ZC100/300 Series
Card Printer
Windows Driver
User Guide
P1101331-003
Contents
Printing Preferences ......................................................................................................................................... 1
Setup Tab ............................................................................................................................................. 2
Status Bar ................................................................................................................................ 2
Printing ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Card ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Ribbon ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Encoding Tab ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Help & Support Tab .............................................................................................................................. 8
How-To Videos ........................................................................................................................ 8
Help & Support ........................................................................................................................ 8
Cleaning ................................................................................................................................... 8
Print Optimization and Adjustment ..................................................................................................... 10
Information ............................................................................................................................. 10
Color Panels .......................................................................................................................... 11
Black Extraction ......................................................................................................... 11
Adjustments ............................................................................................................... 14
Half Panel .................................................................................................................. 14
Proles ................................................................................................................................... 16
Black / Mono Panels .............................................................................................................. 16
Optimization............................................................................................................... 17
Adjustments ............................................................................................................... 18
Overlay/Specialty Panels ....................................................................................................... 18
YMCKLL ................................................................................................................................ 19
SDYMCKO ............................................................................................................................. 20
YMCKPO ............................................................................................................................... 21
Alignment ............................................................................................................................... 22
Help & Support ...................................................................................................................... 23
Advanced Settings ............................................................................................................................. 24
Information ............................................................................................................................. 24
Connectivity ........................................................................................................................... 25
Wired Connection ...................................................................................................... 25
Wireless Connection.................................................................................................. 26
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Conguring Wireless ................................................................................................. 27
Magnetic Encoding ................................................................................................................ 28
Settings...................................................................................................................... 28
Encode/Read Data .................................................................................................... 29
Conguration ......................................................................................................................... 29
Printer Settings .......................................................................................................... 30
Firmware and Settings............................................................................................... 31
Job Log ...................................................................................................................... 32
Security .................................................................................................................................. 32
Sensors and Calibration ........................................................................................................ 33
Sensors ..................................................................................................................... 33
Calibration ................................................................................................................. 34
Advanced Features ................................................................................................................ 34
Diagnostics ................................................................................................................ 35
Cong Request .......................................................................................................... 36
Help and Support ...................................................................................................... 37
Printer Properties ............................................................................................................................... 38
Sharing .................................................................................................................................. 38
Color Management ................................................................................................................ 38
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Printing Preferences
Check the Zebra website for the latest version of this document.
The Printing Preferences control panel can be used to determine preferences such as which ribbon panels will
be used to print images on the card, where the card comes from (i.e., the input hopper or the manual feed slot),
and its destination. It is also used to make adjustments to colors and black panel quality; as well as printing test
cards, showing conguration information, and connecting to wired or wireless networks.
To open the Printing Preferences Control Panel:
y Windows 7 – Select Start, then click Devices and Printers. Right click the Zebra ZCXXX Card Printer,
and select Printing preferences from the pop-up menu.
y Windows 8 – Press Windows + I and select Control Panel from the pop-up menu. Select Hardware
and Sound, then select Devices and Printers. Right click the Zebra ZCXXX Card Printer, and select
Printing preferences from the pop-up menu.
y Windows 10 – Press Windows + I and select Devices, then select Printers and Scanners. Select the
Zebra ZCXXX Card Printer and click Manage, and then select Printing preferences.
The tabs listed below make up the menu structure of the Printing Preferences Control Panel:
y Setup
y Encoding
y Help & Support
The utilities listed below complete the menu structure:
y Print Optimization and Adjustment
y Advanced
At the bottom of the control panel window are the following buttons:
The Restore Defaults button sets the printing preferences back to factory settings.
The Cancel button closes the Printing Preferences Control Panel without applying the changes made.
The Apply button makes (or applies) the changes; the Printing Preferences Control panel remains open.
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Setup Tab
The Setup tab enables the user to adjust selected card and print job parameters, and to print test cards.
Status Bar
The status bar shows the current state of the printer. When the status bar is green or yellow, you can still print.
A red status bar will inhibit printing until the error is corrected.
Status: Ready
Status: Ribbon Low
Status: Out of Cards 4001
The Setup window is divided into three sections:
y Printing
y Card
y Ribbon
2
Printing
The Orientation drop-down list tells the printer to print in either Landscape (horizontal) or in Portrait (vertical)
depending on the design or the desired use of the card. Note that the printing orientation cannot be mixed; in
other words, you cannot print portrait on the front and landscape on the back.
The Rotate 180° drop-down list tells the printer to rotate the image on the card 180° (degrees). Use this option if
you want the images to be oriented the same way depending on how the card is ipped over.
