Specifications

Before working with the examples, be sure the supplies (ribbon and
media) have been loaded and that the printer has been properly
adjusted for the media (labels). If unfamiliar with these procedures,
refer to the printer user’s guide for assistance.
The examples shown in this guide assume a media size of at least
80mm wide and 60mm long. Media of different sizes can be used,
however parameters affecting size or location of printed data may
need to be modified.
Continuous media can also be used for these examples. Be sure to set
the label length using the ^LL instruction. We recommend using a
label length of 480 dot rows by adding the instruction sequence
^LL480^FS after the ^XA instruction line. Both of these instructions
are covered in detail in the Command Reference section.
The examples are designed for a Zebra printer controlled by a
“stand-alone” (i.e. not part of a network) IBM
-compatible personal
computer. The ZPL II Language uses only printable ASCII characters.
Although a Zebra printer may be controlled by mainframes or mini-
computers, we’ve chosen the personal computer as a programming
source because of its relative familiarity among users.
Any word processor or text editor capable of creating ASCII-only
files (files without formatting codes and other extraneous information)
can be used to create the programs in these examples. For instance, if
you are using Microsoft Word
, you would open a Text (.txt) file.
Most of the examples are made up of a series of instruction lines.
When you finish typing a line, press the RETURN or ENTER key.
Then type in the next line. Continue this process for all of the lines in
the example.
NOTE: Factory Default printer settings were used for the examples
in this guide and the printer is set up for tear off operation.
WARNING: The Factory Default for the Darkness (“burn tem-
perature”) setting is set to a low “safe” value at the factory. When
using a printer right out of the box, this value may have to be
changed for proper printing. Refer to the printer user’s guide for
information on how to change this value
.
4 CHAPTER 1
Introduction to ZPL II