Zebra Technologies ZP 450 User Manual

Zebra® ZP 450™

Desktop Thermal Printer

User Guide

ii

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

iii

©2010 ZIH Corp. ZP-Series,ZP 450, ZBI, ZBI 2.0, ZBI-Developer, Uni-Ribbon, ZebraDesigner, ZebraNet, EPL, EPL2, ZPL, ZPL II, OpenACCESS and all product names and numbers are Zebra trademarks, and Zebra, the Zebra head graphic, ZPL, ZPL II, Element Energy Equalizer circuit, E3 Circuitand, and ZebraNet are registered trademarks of ZIH Corp. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This product may contain ZPL®, ZPL II®, and ZebraLink™ programs; Element Energy

Equalizer™ Circuit; E3®; and Monotype Imaging fonts. Software ©ZIH corp. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved worldwide.Monotype®, Intellifont® and UFST® are trademarks of Monotype Imaging, Inc. registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.

CG Triumvirate is a trademark of Monotype Imaging, Inc. and may be registered in some jurisdictions.

TrueType® is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and may be registered in certancertain jurisdictions.

Proprietary Statement

This manual contains proprietary information of Zebra Technologies Corporation and its subsidiaries (“Zebra Technologies”). It is intended solely for the information and use of parties operating and maintaining the equipment described herein. Such proprietary information may not be used, reproduced, or disclosed to any other parties for any other purpose without the express written permission of Zebra Technologies.

Product Improvements

Continuous improvement of products is a policy of Zebra Technologies. All specifications and designs are subject to change without notice.

Liability Disclaimer

Zebra Technologies takes steps to ensure that its published Engineering specifications and manuals are correct; however, errors do occur. Zebra Technologies reserves the right to correct any such errors and disclaims liability resulting therefrom.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall Zebra Technologies or anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of the accompanying product (including hardware and software) be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, consequential damages including loss of business profits, business interruption, or loss of business information) arising out of the use of, the results of use of, or inability to use such product, even if Zebra Technologies has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.

Canadian DOC Compliance Statement

This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.

Cet appareil numérique de la classe B est conforme à la norme NMB-003 du Canada.

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

iv

FCC Compliance Statement

This device complies with Part 15 rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions:

1.This device may not cause harmful interference, and

2.This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for Class B Digital Devices, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a residential environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the product manuals, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, the user is encouraged to do one or more of the following measures:

•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.

•Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.

•Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.

•Consult the dealer or an experienced RF service technician for help.

The user is cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved by Zebra Technologies could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. To ensure compliance, this printer must be used with fully shielded communication cables.

Environmental Management

Do not dispose of this product in unsorted municipal waste. This product is recyclable, and should be recycled according to your local standards.

For more information, please see our website at:

Web address: www.zebra.com/environment

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

About This Document

This section provides you with contact information, document structure and organization, and additional reference documents.

Contents

Who Should Use This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi How This Document Is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii Document Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

viAbout This Document

Who Should Use This Document

Who Should Use This Document

This User Guide is intended for use by any person who needs to operate or to troubleshoot problems with the printer.

How This Document Is Organized

The User Guide is set up as follows:

Section	Description
Introduction on page 1	This section describes what you get in your
	shipping box and provides an overview of printer
	features. This section also has procedures that
	describe how to open and close the printer and
	report any problems.
Getting Started on page 7	This section describes how to set up your printer
	for the first time and use the most common
	operating procedures for loading media.
Operations and Options on page 25	This section provides media and print handling,
	font and language support, and the set up of less
	common printer configurations.
Maintenance on page 37	This section provides routine cleaning and
	maintenance procedures.
Troubleshooting on page 45	This section provides information about printer
	error reporting that you might need for printer
	troubleshooting. Assorted diagnostic tests are
	included.
Appendix: Interface Wiring	This section provides additional interface
on page 59	information and wiring diagrams to assist with
	printer to host system integration (typically a PC).
Appendix: ZPL Configuration	This section briefly covers printer configuration
on page 65	and includes a cross-reference to ZPL printer
	configuration commands.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

About This Document		vii
Contacts

Contacts

Technical Support via the Internet is available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Web Site: www.zebra.com

E-mail Back Technical Library:

•E-mail address: [e-mail]

