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How to Connect With Zebra Printer

Setting up Zebra Printer for your badge printing

EventNook avatar
Written by EventNook
Updated over a week ago

EventNook supports Zebra Printer alongside other printers Brother Label and Inkjet/Laser Printer, PVC card printers, etc.

This article will be sectioned into two subsections:

  1. Zebra Printer Calibration & Setup

  2. Printer sharing Software - Printopia Setup

Or, you can review the video walkthrough of the whole setup:

Before you hop onto the guide, there will be several points to note. You can refer to the links below for additional guidance on the setups:

  1. Printer Setup

    • Media types and sensing adjustment

    • Printing Method: direct thermal & thermal transfer

    • Top & Left Position

    • Print Width

    • Tear-off adjustment

  2. Printopia Software Settings

    • DPI

    • Paper size

Zebra Printer Calibration & Setup

Media Type and Sensor Adjustment

The Zebra Printer's sensor supports and can identify two media types; the ones with black marks (Mark Sensing) and others with punched holes or gaps (Web Sensing).

To select your media type, go to the SETTINGS of your printer; in MEDIA TYPE, select:

  • GAP/NOTCH for punched holes or gaps (Web Sensing);

  • MARK for black marks (Mark Sensing); or

  • CONTINUOUS for continuous labels.

    You also need to move the sensor on the printer to under the gap/notch or black mark.

    Direct Thermal and Thermal Transfer

    This Zebra printer supports two ways of printing — Direct Thermal and Thermal Transfer. Direct Thermal requires the labels or badges to be heat-sensitive, while Thermal Transfer requires an ink, toner, or ribbon.

    • Direct Thermal: In SETTINGS, go to PRINT METHOD and select DIRECT THERMAL;

    • Thermal Transfer: In SETTINGS, go to PRINT METHOD and select THERMAL TRANS.


Only the Thermal Transfer method will require a ribbon. If this is the case for you, the following video will show you how to install and uninstall a ribbon.

Top & Left Position

The Top and Left position settings allow you to make minor adjustments to your labels' top and left sides. It is suitable for some last-minute changes.

You can refer to Zebra Support for a detailed explanation.

  • Print Width

The print width controls the maximum width of the printed label. The default setting is the full width. Ideally, you do not need to change anything. If the printer width is too small, your badge content may be cut off. You can adjust accordingly if this happens.

  • Tear Off

Tear-Off adjustment allows more accurate label positioning.

After calibration, we can make minor changes to the label position by using TEAR OFF in SETTINGS. To adjust, press (-) to pull the label back into the printer and (+) to push the labels out. We have a short video to explain this if it seems confusing to you:

Note: You can also adjust the Darkness and Print Speed in SETTINGS. They might affect the quality of your badges and the smoothness of your check-in process. We recommend setting DARKNESS to 28 and PRINT SPEED to 4 to ensure the best performance.

Printopia Software Settings

Printopia is a powerful and user-friendly tool for wireless printing. This software has a few things to set up to ensure your badge sizes and other parameters are correct.

DPI Settings

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. It is the measure of the printing resolution; the higher the DPI, the higher the resolution of your printed badges.

To set up the DPI, go to Settings - Paper Handling - Resolution in Printopia. For Zebra ZD500 Printers, we recommend selecting 203 DPI. For Zebra ZD620 Printers, we recommend selecting 300 DPI.

  • Paper Size

You will need to set the paper size according to the specific paper you use. Usual badge sizes are 4' × 6' or 4' × 5'.

To change your Paper Size, go to Settings - Paper Handling - Paper Size.

Recommended Resources:

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