The following selections are available from the Rotate 180° drop-down list:
y None – does not rotate the image(s).
y Front – only rotates the image on the front of the card.
y Back – only rotates the image on the back of the card.
y Both – rotates the image on both the front and the back of the card.
The Print on both sides switch enables double-sided printing (applicable to dual-sided printers; ZC100 not
compatible).
The Copies selection species the number of cards to be printed. Click on the up or down arrow to increase or
decrease the number.
Print and Encode Same Side enables the user to encode a card and print an image on the mag stripe side.
This option is disabled when Print on Both Sides is enabled. To Print and Encode Same Side the printer must
be dual sided, Print on Both Sides must be set to No, and the printer must have a mag encoder.
Print Test Card enables the user to print one of two test card types:
The Graphics Test Card prints an image appropriate to the current ribbon
combination; and if Print on Both Sides is selected (for double-sided printers
only), a monochrome test image on the back.
The Conguration Test Card prints printer conguration information. If the
Wireless option is installed, and the printer is set to print single-sided, two cards
will be printed.
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Card
The Source selection lets the user tell the printer where to take the card from. For example, if a single card
needs to be printed that is dierent from the cards in the input hopper, the user can select to manually feed a
single card to print on.
The following selections are available in the Card source drop-down list:
y Manual Feed Slot – only takes cards from the manual feed slot.
y Input Hopper – only takes cards from the input hopper.
y Auto Feed (default) – unless a card is fed in from the manual feed slot before the print job is sent, the
printer will take the card from the input hopper.
y Already in printer – for third-party applications that use this feature.
The Destination selection lets the user tell the printer where to send the nished cards. In some cases, it may
be necessary to send the nished card to the reject tray under secure conditions (if the printer lock is installed).
The following selections are available in the Destination drop-down list:
y Output hopper (default) – this sends the nished cards to the output hopper (located under the input
hopper).
y Reject bin – this option sends the nished cards to the reject bin which is accessible by opening the
print cover (applicable to dual-sided printers; ZC100 not compatible)
y Leave in printer – for third-party applications that use this feature.
Ribbon
Zebra card printers use ribbons (media) that come in two types: monochrome and color panels. Monochrome
ribbons are one continuous ribbon of a single color—typically black, but may be white, gold, or other single
color ribbons. With color panels, such as YMCKO (used for full color printing), each individual primary color
(yellow, magenta, cyan or YMC) along with black (K) and overlay or varnish (O) are laid out in sequence for one
complete card print process.
1 Panel Set
Y M C K O
SPOOL
TAKE-UP
Direction of Travel
The printer will recognize the type of print ribbon installed and display it in the Type eld. The available ribbon
combinations will be shown in the Combinations drop-down menu. Additionally, the Print on both sides
and the Print and Encode on Same Side settings will aect the available ribbon combinations. The Images
Remaining status bar indicates how many images can still be printed on the installed ribbon. This feature
applies to ribbons with panels and refers to the panel set (YMCK); monochrome ribbons do not apply. When a
ribbon cartridge has 10 panel sets remaining, a Ribbon Low warning will be displayed.
SPOOL
SUPPLY
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The following table shows the supported ribbons and their respective combinations:
Ribbon Print on Both Sides
O
YMCKO
On O
O
YMCKOK
On O
O
1/2YMCKO
On O YMCKO front / YMCKO back
O
1/2YMCKOKO
On O
O
KrO
On O KrO front / KrO back
O
KdO
On O KdO front / KdO back
K (Monochrome)
O
Includes all single
color ribbons
On O K front / K back
O
YMCPKO
On O
O
YMCKLL
On O
O
SDYMCKO
On O
Print and Encode Same
Side
Ribbon Combination
O YMCKO front
On YMCKO back
YMCO front / K back (default)
YMCKO front / YMCKO back
O YMCKO front
On YMCKO back
YMCKO front / K back (default)
YMCKO front / YMCKO back
O YMCKO front
On YMCKO back
O YMCKO front
On YMCKO back
YMCKO front / KO back (default)
YMCKO front / YMCKO back
O KrO front
On KrO back
O KdO front
On KdO back
O K front
On K back
O YMCPKO front
On YMCPKO back
YMCPO front / K back (default)
YMCPKO front / YMCPKO back
O YMCKLL front
On YMCKLL back
YMCLL front / K back (default)
YMCKLL front / YMCKLL back
O SDYMCKO front
On SDYMCKO back
SDYMCO front / K back (default)
SDYMCKO front / SDYMCKO back
The YMC panels in a color ribbon are used to create the color image. The ZC100/300 Series printers use 24-bit
color data, color algorithms, and printhead management formulas to achieve 256 shades of color when printing
a full color image.
