User manual

Summary of Firmware Release

V68.18.0Z

P1040502-015 05/09/2013

ZPL Notes for QLn

• No changes are needed to the device.languages SGD parameter to enable ZPL, both CPCL

and ZPL are always active. Label formats using CPCL and ZPL commands can be

alternated, but only on complete label boundaries.

• ZPL labels print bottom first by default, as they do on legacy mobile printers and tabletop

printers.

• Mobile batch files: ZPL commands are now supported in the config.sys and au- toexec.bat

files. For example the ^POI command can be added to the config.sys file to cause labels to

print top first.

• When printing ZPL labels the default drive is the R: drive. In other words if you load a file

via a ZPL command and the drive letter is not specified, the file will be stored on R:. All

CPCL files are stored on the E: drive.

• The concept of Pause is an inherent part of ZPL. There are several commands that will put

the printer in a Paused state. Tabletop printers address this by including a Pause button on

the front panel. The QLn does not have this option. When the QLn enters a Paused state,

the Pause message will appear on the screen. Pressing the Feed Button will take the printer

out of Pause and will NOT feed any media. If the printer is not in a Paused state, and the

feed button is pressed, the normal label feed operation will be performed.

• For printing on continuous media with ZPL, we recommend using the black mark sensor.

In CPCL, that is the default behavior so no additional steps are required. That is not the

case for ZPL. To use the black mark sensor with ZPL for continuous media, set the sensor

to the black mark with the following commands, and then send your normal label with

continuous content (note that printer uses the sensor to determine if it is out of media):

^xa^mnm^xz

^xa

^mnn

….Normal label content

^xz

• ZPL Fonts: All standard ZPL fonts are available. Custom fonts must be True type (.ttf)

only, Intellifont (.fnt) fonts are not supported. Swiss721 will be included on new printers

from the factory, and is available from Zebra Technical Support for printers sold prior to

this release. Note that the ~DY command must be used to download the font to the printer,

see below regarding the ~DU command.

• The following ZPL features and commands are not present in this release, but may be

added in a future release:

• Real Time Clock functionality: labels with RTC content will not be re-rendered if the label

doesn’t print within the specified time. For example, this situation can arise if you send a

label to the printer and the printer is out of media.

• ^IF - change current working folder

• ^MA - Set Maintenance Alerts

• ^MP - Mode Protection

• ^MW - Modify Heading Warning

• ^NT - SMTP zpl command

• ^ZZ - Printer Sleep