•Subject line: Emaillist

Self Service Knowledge Base: www.zebra.com/knowledgebase

Online Case Registration: www.zebra.com/techrequest

	Which Department		The Americas	Europe, Africa,	Asia Pacific
	Do You Need?			Middle East, India
	Regional Headquarters		Zebra Technologies International, LLC	Zebra Technologies Europe Limited	Zebra Technologies Asia
			333 Corporate Woods Parkway	Dukes Meadow	Pacific Pte. Ltd.
			Vernon Hills, IL 60061-3109	Millboard Road	120 Robinson Road
			U.S.A.	Bourne End	#06-01 Parakou Building
			T: [phone]	Buckinghamshire, SL8 5XF	Singapore 068913
			Toll-free [phone]	United Kingdom	T: + 65 6858 0722
			F: [phone]	T: [phone]	F: [phone]
				F: [phone]
	Technical Support		T: +1 877 ASK ZEBRA (275 9327)	T: [phone]	T: [phone]
	For questions on the		F: [phone]	F: [phone]	F: [phone]
	operation of Zebra		Hardware: [e-mail]	E: [e-mail]	E: China: [e-mail]
	equipment and software,		Software: [e-mail]		All other areas:
	please call your distributor.				[e-mail]
	For additional assistance,
	contact us.
	Please have your model and
	serial numbers available.
	Repair Service		T: +1 877 ASK ZEBRA (275 9327)	T: [phone]	T: [phone]
	Department		F: [phone]	F: [phone]	F: [phone]
	For back-to-base service and		E: [e-mail]	New requests: [e-mail]	E: China: [e-mail]
	repair.		To request a repair in the U.S.,	Status updates:	All other areas:
			go to www.zebra.com/repair.	[e-mail]	[e-mail]
	Technical Training		T: [phone]	T: [phone]	T: + 65 6858 0722
	Department		T: [phone]	F: [phone]	F: [phone]
	For Zebra product training		F: [phone]	E: [e-mail]	E: China: [e-mail]
	courses.		E: [e-mail]		All other areas:
					[e-mail]
	Inquiry Department		T: +1 877 ASK ZEBRA (275 9327)	T: [phone]	E: China: [e-mail]
	For product literature and		E: [e-mail]	F: [phone]	All other areas:
	distributor and dealer			E: [e-mail]	[e-mail]
	information.
	Customer Service		T: +1 877 ASK ZEBRA (275 9327)	T: [phone]	T: [phone]
	Department (US)		E: [e-mail]	F: [phone]	F: [phone]
	Internal Sales			E: [e-mail]	E: China: [e-mail]
	Department (UK)				All other areas:
	For printers, parts, media,				[e-mail]
	and ribbon, please call your
	distributor or contact us.
	Key:	T: Telephone
		F: Facsimile
		E: E-mail

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

viiiAbout This Document

Document Conventions

Document Conventions

The following conventions are used throughout this document to convey certain information.

Alternate Color (online only) Cross-references contain hot links to other sections in this guide. If you are viewing this guide online in .pdf format, you can click the cross-reference (blue text) to jump directly to its location.

Command Line Examples Command line examples appear in Courier New font. For example, type ZTools to get to the Post-Install scripts in the bin directory.

Files and Directories File names and directories appear in Courier New font. For example, the Zebra<version number>.tar file and the /root directory.

Icons Used

Caution • Warns you of the potential for electrostatic discharge.

Caution • Warns you of a potential electric shock situation.

Caution • Warns you of a situation where excessive heat could cause a burn.

Caution • Advises you that failure to take or avoid a specific action could result in physical harm to you.

Caution • (No icon) Advises you that failure to take or avoid a specific action could result in physical harm to the hardware.

Important • Advises you of information that is essential to complete a task.

Note • Indicates neutral or positive information that emphasizes or supplements important points of the main text.

