diff --git a/frontend/src/router.js b/frontend/src/router.js
index 0cf663c..14ccfb5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/router.js
+++ b/frontend/src/router.js
@@ -78,7 +78,10 @@ const routes = [{path: '/', component: Dashboard, meta: {requiresAuth: true}}, {
     path: '/print',
     component: Print,
     meta: {requiresAuth: true},
-    props: route => ({prefill: route.query.text})
+    props: route => {
+        const {kind, ...components} = route.query;
+        return {prefill: kind ? {kind, components} : null};
+    }
 }, {
     path: '/search/:query',
     component: Search,
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/InventoryDetail.vue b/frontend/src/views/InventoryDetail.vue
index 780afdb..6de684b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/InventoryDetail.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/InventoryDetail.vue
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
                             Delete
                         </button>
                         <button class="btn btn-secondary"
-                                @click="$router.push({path: '/print', query: {text: itemUrl}})">
+                                @click="$router.push({path: '/print', query: {kind: 'item-url', user, id}})">
                             <b-icon-printer></b-icon-printer>
                             Print label
                         </button>
@@ -86,12 +86,6 @@ export default {
         },
         location() {
             return this.storage_locations.find(loc => loc.id === this.item.storage_location) || null
-        },
-        itemUrl() {
-            // The self-contained Item URL (see docs/design-in-progress/items-labels.md) - what
-            // a printed label actually encodes, since scanning it has to resolve the right
-            // frontend/backend/item with no other context, not just this browser's history.
-            return `${window.location.origin}/i/${this.user}/${this.id}`
         }
     },
     methods: {
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/Print.vue b/frontend/src/views/Print.vue
index b414b85..a72ad58 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/Print.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/Print.vue
@@ -130,6 +130,31 @@
                         </div>
                     </div>
                 </div>
+
+                <div class="row">
+                    <div class="col-12">
+                        <div class="card">
+                            <div class="card-header">
+                                <h5 class="card-title mb-0">Label layout</h5>
+                            </div>
+                            <div class="card-body">
+                                <div class="d-flex flex-wrap gap-3">
+                                    <div v-for="t in labelTemplates" :key="t.id" class="template-option text-center"
+                                         role="button" @click="selectedTemplate = t.id">
+                                        <canvas :ref="el => setTemplateCanvasRef(t.id, el)"
+                                               class="img-thumbnail template-thumb-canvas"
+                                               :class="{'border-primary': selectedTemplate === t.id}"></canvas>
+                                        <div class="small mt-1"
+                                            :class="{'fw-bold text-primary': selectedTemplate === t.id}">
+                                            {{ t.name }}
+                                        </div>
+                                        <div class="small text-muted">{{ t.description }}</div>
+                                    </div>
+                                </div>
+                            </div>
+                        </div>
+                    </div>
+                </div>
             </div>
         </main>
     </BaseLayout>
@@ -142,6 +167,7 @@ import QRCode from "qrcode";
 import BaseLayout from "@/components/BaseLayout.vue";
 
 import {MultiPrinterBlob, canvasToBitmap, bitmapToCanvas} from "../../vendor/weblabel.js";
+import {buildLabelContent} from "@/label-content.js";
 
 // Served verbatim from public/vendor/ rather than bundled: libweblabel.js's
 // own emscripten glue resolves its .wasm sibling relative to *its own*
@@ -215,6 +241,110 @@ function drawQrLabel(canvas, qr, tape) {
     }
 }
 
