Installation

Installation Guide

This guide will help you set up and run the Printing Shop Transaction System.

There are two primary ways to run the application:

Development Setup (from Source Code): Ideal for developers who want to modify the code, contribute, or understand its inner workings. Requires Python to be installed.
Portable Standalone Application: Ready-to-use executable that does not require Python installation. Ideal for end-users.

Python 3.x: Ensure you have Python 3.6 or higher installed on your system. You can download it from python.org.
Git: Required to clone the repository. Download from git-scm.com.

Clone the Repository: Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

git clone [https://github.com/Mejez6603/Printing-POS-Python.git](https://github.com/Mejez6603/Printing-POS-Python.git)
cd Printing-POS-Python

(Note: Replace Printing-POS-Python if your repository name is different)

Install Dependencies: The project relies on the Pillow library for image handling. Install it using pip:
```
pip install Pillow
```
Prepare Data and Assets:
- The database/records.csv file will be automatically created with headers on the first run if it doesn't exist.
- Ensure your logo.png (for the sidebar) and your_app_icon.png (for the window title bar) are present in the main project directory.
  - If these files are missing or have different names, the application will display a "Logo Missing" or "Error Loading Logo" message and use default system icons.
Run the Application: From the Printing-POS-Python directory in your terminal, execute:
```
python main.py
```

This version is pre-compiled and packaged, making it easy to run without any installation steps beyond downloading the folder.

Download the Release:
- Go to the GitHub Releases page of this repository (Note: You'll need to create a release first after packaging with PyInstaller).
- Download the latest release package (usually a .zip file containing the portable folder).
Extract the Folder:
- Unzip the downloaded file to your desired location (e.g., your Desktop, Documents, or a USB drive).
Run the Executable:
- Navigate into the extracted folder (e.g., Printing-POS-Python-v1.0-portable/).
- Double-click main.exe (on Windows) or the corresponding executable file on other operating systems.
The application will launch directly. All data (records.csv) will be stored within the database/ subfolder inside this portable application folder, ensuring portability.