What Printer Should I Use?
We often get questions like, "What printer should I use?" or "Does ShipWorks support my printer?" The good news is that ShipWorks supports both standard inkjet and/or laser printers as well as thermal printers that support the ZPL printer languages.
You can even use both types of printers together. This might be useful if you wish to print your packing slips or invoices to a regular 8.5" x 11" printer while having your shipping labels print to a 4" x 6" thermal printer.
Let's take a look at the different types of printers supported and the advantages of each.
ShipWorks no longer supports printers with EPL drivers.
The LP2844 printer and all EPL drivers are no longer supported in ShipWorks. Zebra printer models listed below work in ShipWorks but only work with ZPL-format drivers.
ShipWorks can print to a standard inkjet or laser printer. This includes printing your packing slips, invoices, and shipping labels. As long as your printer is installed in Windows correctly and you can print a Windows test page, you should be able to set up ShipWorks to print to your printer.
Here are a few reasons why using a standard laser or inkjet printer is a good thing:
-
You can preview the shipping labels. When you print to a standard printer you can preview the shipping labels in ShipWorks. When printing with a thermal printer using ZPL, you cannot.
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If you are using your currently installed inkjet or laser printer, you don't have to buy new equipment.
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You can add color to your printed packing slips or invoices, such as a color logo.
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You don't have to buy special paper.
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You can adjust the size of the labels.
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You can easily print both an invoice or packing slip and the shipping label to the same 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper using default ShipWorks templates.
Yes! ShipWorks supports thermal printers too. As long as your printer is installed in Windows correctly and you can print a Windows test page, you should be able to set up ShipWorks to print to your printer. Just be sure that your thermal printer can print ZPL file types, and prints to a 4"x6" label at 203dpi.
Here are a few reasons why using a thermal printer is a good thing:
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It's super fast. Typically, thermal printers print much, much faster than an inkjet or laser printer.
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Printing to a thermal printer is typically more cost-effective than printing to an inkjet or laser printer.
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You don't have to purchase ink or toner since thermal printers print using heat.
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Labels never smear, because they aren't printed with ink or toner.
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Thermal printers take up very little desk space.
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You don't have to print whole sheets of labels at a time.
Many common Zebra thermal printers meet the ShipWorks requirements and other manufacturers may as well. (Note that older and used models will usually require a firmware update to be able to print the ZPL file types with a 4"x6" 203dpi format. Be sure to confirm this capability before purchasing any used units).
Let's take a look at some commonly used thermal printers (used in ShipWorks) and their recommended formats:
|
Model |
Formats Supported |
Recommended Format |
|
Zebra GC420 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
|
Zebra RW420 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
|
Zebra ZP450 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
|
Zebra ZP500 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
|
Zebra ZP505 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
|
Zebra ZM400 |
ZPL |
ZPL |
Still Need Help?
Please feel free to reach out to one of our awesome Technical Support Representatives in St. Louis. We are happy to help.
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