Resolving Print Quality Issues on Zebra Mobile Printers
Article ID: 85982818
Description
Print Quality Adjustments and Configurations
Applies To
All CPCL enabled Zebra Mobile Printers
Requirements
Communication with printer and ability to send files/commands to the printers Read More>>
Overview
Below are some basic troubleshooting steps to help resolve print quality issues in CPCL enabled Zebra Mobile Printers
Procedure
Print Quality Adjustments and Configurations
This solution is useful for
- Adjusting the quality of the printed image
- Setting the print darkness
Symptoms addressed by this solution include
- Light print
- Faded image
- Partially missing print
- Broken bars or lines in a barcode
Darkness setting
- Setting or changing the Print Darkness can be done using the Tone or Contrast command in CPCL. The Contrast command is an older command that is still available in newer printers to make them backward compatible. The Tone command is recommend if it is available in your printer model. Read More>>
- The QLn Series Printer is a native ZPL printer and may require a different setup for the darkness and print quality. Read More>>
Faded or poor print
- To ensure print quality make sure the print head is clean.
Use the supplied cleaning pen or 99.7% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab to clean the print elements from end to end. The print elements are located in the thin gray line on the printhead.
The printhead should be cleaned after every five rolls of media (or more often, if needed)
- The battery needs to be fully charged to insure proper print quality. Read More>>
- For best print quality insure verify the quality of the media being used.
Print head location Read More>>
No print
- The media needs to be "direct thermal" Read More>>
- If communications is via the serial port, the baud rate of the host device needs to match that of the printer Read More>>
- The battery needs to be charged Read More>>
- If the printer receives an invalid label format it may not print. One may need to put the printer in "hex dump" mode to diagnose label formatting issues. Read More>>
Partial or missing print
- Check media alignment
- Clean the printhead
Use the supplied cleaning pen or 99.7% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab to clean the print elements from end to end. The print elements are located in the thin gray line on the print head.
The print head should be cleaned after every five rolls of media (or more often, if needed)
- Ensure the printhead is properly closed and latched
Garbled print
- Verify the serial baud rate. The baud rate of the printer must match that of the host device Read More>>
- Make sure that you are appropriately sending your print job to the printer. If sending direct printer code, do not use the ZDesigner driver but rather the generic text or output directly to a communication port Read More>>

+ Product Codes
- EZ320 Mobile Printers
- MZ Series
- Mobile Printers
- P4T Mobile Printers
- P4T Mobile Printers
- QL Plus Series Mobile Printers
- QL Series Mobile Printers
- QL320 Mobile Printer
- QL420 Mobile Printer
- QLn Series Healthcare Mobile Printers
- QLn Series Mobile Printers
- QLn220 Healthcare
- QLn220 Mobile Printer
- QLn320 Healthcare
- QLn320 Mobile Printer
- QLn420 Mobile Printer
- RP4T RFID Printers
- RP4T RFID Printers
- RW 220 Mobile Printer
- RW 420 Mobile Printer
- RW 420 Print Station
- RW Series Mobile Printers
- ZQ500 Series Mobile Printers
- ZQ510 Mobile Printer
- ZQ520 Mobile Printer
- ZR300 Series Mobile Printers
- ZR338 Mobile Printers
- ZR600 Series Healthcare Mobile Printers
- ZR600 Series Mobile Printers
- iMZ Series Mobile Printers
- iMZ220 Mobile Printer
- iMZ320 Mobile Printer