Plug the printer into this computer and connect from Chrome or Edge. You can read darkness, speed, media type, tracking, label size, tear-off, and print mode, then print a test before you ship. Related guides: calibrate, blank labels, skipping labels, darkness, and Mac setup.
Zebra, ZPL, and Link-OS are trademarks of Zebra Technologies. Not affiliated with Zebra Technologies.
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Connect
Settings
Current value: unknown
Gets or sets absolute darkness on the 0 to 30 scale.
Explain
Media darkness is the settings key many desktop firmware builds use for the same 0 to 30 burn level as the absolute darkness command. A dedicated HTML page for this exact key was not present beside the newer tone setting, so the source link is the absolute darkness command that defines the scale. Values outside 0 to 30 are rejected here. Tenths may be accepted by some firmware. This checker uses whole numbers. Raise it for pale barcodes and lower it when the image blooms. Save the ZPL configuration if the model forgets the value at power off.
Current value: unknown
Gets or sets print speed in inches per second.
Explain
Media speed is the SGD form of print rate. Documented numeric values run from 2 to 12 inches per second, and some firmware also accepts the words up and down. The printer still clamps to the fastest speed the mechanism can do. Setting 12 on a 6 ips desktop does not make it a 12 ips printer. This library allows the documented numbers plus up and down, and rejects other words. Slower speeds help small barcodes. Change speed and darkness together only by one variable at a time.
Current value: unknown
Selects direct thermal or thermal transfer.
Explain
Print method chooses direct thermal or thermal transfer. The tokens used here are direct thermal and thermal trans, which is the short form many firmware builds store. Direct thermal needs coated stock and no ribbon. Transfer needs a ribbon. The mismatch is a blank label with a healthy status. If a set is rejected, get the key and copy the printer's own spelling, then widen this list in a spec change. Method is independent from darkness. A darker setting will not make transfer mode mark direct stock.
Current value: unknown
Selects continuous, gap/notch, or mark media.
Explain
EZPL media type is the Link-OS stock selector. Continuous has no index, gap/notch is die-cut labels, and mark is black-mark stock. It corresponds to the ZPL media tracking command. Shipping labels are almost always gap/notch. Set this before calibration. The sensor uses it to decide what a valid index looks like. The default on many models is gap/notch. If you load continuous receipt stock, change it or the printer will keep searching for a gap.
Current value: unknown
Print width in dots.
Explain
EZPL print width is the stored printable width in dots. It matches the ZPL print-width command. A 4 inch label at 203 dpi is 812 dots. The same physical width at 300 dpi is a larger dot count, so do not reuse a number across heads. This library accepts 2 to 32000 and lets the printer clamp to the real head. Still send the true label width, not the head maximum, when the stock is narrower. Set width, print a frame, and only then save. A too-wide value wears the platen where there is no media.
Current value: unknown
Maximum label length the sensor will search, in dots.
Explain
Maximum label length is how far the printer will travel while looking for a gap or mark before it assumes continuous media. Set it a little longer than one real label plus the gap. If it is shorter than the label, calibration decides the stock is continuous and then skips. It is not the same number as the format label length, but the two have to agree in spirit: the format length is one label, and this ceiling must be larger. The accepted range here is 1 to 32000 dots. Confirm on the printer. An absurdly large ceiling makes a missing gap feed a long strip.
Current value: unknown
Tear-off present adjustment in dots.
Explain
Tear-off is the SGD form of the present adjustment. Positive numbers feed the label farther out of the printer and negative numbers stop it sooner. The working window checked here is -120 to 120 dots, matching the ZPL tear-off command used on desktop mechanisms. At 203 dpi, eight dots is about a millimeter. Change it in small steps and print one label between tries. Do not encode a large present distance as extra label length. That feeds another label. This key is the small trim.
Current value: unknown
Selects tear-off, peel, rewind, cutter, or applicator behavior.
Explain
Print mode is the SGD form of the present style. The values used here are the common lowercase phrases: tear off, peel off, rewind, cutter, and applicator. Firmware spelling varies. If a set is rejected, read the key first and reuse the exact token the printer returned. Peel and cutter require the matching hardware. Setting them on a plain desktop makes the printer wait for a sensor that will never trip. Tear-off position is a different key. Set the mode first, then the present distance.
No staged changes
Calibrate
Pick a label size, send width, length, and tracking, then calibrate. If the gap stops behind the tear bar, add about 40 dots. If the next label already shows, subtract about 40. Save when it looks right.
812 by 1218 dots at 203 dpi.
0 dots
Test print
Preview
Preview rendered by Labelary
Raw console
Response text will show here.
Response hex will show here.
Backup and restore
Restoring fills the form. Apply sends it to the printer.
Danger zone
Factory reset clears saved setup. Network reset clears the address and wireless profiles.