Example • Provides an example, often a scenario, to better clarify a section of text.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Contents

About This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Who Should Use This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi How This Document Is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Document Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

1 • Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ZP-Series™ Thermal Printers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What’s in the Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Unpack and Inspect the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Inspecting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Printer Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mini-CD’s in Printer Storage Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 • Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Attaching Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Modes of Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Loading Roll Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Preparing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Placing the Roll in the Media Compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Operator Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Printing a Test Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Pre-install Windows® Printer Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Connecting your Printer to a Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Interface Cable Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Communicating with the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

3 • Operations and Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Thermal Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

x

Long Term Printer In-activity or Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Replacing Supplies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Determining Thermal Media Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Adjusting the Print Width. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Adjusting the Print Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Sending Files to the Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Media Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Printing in Dispenser Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Printing on Fan-Fold Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 ZebraNet® 10/100 Internal (Wired) Print Server Option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Printer Network Configuration Status Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4 • Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Cleaning the Printhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Cleaning the Media Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Cleaning the Platen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

5 • Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45

Status Light Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Status Light Error Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Print Quality Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Manual Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Troubleshooting Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Printing a Configuration Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Recalibration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Resetting the Factory Default Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Communications Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Feed Button Modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

A • Appendix: Interface Wiring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

59

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Parallel Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Ethernet Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Serial Port Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

B • Appendix: ZPL Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Managing the ZPL Printer Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 ZPL Configuration Status to Command Cross-reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Printer Memory Management and Related Status Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 ZPL Programming for Memory Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

1

Introduction

This section describes what you get in your shipping box and provides an overview of printer features. This includes procedures that describe how to open and close the printer and report any problems.

Contents

ZP-Series™ Thermal Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

What’s in the Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Unpack and Inspect the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Inspecting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Printer Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

2Introduction

ZP-Series™ Thermal Printers

ZP-Series™ Thermal Printers

The Zebra® ZP model is the best value in a desktop thermal printer. The ZP 450™ printer provides direct thermal printing at speeds up to 5 ips (inches per second) at a 203 dpi (dots per inch) print density. The ZP 450™ supports both ZPL™ and EPL™ Zebra printer programming languages and a wide variety of interface and feature options.

The ZP-Series™ printer features:

•Automatic printer language detection and switching between ZPL and EPL programming and label formats.

•OpenAccess™ design for simplified media loading.

•Color-coded operator controls and media guides.

•Zebra™ Global Printing Solution – supports Microsoft Windows keyboard encoding (and ANSI), Unicode UTF-8 and UTF 16 (Unicode Transformation Formats), XML, ASCII (7 and 8 bit used by legacy programs and systems), basic single and double byte font encoding, JIS and Shift-JIS (Japanese International Standards), Hexadecimal encoding, and custom character maps (DAT table creation, font linking, and character remapping).

•On–The –Fly OpenType and TrueType font scaling and import, Unicode, preloaded Swiss 721 Latin 1 font, one resident scalable font, and a selection of resident bitmap fonts.

•Improved printer performance: faster print speeds and a 32-bit processor.

•Adaptive auto serial port cable sensing and configuration for plug-and-play integration.

•Printhead test and maintenance reporting enabled and customizable by the user.

The ZP-Series printers offer these basic printer options:

•Label Dispense (Peel-Off).

•Internal 10/100 Print Server and Ethernet Interface.

•Zebra® ZBI 2.0™ (Zebra BASIC Interpreter) programming language. ZBI™ allows you

to create custom printer operations that can automate processes, use peripherals (i.e. scanners, scales, keyboards, Zebra® KDU or KDU Plus™, etc.) all without being attached to a PC or network.

This users guide provides all the information you need to operate your printer. To create label formats, refer to your programming guides or label design applications such as ZebraDesigner™.

Your printer, when connected to a host computer, functions as a complete system for printing labels and tags.

Note • Many printer settings may also be controlled by your printer’s driver or label design software. Refer to the driver or software documentation for more information.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Introduction 3

What’s in the Box?

What’s in the Box?

Save the carton and all packing materials in case you need to ship or store the printer later. After unpacking, make sure you have all parts. Follow the procedures for inspecting the printer to familiarize yourself with printer parts so you can follow the instructions in this book.

Cleaning

Pen

Documentation	Printer
and Software

USB Cable

Kit Order Option	Kit order Option:	Power Cord
Serial Cable	Media Roll	varies by locale or region

Unpack and Inspect the Printer

When you receive the printer, immediately unpack it and inspect for shipping damage.

•Save all packing materials.

•Check all exterior surfaces for damage.

•Open the printer and inspect the media compartment for damage to components.

If you discover shipping damage upon inspection:

•Immediately notify the shipping company and file a damage report. Zebra Technologies Corporation is not responsible for any damage to the printer incurred during shipment, and will not cover the repair of this damage under its warranty policy.

•Keep all packaging material for shipping company inspection.

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

4Introduction

Inspecting the Printer

Inspecting the Printer

Look at the outside of the printer and make sure that all parts are present.

