Calibrate a Zebra label printer

Symptoms

Labels drift, the gap stops in the wrong place, or a new roll prints a slice of the next label. A 4 by 6 shipping label is the usual case.

Cause

The printer has not learned the gap, or width and length are still set for a different stock. Calibration does not replace a wrong tracking mode. Tear-off is a small trim after the crosshair looks right.

Fix

1. Open the calibrate step.
2. Pick 4×6, 4×3, 2.25×1.25, or a custom size. At 203 dpi, 4 by 6 inches is 812 by 1218 dots.
3. Set tracking, send the size, and run calibration. The printer will feed a few labels.
4. Print the alignment target. If the gap stops behind the tear bar, try tear-off +40. If the next label already shows, try -40.
5. Save when one label stops at the tear bar. The calibration command is what that button sends.