+const LABEL_TEMPLATES = [
+    {id: "qr", name: "QR code only", description: "Just the code - smallest label, prints fastest."},
+    {id: "qr-text", name: "QR code + text", description: "The code with the encoded text printed next to it."},
+    {id: "text", name: "Text only", description: "No code, just the text itself, as large as it fits."},
+];
+
+function measureAtHeight(ctx, text, px) {
+    ctx.font = `${px}px sans-serif`;
+    return ctx.measureText(text).width;
+}
+
+/* Picks the largest integer font size (down to a floor) that fits `text` on one line within
+   maxWidth - this is a label, not a paragraph, so we shrink to fit rather than wrap. */
+function fitTextSize(ctx, text, maxWidth, maxHeight) {
+    const minPx = 8;
+    let px = Math.max(minPx, Math.floor(maxHeight));
+    while (px > minPx && measureAtHeight(ctx, text, px) > maxWidth) {
+        px -= 1;
+    }
+    return px;
+}
+
+/* The qr-text/text-only layouts, tape-fed. Kept separate from drawQrLabel above (rather than
+   generalizing it) so the plain QR-only path - the common case - is untouched by this. */
+function drawLabelWithText(canvas, value, tape, templateId) {
+    const showQr = templateId === "qr-text";
+    const qr = showQr ? QRCode.create(value) : null;
+    const availableHeight = tape.printAreaPx;
+    const maxLength = tape.printLengthPx
+        ? tape.printLengthPx - tape.leadPx - TRAILING_PADDING_PX
+        : Infinity;
+
+    let scale = 0, qrSize = 0;
+    if (qr) {
+        const modules = qr.modules.size + QUIET_ZONE_MODULES * 2;
+        // The QR only gets half the length budget on a fixed-length tape, so a long text value
+        // can't starve it down to unreadable - the rest goes to the text next to it.
+        const qrBudget = maxLength === Infinity ? Infinity : maxLength / 2;
+        scale = Math.floor(Math.min(availableHeight, qrBudget) / modules);
+        if (!(scale >= 1)) {
+            throw new Error("This text needs a bigger QR code than the tape allows — "
+                + "try a shorter value, a wider tape, or the text-only layout.");
+        }
+        qrSize = modules * scale;
+    }
+
+    const gap = qr ? Math.round(availableHeight * 0.15) : 0;
+    const textBudget = maxLength === Infinity ? Infinity : maxLength - qrSize - gap;
+    if (!(textBudget > 0)) {
+        throw new Error("No room left for the text next to the QR code on this tape — "
+            + "try a wider tape or the QR-only layout.");
+    }
+    const measureCtx = canvas.getContext("2d");
+    const textPx = fitTextSize(measureCtx, value, textBudget, availableHeight);
+    const textWidth = measureAtHeight(measureCtx, value, textPx);
+    if (textBudget !== Infinity && textWidth > textBudget) {
+        throw new Error("This text doesn't fit on this tape even at the smallest readable size — "
+            + "try a shorter value, a wider tape, or a bigger label.");
+    }
+
+    const contentWidth = qrSize + gap + textWidth;
+    const width = tape.printLengthPx || Math.ceil(contentWidth + tape.leadPx + TRAILING_PADDING_PX);
+    canvas.width = width;
+    canvas.height = availableHeight;
+
+    const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d", {willReadFrequently: true});
+    ctx.fillStyle = "#fff";
+    ctx.fillRect(0, 0, width, canvas.height);
+    ctx.fillStyle = "#000";
+
+    let cursor = tape.leadPx + Math.floor((width - tape.leadPx - TRAILING_PADDING_PX - contentWidth) / 2);
+
+    if (qr) {
+        const top = Math.floor((canvas.height - qrSize) / 2);
+        for (let row = 0; row < qr.modules.size; row++) {
+            for (let col = 0; col < qr.modules.size; col++) {
+                if (qr.modules.get(row, col)) {
+                    ctx.fillRect(
+                        cursor + (col + QUIET_ZONE_MODULES) * scale,
+                        top + (row + QUIET_ZONE_MODULES) * scale,
+                        scale, scale,
+                    );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        cursor += qrSize + gap;
+    }
+
+    ctx.font = `${textPx}px sans-serif`;
+    ctx.textBaseline = "middle";
+    ctx.textAlign = "left";
+    ctx.fillText(value, cursor, canvas.height / 2);
+}
+
+/* Dispatches to the right tape-fed layout - drawQrLabel is untouched so the default QR-only
+   template keeps its exact original pixel output. */
+function drawLabel(canvas, value, tape, templateId) {
+    if (templateId === "qr") {
+        drawQrLabel(canvas, QRCode.create(value), tape);
+    } else {
+        drawLabelWithText(canvas, value, tape, templateId);
+    }
+}
+
 const FALLBACK_SCALE_PX = 8;		/* pixels per QR module in the no-webusb preview/PNG */
 const FALLBACK_QUIET_ZONE_MODULES = 4;	/* the spec's usual quiet zone - there's no printer feed margin to lean on here */
 
