CSV: Downloading and Reprinting](/print-batches/csv-download).

**CSV** — labeled "Download CSV without creating a batch" — is a genuinely neutral download.
Nothing is tracked, no batch appears in Access Media, and there is no later record that those
codes were ever printed. Use it for a quick look at the data; use the draft batch for anything
you are actually sending to a printer.

New batches are named automatically as `Print list — Aug 18, 2026`. Rename it to something you
will recognize later, like "Depot 2 replacements, March" — see
[Naming, Tagging and Photographing a Batch](/print-batches/batch-details).

## Failure modes worth knowing

* **An empty export is rejected.** Exporting with no links selected returns an error rather than
  an empty batch.
* **Tracking can fail silently.** If batch creation fails after the CSV is built, you still get
  the file — as a download, with a success message. If you asked for a draft batch and got a
  file download instead of landing on Access Media, nothing was recorded. Re-export.

## Related

* [Batch Status: Draft to Deployed](/print-batches/batch-status)
* [Editing a Batch's Columns](/print-batches/editing-columns)
* [Adding and Removing Links in a Batch](/print-batches/editing-links)
* [The Batch CSV: Downloading and Reprinting](/print-batches/csv-download)