Status Light	Feed Button	Release
		Latches
	Interface
	Connectors

Power

Base

Release		Power	Active	Power
Latches		Supply	Power	Switch
		Receptacle	Light

Opening the printer

To access the media compartment, you must open the printer. Pull the release latches towards you and lift the cover.

After opening the printer, check the media compartment.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Introduction 5

Inspecting the Printer

Printer Features

Printhead

Gap

Sensor

Media Roll

Holder and

Media Guide

Black-Line

Sensor

Head-Up Sensor (inside)

Power Base

Dispenser - Open

Platen
Roller	Mini-CD Storage
	Peel Bar
	Peel Roller
	Label Taken
	Sensor

Roll Holder Stop

Adjustment

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

6Introduction

Inspecting the Printer

Closing the printer

1. Lower the top cover. Press down until the cover snaps closed.

Reporting Damage

If you discover damage or missing parts:

•Immediately notify and file a shipping damage report.

•Keep the carton and all packing material for inspection.

Mini-CD’s in Printer Storage Slot

For printer configurations that include the printer support CD:

The printer has a mini-CD storage slot molded between the printer and its power base. Please keep the mini-CD there for quick access to maintenance, troubleshooting, printer usage animations, media, contact information and more.

1. Always place the mini-CD in its plastic sleeve to protect the mini-CD from damage.

Copyright ©2005 ZIH Corp.

All rights reserved.

2. Slide the plastic sleeve with the mini-CD inside, into the printer.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

2

Getting Started

This section describes how to set up your printer for the first time and use the most common operating procedures for loading media.

Contents

Attaching Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Modes of Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Loading Roll Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Operator Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Printing a Test Label. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Pre-install Windows® Printer Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Connecting your Printer to a Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Communicating with the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

8Getting Started

Attaching Power

Attaching Power

Important • Set up your printer so that you can handle the power cord easily if needed. To make certain the printer cannot carry electrical current, you must separate the power cord from the power supply receptacle or AC electrical outlet.

Caution • Never operate the printer and power supply in an area where they can get wet. Serious personal injury could result!

1.Make sure the power switch is in the off position (down).

2.Insert the AC power cord into the power supply.

3.Plug the other end of the cord into an appropriate AC electrical outlet.

Printer

	Power
	Switch
	Active	Plug Varies
		by Country
	Power
	Light
Power
Base
Power	Power
Supply	Connector
Receptacle	IEC 60320-C5

AC Power Cord

Caution • Ensure that the appropriate power cord with a three (3) prong plug and an IEC 60320-C5 connector is used at all times. This power cord must bear the relevant certification mark of the country in which the product is being used.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Getting Started		9
Modes of Printing

Modes of Printing

You can operate this printer in different modes:

•Standard tear-off mode allows you to tear off each label (or a strip of labels) after it is printed. The most common media use configuration is covered in the follow section, Loading Roll Media.

•Dispense mode will peel the backing material away from the label as it is printed. After this label is removed, the next one is printed.

•The printer typically uses roll media, but you can use fan-fold or other continuous media as well.

For procedures to use optional media handling, equipment and features, refer to Operations & Options on page 25.

Loading Roll Media

•When you load media, you must place the roll on the media hangers.

•You must use the correct media for the type of printing you require. You must use direct thermal media.

Preparing Media

Whether your roll media is inside or outside wound you load it into the printer the same way.

•Remove the outside length of media. During shipment, the roll may become dirty when handled or dusty when stored. Removing the outside length avoids dragging adhesive or dirty media between the printhead and platen roller.

12/8/2010	ZP 450 User Guide			P1031442-001

10Getting Started

Loading Roll Media

Placing the Roll in the Media Compartment

1.Open the printer. Remember that you need to pull the release latch levers toward the front of the printer.

2.Open the media roll holders. Pull the media guides open with your free hand and place the media roll on the roll holders and release the guides. Orient the media roll so that its printing surface will face up as it passes over the platen (drive) roller.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Getting Started		11
Loading Roll Media

3.Pull the media so that it extends out of the front of the printer. Verify the roll turns freely. The roll must not sit in the bottom of the media compartment. Verify that the media’s printing surface is facing up.

4. Push the media under both of the media guides.

Under Media

Guides

5. Close the printer. Press down until the cover snaps closed.

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

12Getting Started

Operator Controls

Operator Controls

Power Switch

Press up to turn ON or down to turn OFF the printer.