@@ -243,6 +373,70 @@ function drawQrSquare(canvas, qr) {
     }
 }
 
+const FALLBACK_LABEL_HEIGHT_PX = 200;	/* target content height for the qr-text/text-only fallback layouts */
+const FALLBACK_TEXT_MARGIN_PX = 16;	/* left/right margin around a text-only/qr-text fallback label */
+
+/* The qr-text/text-only layouts for the no-webusb fallback preview/PNG. There's no real tape
+   to fit into here, so - unlike drawLabelWithText - the canvas just grows to fit its content. */
+function drawFallbackLabelWithText(canvas, value, templateId) {
+    const showQr = templateId === "qr-text";
+    const qr = showQr ? QRCode.create(value) : null;
+
+    let scale = 0, qrSize = 0;
+    if (qr) {
+        const modules = qr.modules.size + FALLBACK_QUIET_ZONE_MODULES * 2;
+        scale = Math.max(1, Math.floor(FALLBACK_LABEL_HEIGHT_PX / modules));
+        qrSize = modules * scale;
+    }
+
+    const gap = qr ? Math.round(FALLBACK_LABEL_HEIGHT_PX * 0.15) : 0;
+    const measureCtx = canvas.getContext("2d");
+    const textPx = fitTextSize(measureCtx, value, Infinity, FALLBACK_LABEL_HEIGHT_PX);
+    const textWidth = measureAtHeight(measureCtx, value, textPx);
+
+    const height = Math.max(qrSize, FALLBACK_LABEL_HEIGHT_PX);
+    const width = qrSize + gap + textWidth + FALLBACK_TEXT_MARGIN_PX * 2;
+    canvas.width = width;
+    canvas.height = height;
+
+    const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d", {willReadFrequently: true});
+    ctx.fillStyle = "#fff";
+    ctx.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);
+    ctx.fillStyle = "#000";
+
+    let cursor = FALLBACK_TEXT_MARGIN_PX;
+    if (qr) {
+        const top = Math.floor((height - qrSize) / 2);
+        for (let row = 0; row < qr.modules.size; row++) {
+            for (let col = 0; col < qr.modules.size; col++) {
+                if (qr.modules.get(row, col)) {
+                    ctx.fillRect(
+                        cursor + (col + FALLBACK_QUIET_ZONE_MODULES) * scale,
+                        top + (row + FALLBACK_QUIET_ZONE_MODULES) * scale,
+                        scale, scale,
+                    );
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        cursor += qrSize + gap;
+    }
+
+    ctx.font = `${textPx}px sans-serif`;
+    ctx.textBaseline = "middle";
+    ctx.textAlign = "left";
+    ctx.fillText(value, cursor, height / 2);
+}
+
+/* Dispatches to the right fallback layout - drawQrSquare is untouched so the default QR-only
+   template keeps its exact original pixel output. */
+function drawFallbackLabel(canvas, value, templateId) {
+    if (templateId === "qr") {
+        drawQrSquare(canvas, QRCode.create(value));
+    } else {
+        drawFallbackLabelWithText(canvas, value, templateId);
+    }
+}
+
 export default {
     name: "Print",
     components: {
@@ -250,11 +444,12 @@ export default {
         ...BIcons
     },
     props: {
-        // Prefilled from ?text=… when arriving from e.g. an item's "Print label" button
-        // (see InventoryDetail.vue) - the router turns that query param into this prop
-        // (router.js's /print route), rather than the component reading $route directly.
+        // {kind, components} prefilled from the ?kind=…&… query params when arriving from e.g.
+        // an item's "Print label" button (see InventoryDetail.vue) - the router turns those
+        // query params into this prop (router.js's /print route), rather than the component
+        // reading $route directly. buildLabelContent turns it into the literal string below.
         prefill: {
-            type: String,
+            type: Object,
             default: null
         }
     },
@@ -270,8 +465,9 @@ export default {
             tape: null,
             labelBitmap: null,
 
