ZPL command reference

What each ZPL II command does, in plain words, with its syntax. Try any of them in the ZPL viewer.

Label format

^XA	Start Format	Opens a label. Everything up to ^XZ is one label. ^XA
^XZ	End Format	Closes the label opened by ^XA and prints it. ^XZ
^PW	Print Width	Sets the label width in dots. ^PWa (a = width in dots)
^LL	Label Length	Sets the label length in dots. ^LLy (y = length in dots)
^LH	Label Home	Moves the origin that every field position is measured from. ^LHx,y
^LS	Label Shift	Shifts every field left by the given number of dots. ^LSa
^LT	Label Top	Moves the whole label up or down by the given number of dot rows. ^LTx
^PO	Print Orientation	Prints the label normally (N) or upside down (I). ^POa (N or I)
^PM	Print Mirror	Mirrors the whole label horizontally when set to Y. ^PMa (Y or N)
^PQ	Print Quantity	Sets how many labels to print; each one counts as a label in the preview. ^PQq,p,r,o
^MU	Set Units	Changes the unit of measurement to dots, inches or millimetres. ^MUa,b,c
^CI	Change International Encoding	Selects the character set. ^CI28 is UTF-8. ^CIa

Fields and position

^FO	Field Origin	Sets the field position: x, y coordinates in dots from the top-left corner. ^FOx,y,z
^FT	Field Typeset	Positions a field by its baseline instead of its top-left corner. ^FTx,y,z
^FD	Field Data	The text or barcode data of the current field. ^FDa
^FS	Field Separator	Ends the current field. ^FS
^FB	Field Block	Wraps text into a block with a width, line count and alignment. ^FBa,b,c,d,e
^FR	Field Reverse Print	Prints the field white on black over whatever is under it. ^FR
^FH	Field Hexadecimal Indicator	Lets ^FD contain hex escapes such as _0D. ^FHa
^FW	Field Orientation	Sets the default rotation for the fields that follow. ^FWr (N, R, I or B)
^FN	Field Number	Names a variable field in a stored format. ^FN#
^FX	Comment	A comment. The printer ignores everything up to the next command. ^FXc
^SN	Serialization Data	Prints a number that increments on each label. ^SNv,n,z

Text and fonts

^A	Scalable/Bitmapped Font	Selects the font, rotation and size for the next text field. ^Afo,h,w (^A0N,30,30)
^A@	Use Font Name	Selects a font by its file name on the printer. ^A@o,h,w,d:f.x
^CF	Change Default Font	Sets the font and size used when a field has no ^A. ^CFf,h,w
^CW	Font Identifier	Assigns a one-letter name to a font file. ^CWa,d:o.x

Barcodes

^BY	Bar Code Field Default	Sets module width, wide-to-narrow ratio and height for the barcodes that follow. ^BYw,r,h
^BC	Code 128	Code 128 barcode, the most common one on shipping labels. ^BCo,h,f,g,e,m
^B3	Code 39	Code 39 barcode. ^B3o,e,h,f,g
^B2	Interleaved 2 of 5	Interleaved 2 of 5 barcode, numeric only. ^B2o,h,f,g,e
^BE	EAN-13	EAN-13 retail barcode. ^BEo,h,f,g
^B8	EAN-8	EAN-8 retail barcode. ^B8o,h,f,g
^BU	UPC-A	UPC-A retail barcode. ^BUo,h,f,g,e
^B9	UPC-E	UPC-E retail barcode. ^B9o,h,f,g,e
^BQ	QR Code	QR Code. The data starts with an error correction and input mode, e.g. QA, ^BQa,b,c,d,e
^BX	Data Matrix	Data Matrix 2D barcode. ^BXo,h,s,c,r,f,g,a
^B7	PDF417	PDF417 stacked 2D barcode. ^B7o,h,s,c,r,t
^BO	Aztec	Aztec 2D barcode. ^BOa,b,c,d,e,f,g
^BD	MaxiCode	MaxiCode, used by UPS. ^BDm,n,t

Graphics

^GB	Graphic Box	Draws a box or a line: width, height, border thickness, colour and rounding. ^GBw,h,t,c,r
^GC	Graphic Circle	Draws a circle: diameter, border thickness and colour. ^GCd,t,c
^GE	Graphic Ellipse	Draws an ellipse. ^GEw,h,t,c
^GD	Graphic Diagonal Line	Draws a diagonal line. ^GDw,h,t,c,o
^GF	Graphic Field	Embeds a bitmap image in the label (ASCII hex, binary or Z64). ^GFa,b,c,d,data
^GS	Graphic Symbol	Prints a registered, copyright or other symbol. ^GSo,h,w

Stored formats and images

^DF	Download Format	Stores the label format on the printer under a name. ^DFd:o.x
^XF	Recall Format	Recalls a stored format to fill its ^FN fields. ^XFd:o.x
~DG	Download Graphic	Stores an image on the printer under a name. ~DGd:o.x,t,w,data
^XG	Recall Graphic	Prints an image stored with ~DG. ^XGd:o.x,mx,my
^IM	Image Move	Prints a stored image at the current field origin. ^IMd:o.x