This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by nigdanil
Hello everyone 👋
I'm Danil, and I'd love to share the story behind DotPlus — a fully offline QR and barcode generator written in Rust. It combines both GUI and CLI, supports PDF export, Docker, CSV batch generation, and works seamlessly across Windows and Linux.
🧩 What is DotPlus?
DotPlus is a free tool for generating QR codes and barcodes (EAN-13, Code 39, etc.).
It supports:
- ✅ GUI (built with
egui
) - 🛠️ CLI for automation / scripts
- 📄 PDF & PNG export (with A4 layout)
- 🐧 Linux + Windows binaries
- 📦 Docker support for headless environments
- 🖼️ Logo overlays, Cyrillic input, and CSV batch processing
- 🔒 Fully offline — no internet, telemetry or accounts
🔧 Why Rust?
Rust was a natural fit for:
- Cross-platform compilation
- Performance with image generation
- A rich ecosystem (
qrcode
,barcoders
,imageproc
, etc.) - Safety — especially when handling files and assets
The GUI is built using egui
, and CLI uses native std::env::args
.
📁 How it works
The core logic (CSV → image generation → export) is shared between CLI and GUI. This helps keep things DRY and consistent.
- GUI is built with
eframe
, includes live preview and layout editor - CLI supports flexible flags like:
dotplus --mode qr --csv data.csv --logo logo.png --output out/ --qr-size 200
`
📦 Releasing on Windows, Linux, and Docker
DotPlus uses GitHub Actions for CI and automatic packaging:
-
.exe
,.deb
,.rpm
binaries - Docker images (for headless batch jobs)
- Flatpak/Snap coming soon
Releases:
👉 https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus/releases
🌍 Use cases
DotPlus is actively used for:
- ID cards and staff badges
- Library and archive cataloging
- Logistics, inventory, asset tracking
- Document labeling in healthcare and schools
- Government signage and event navigation
It’s free for both personal and public sector use (under a custom license).
📷 Demo and screenshots
Visit the live site for videos, screenshots and how-tos:
👉 https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus
🙌 What’s next?
- Translation & localization (multi-country support)
- Flatpak / Snap packaging
- Community templates (label layouts, QR formats)
💬 Feedback welcome
If you’re into:
- CLI tools
- Offline utilities
- Rust GUI
- Batch automation
I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions or ideas! PRs are welcome too 🙂
🔗 GitHub: https://github.com/nigdanil/dotplus
🌍 Live: https://nigdanil.github.io/dotplus
Thanks for reading and happy hacking!
— Danil (@nigdanil)
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by nigdanil

nigdanil | Sciencx (2025-07-04T13:10:41+00:00) How I built DotPlus – a cross-platform QR & barcode generator in Rust (with GUI, CLI, Docker, and PNG export). Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/07/04/how-i-built-dotplus-a-cross-platform-qr-barcode-generator-in-rust-with-gui-cli-docker-and-png-export/
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