Custom & special fonts
TrueType downloads, flash vs RAM, Unicode code pages and language support.
Download TrueType and OpenType Fonts to a Zebra Printer (~DU, ^A@)
Step-by-step ways to load a .TTF font onto a ZPL printer and print with it using ^A@ or ^CW.
OpenStore Fonts Permanently in Flash (E:) vs Losing Them in RAM (R:)
Why downloaded fonts vanish after a power cycle, and how to store them on E: so they survive.
OpenUnicode and Code Pages in ZPL (^CI)
How ^CI selects the character set for ZPL text, when to use UTF-8 (^CI28), and how to send accented characters with ^FH.
OpenLanguage Support in ZPL (Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Spanish)
How to print Hindi, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew and Spanish accents on a ZPL printer, with the right code page and font approach for each.
OpenLicense-Restricted Factory Fonts and How to Restore Them
Why some printer fonts cannot be copied between printers, and how to get missing factory or licensed fonts back.
OpenBeyond the factory fonts
The fonts that come with a printer will carry you a long way, but sooner or later a project needs something they can't do. A client's typeface. Accents the default font doesn't carry. A script like Arabic, Devanagari or Chinese. The guides in this section cover how to get those onto a label, and, just as important, how to keep them working.
The usual route is to download a TrueType font to the printer. That page covers the commands, a scripted method for many printers, and how to check the result. Once the font is there, you need to know where it lives. Fonts stored in RAM disappear when the power goes off, which is behind a large share of "it worked yesterday" reports.
Encoding is half the battle
A font only helps if the printer reads your text correctly. Unicode and code pages explains the character-set command and the hex-escape trick that survives awkward software. If you work in several languages, language support goes through what's realistic for each: simple accents, right-to-left scripts, scripts that need shaping, and the big Asian character sets.
When fonts go missing
Some printers ship with licensed fonts that you can't just copy around. If one has disappeared, read license-restricted factory fonts and how to restore them before you wipe anything else. A calm, methodical approach saves a lot of grief.
Do you need a font at all?
Sometimes the best answer is no. Text that never changes, or text in a script the printer can't shape, can be turned into a bitmap and printed as a graphic. Our text-to-graphic converter does it in the browser, and the article printing any font as a ^GF graphic explains when it's the better choice. For a step-by-step install, try how to install a TrueType font on a Zebra printer, and for language-specific advice, printing Hindi and Arabic on Zebra labels.
Before you start
Check three things: that the font's licence allows embedding in a device, that the printer has enough free memory, and that you know the character set your data uses. Ten minutes on those saves hours later. If a font doesn't behave, the font not printing guide is the place to begin.