Convert ZPL to PDF in C#

To convert ZPL to PDF in C#, post the ZPL as StringContent with HttpClient to the OpenZPL render endpoint, ask for application/pdf, and copy the response stream to a file. Reuse one HttpClient for the whole application and check the status code before saving.

Aktualisiert am 2026-10-20 · Renders made with the OpenZPL engine

What you need

• Any supported .NET (6 or later). HttpClient is part of the base library; no NuGet package is needed.
• The ZPL as a string, the label size in inches and the printer density (8dpmm = 203 dpi).

The code

HttpClient is meant to be created once and reused: a new client per label exhausts sockets under load. Ask for the headers first (ResponseHeadersRead) so the PDF is copied to the file as it arrives instead of being buffered.

using System.Net;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;

public static class LabelApi
{
    static readonly HttpClient Http = new()
    {
        BaseAddress = new Uri("https://api.openzpl.com/"),
        Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30),
    };

    public static async Task<int> ZplToPdfAsync(string zpl, string path,
        int dpmm = 8, string size = "4x6", string? apiKey = null, int retries = 3)
    {
        for (var attempt = 0; ; attempt++)
        {
            using var req = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Post, $"v1/printers/{dpmm}dpmm/labels/{size}/")
            {
                Content = new StringContent(zpl, Encoding.UTF8, "text/plain"),
            };
            req.Headers.Accept.Add(new MediaTypeWithQualityHeaderValue("application/pdf"));
            if (apiKey is not null) req.Headers.Add("X-API-Key", apiKey);

            using var res = await Http.SendAsync(req, HttpCompletionOption.ResponseHeadersRead);
            if ((res.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.TooManyRequests ||
                 res.StatusCode == HttpStatusCode.ServiceUnavailable) && attempt < retries)
            {
                var wait = res.Headers.RetryAfter?.Delta ?? TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);
                await Task.Delay(wait);
                continue;
            }
            if (!res.IsSuccessStatusCode)
                throw new HttpRequestException($"HTTP {(int)res.StatusCode}: {await res.Content.ReadAsStringAsync()}");

            await using (var file = File.Create(path))
                await res.Content.CopyToAsync(file);
            return int.Parse(res.Headers.GetValues("X-Total-Count").First());
        }
    }
}

// var count = await LabelApi.ZplToPdfAsync(File.ReadAllText("label.zpl"), "label.pdf");

The label in this example:

^XA
^FO30,30^GB752,70,70^FS
^FO50,48^A0N,40,40^FR^FDRETURN LABEL^FS
^FO30,120^A0N,26,26^FDRMA 77 2026 0193^FS
^FO30,155^A0N,26,26^FDReason: wrong size^FS
^BY2,3,100
^FO30,200^BCN,100,Y,N,N^FDRMA7720260193^FS
^XZ

Notes for .NET

• In ASP.NET Core, register the client with IHttpClientFactory (services.AddHttpClient) instead of a static field; the request code stays the same.
• Retry-After arrives as a number of seconds, which .NET exposes as RetryAfter.Delta. The daily limit sets it to the seconds left until midnight UTC: cap the delay in a background job.
• The API reads the body as text. StringContent with UTF-8 keeps accents intact if the label starts with ^CI28.
• To return the PDF from a controller, stream it with File(stream, "application/pdf") rather than loading it into a byte array.

Fehler

Grenzen

• Endpoint: POST https://api.openzpl.com/v1/printers/8dpmm/labels/4x6/ with the ZPL as the request body. The density is 6dpmm, 8dpmm, 12dpmm or 24dpmm; the size is in inches, up to 15 per side.
• Accept: application/pdf without a label index returns every label, one per page. Add an index (.../4x6/0/) to get a single label.
• Free plan: no key, 3 requests per second and 5,000 labels per day per IP address. Every label counts, ^PQ copies and PDF pages included. See pricing.
• Per request: up to 50 labels and 1 MB of ZPL.