Important • To make certain the printer cannot carry electrical current, you must separate the power cord from the power supply receptacle or AC electrical outlet. Set up your printer so that you can handle the power cord easily if needed.

Caution • The power should be turned off before connecting or disconnecting the communications and power cables.

Active Power Light

Located at the rear of the printer, the active power light indicates that electrical power is energizing the printer.

Power

Switch

Active

Power

Light

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Getting Started		13
Operator Controls

Feed Button

•Tap the Feed button once to force the printer to feed one blank label.

•Press the Feed button to take the printer out of a “pause” condition. The printer is put into “pause” by either a programming command or an error condition. See Status Light Descriptions on page 48 in the Troubleshooting chapter.

•Use the Feed button for printer setup and status (see Feed Button Modes on page 57 in the Troubleshooting chapter).

Status Light

Located on the top case next to the feed button, the status light functions as a printer operational indicator (see See Feed Button Modes on page 57 in the Troubleshooting chapter).

Feed Button

Status

Light

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001

14Getting Started

Printing a Test Label

Printing a Test Label

Before you connect the printer to your computer, make sure that the printer is in proper working order.

You can do this by printing a configuration label.

1.Make sure the media is properly loaded and the top cover of the printer is closed. Then, turn the printer power on if you have not already done so.

2.When the status light is solid green, press and hold the feed button until the status light flashes once.

3.Release the feed button. A configuration label will print.

If you cannot get this label to print, refer to Getting Started on page 7.

P1031442-001

ZP 450 User Guide

12/8/2010

Getting Started		15
Pre-install Windows® Printer Drivers

Pre-install Windows® Printer Drivers

Zebra is changing the way you install and use your printer with your Windows based PC systems. We recommend that at minimum, the ZebraDesigner™ Windows® driver be preinstalled to take advantage of the advancements in ease of use and simplicity of the Windows operating systems since the release of Windows XP® SP2.

Zebra provides the suite of printer drivers with internal utilities and tools for use with most Windows PC operating systems.The ZebraDesigner Windows printer drivers are available on the user’s CD and the Zebra web site (www.ups.zebra.com) for latest versions.

ZebraDesigner™ Driver: Supports Windows 7®, Windows Vista®, Windows XP®, Windows® 2000®, Windows Server® 2008, and Windows Server® 2003 operating systems. The driver supports 32 bit and 64 bit Windows operating systems and is Microsoft Certified. Zebra Setup Utilities and the ZebraDesigner driver support the following ZP-Series printer communication interfaces: USB, Parallel, Serial, and Wired Ethernet.

Install the ZebraDesigner Driver before applying power to the printer connected to the PC (running a Zebra driver supported Windows operating system).

Plug’N’Play (PnP) Printer Detection and Windows® operating systems

More recent Windows operating systems automatically detect the printer when it is connected via the USB interface. Depending on the hardware configuration and the Windows version, your printer may be Plug-and-Play (PnP) detected when connecting to the USB, parallel, or serial port interfaces. The printer drivers do not support serial port PnP installation at this time.The printer’s PC interface configuration for the parallel port must support and have bidirectional communications for PnP operations.

The operating system automatically starts a “Add new hardware’ wizard when connecting the printer for the first time to the PC. If you have pre-loaded the driver suite with the Zebra Setup Utility, then the printer driver will automatically install. Go to your Windows printer directory and right-click and select ‘Properties’. Click on the ‘Print test page’ button to verify a successful installation.

The Windows operating system will detect and re-link a previously installed printer if it is reconnected to the USB interface or if printer power is turned on after the PC has finished its restart of the operating system. Ignore the new device detected warnings and close the Task bar prompts. Wait several seconds for the operating system to match the printer to the driver software. The warnings will quit and the printer now should be ready to begin printing.

The Windows operating system will install a separate instance of the printer driver for each printer. The printer's serial number links the printer to each driver instance to allow the printers to have unique printer settings.

Universal Serial Bus (USB) Device Communications

The printer is a terminal device (not a host or hub) when using a USB interface. You can refer to the USB Specification for details regarding this interface.

Note • Scanners, scales or other data input (terminal) devices must use the serial port (not the USB port) to send data to the printer.

12/8/2010

ZP 450 User Guide

P1031442-001