-            value: this.prefill || "",
+            value: buildLabelContent(this.prefill),
             copies: 1,
+            selectedTemplate: LABEL_TEMPLATES[0].id,
 
             fallbackReady: false,
             // TODO: replace with the real commands for our printers.
@@ -280,6 +476,9 @@ export default {
         };
     },
     computed: {
+        labelTemplates() {
+            return LABEL_TEMPLATES;
+        },
         deviceRows() {
             if (!this.blob) {
                 return [];
@@ -301,6 +500,14 @@ export default {
     },
     watch: {
         value() {
+            this.redrawTemplatePreviews();
+            if (this.usbSupported) {
+                this.redraw();
+            } else {
+                this.redrawFallback();
+            }
+        },
+        selectedTemplate() {
             if (this.usbSupported) {
                 this.redraw();
             } else {
@@ -395,8 +602,7 @@ export default {
             }
             this.resizeObserver.observe(canvas.parentElement);
             try {
-                const qr = QRCode.create(this.value);
-                drawQrLabel(canvas, qr, this.tape);
+                drawLabel(canvas, this.value, this.tape, this.selectedTemplate);
             } catch (e) {
                 this.error = e.message;
                 return;
@@ -419,8 +625,7 @@ export default {
             }
             this.resizeObserver.observe(canvas.parentElement);
             try {
-                const qr = QRCode.create(this.value);
-                drawQrSquare(canvas, qr);
+                drawFallbackLabel(canvas, this.value, this.selectedTemplate);
             } catch (e) {
                 this.error = e.message;
                 return;
@@ -430,6 +635,38 @@ export default {
             this.fitZoom(canvas);
         },
 
+        setTemplateCanvasRef(id, el) {
+            if (el) {
+                this.templateCanvases[id] = el;
+            } else {
+                delete this.templateCanvases[id];
+            }
+        },
+
+        /* Live per-template thumbnails in the "Label layout" card. Always uses the
+           content-fit fallback renderer (rather than the tape-fed one), regardless of
+           whether a real printer is connected - these are illustrative previews sized by
+           CSS object-fit, not the accurate to-be-printed canvas the main preview is. */
+        redrawTemplatePreviews() {
+            for (const t of LABEL_TEMPLATES) {
+                const canvas = this.templateCanvases[t.id];
+                if (!canvas) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+                if (!this.value) {
+                    canvas.width = 1;
+                    canvas.height = 1;
+                    continue;
+                }
+                try {
+                    drawFallbackLabel(canvas, this.value, t.id);
+                } catch (e) {
+                    // A thumbnail that can't render at this content length just stays blank
+                    // rather than surfacing an error for every keystroke.
+                }
+            }
+        },
+
         downloadPng() {
             const canvas = this.$refs.fallbackCanvas;
             if (!canvas) {
@@ -485,9 +722,18 @@ export default {
         this.blob = null;
         this.resizeObserver = null;
         this.resizeTimer = null;
+        // Keyed by template id, populated by setTemplateCanvasRef() - a plain :ref="t.id" string
+        // inside v-for would still get Vue's refInFor array-collecting behavior even though
+        // each iteration uses a different name, turning this.$refs[t.id] into a one-element
+        // array rather than the canvas itself. A function ref sidesteps that entirely.
+        this.templateCanvases = {};
     },
     async mounted() {
         this.resizeObserver = new ResizeObserver(this.handleContainerResize);
+        // Unlike fallbackCanvas/labelCanvas, the thumbnail canvases in the "Label layout" card
+        // aren't behind a v-if on usbSupported, so their refs already exist here - no nextTick
+        // needed before this one.
+        this.redrawTemplatePreviews();
         if (!("usb" in navigator)) {
             this.usbSupported = false;
             await nextTick();
@@ -543,4 +789,19 @@ export default {
     white-space: pre-wrap;
     word-break: break-all;
 }
+
+.template-option {
+    width: 20rem;
+}
+
+.template-thumb-canvas {
+    display: block;
+    width: 100%;
+    height: 10rem;
+    /* The canvas itself is drawn at whatever size fits its content (see
+       redrawTemplatePreviews/drawFallbackLabel) - object-fit scales that down to the
+       thumbnail box the same way it would for an <img>, no manual zoom math needed. */
+    object-fit: contain;
+    background: #fff;
+}
 </style>