Adjusting Print Quality
Adjusting the Print Quality

Adjusting the Print Quality

Print quality is affected by a combination of the heat (or density) setting of the printhead, print speed, and the media loaded. Experiment with these settings to find the optimal mix for your application.
You can set print quality using the
Configure Print Quality
 routine in Zebra Setup Utilities.
Use the printer’s Print Quality Report (through a FEED Self-Test) to print a range of labels that help you identify print DARKNESS and SPEED settings for optimizing general print and barcode quality. For details, see Printing a Print Quality Report (FEED Self-Test).
Before adjusting any settings, verify the printer’s media settings by printing a Printer Configuration label. See Test Printing with the Configuration Report.
  1. Adjust  the print darkness (or density) setting using one of the following methods:
    • the Set Darkness (
      ~SD
      ) ZPL command (see the ZPL Programming Guide for details).
  2. To adjust the print speed, use one of these methods:
    • your Windows printer driver
    • application software such as ZebraDesigner. You can download this software from zebra.com/zebradesigner.
    Media manufacturers may recommend specific speed settings when using your printer with their media. The recommended speed may be lower than your printer’s maximum speed setting.
  3. To reduce the maximum distance for automatic media type detection and sensing, use the ZPL Maximum Label Length command (
    ^ML
    ).
    The minimum distance should be no less than twice the longest label to be printed. If the largest label being printed was a 2 inch by 6 inch label, the maximum label (media) length detection distance can be reduced from the default distance of 39 inches down to 12 inches.