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The printer uses the K panel to print black elements on a color image (see “Proles” on page 16), or barcodes
and text. This is a resin panel, which means it cannot be used to print continuous tones of color. The K panel
can only print binary (pure on or o) images.
K is also used to denote monochrome ribbons, which are available in black, white, gold, silver, red, and blue.
Monochrome ribbons are also made of resin materials, which means they cannot be used to print continuous
tones of color, and can only print binary (pure on or o) images.
Kd denotes a black dye panel, which allows continuous shades of gray to be printed, and is ideally suited for
photos and graphics.
The O panel is an overlay which protects the dye panels against fading due to the eects of UV light and
abrasion. Overlay can also be applied to K resin to further protect text and barcodes against abrasion. This
makes the KrO ribbon useful in applications where card is swiped against a magnetic stripe reader and text or
barcodes are printed on the opposite side of the magnetic stripe.
The L panels in the YMCKLL ribbon enable long lasting color personalization of cards without the use of
lamination. The combination of two extra thick overlay panels adds four times more abrasion resistance to a
color card, compared to a standard YMCKO ribbon. The panels can also be used to print security features,
which will appear as a watermark on the card, and uoresce under UV light. Refer to “YMCKLL” on page 19
for more information.
The S (silver) panel in the SDYMCKO ribbon enables 3D-like visual eects to be created on the card. The Sr is
a silver resin panel and it can be printed on the entire card for a metallic eect, or underneath a specic graphic
element, like a logo or text and then printer over with YMC to create a unique visual eect. Refer to “SDYMCKO”
on page 20 for printing options.
The P (pearlescent) panel is a color shifting panel in the YMCPKO ribbon, enabling covert security elements to
the printed on the card, on demand. Images printed using the K and the P panels should ideally not overlap in
the design of the card. Refer to “YMCPKO” on page 21 for more printing options.
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Encoding Tab
The Encoding tab displays the primary magnetic encoding settings, and is only accessible if the magnetic
encoding option is installed. To change these settings, or to further customize the magnetic encoding settings,
click on Advanced Settings.
Encoding – When set to On, a card with a magnetic stripe will be encoded when a print job with magnetic
encoding data is sent to the printer. When set to O, the printer will not encode any cards.
Encode Only – When set to On, only the encoding portion of a print job will be completed. When set to O, both
encoding and printing will be completed.
Verication – When set to On, the printer will verify the data that has been encoded to the card. When set to
O, the printer will not verify the data that has been encoded to the card.
Type – ISO is the standard type of magnetic encoding for most cards. Other formats may be set in Advanced
Settings.
Coercivity – The amount of energy required to encode the card. Cards with a magnetic stripe require either high
coercivity or low coercivity.
Hex – The format for the data being encoded to the card. When set to On, the data being encoded to the card
will be in hexadecimal format. When set to O, the data will be in standard ANSI format.
Erase Before Encode – Erases all data on the magnetic stripe before encoding new data.
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Help & Support Tab
The Help & Support tab oers users several options to help with the printer, as well as the ability to initiate
cleaning.
How-To Videos
The How-To-Videos section oers users videos explaining common tasks and troubleshooting solutions.
Help & Support
The Help & Support section oers users links to the dierent sections of the Product Support page.
Click on Product Manuals link to download user documentation for your printer.
Click on Driver Support to download driver and rmware updates, and other software for your printer.
Click on Knowledge Base to look up specic issues with your printer.
Click on the Technical Support link to contact a representative to assist you with your printer.
Click on Request a Repair if you need expert assistance with a printer issue.
Cleaning
Caution • PROTECT YOUR FACTORY WARRANTY!
The recommended cleaning procedures must be performed to maintain your factory warranty.
NEVER loosen, tighten, adjust, bend, etc., any part or cable inside the printer.
NEVER use a high pressure air compressor to remove particles in the printer.
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The regular use of cleaning cards will clean and maintain important parts of your printer that cannot be reached,
including the printhead, the transport rollers, and the magnetic encoder station (optional).
The Cleaning section shows the user how many cards can be printed before the next cleaning is required. Click
to initiate the cleaning process; follow the on-screen instructions.
Step 1. At the prompt, remove the ribbon and cards from the printer.
Step 2. At the prompt, insert the cleaning card into the manual feed slot on the printer.
Step 3. The cleaning process will begin.
Step 4. When the cleaning process has nished, remove the used cleaning card after it has been
ejected.
Step 5. Replace the ribbon and cards.
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