Thermal Printer Installation Procedure

Transcription

1 Thermal Printer Installation Procedure Page 1 of 7 3/1/2007

2 Thermal printers must use a parallel or USB connection. Serial connections are not supported. 1) Download Java from Sun Microsystems. Installation of a thermal printer requires that the web browser has Java installed. THIS MUST BE DONE, or else trying to print a thermal label directly from the web browser will not work! You will find a link to Sun s website located on the Services pull-down menu under the Frequent Questions option. Click on the Sun Microsystems link, and this will take you to a download page: There will be a link labeled Java Software Download. Click on it and then click on Begin Download, and then the Java installation procedure will usually begin automatically (although in some instances you may then have to click on the Manual Download link). You will then be prompted to accept a licensing agreement. After the license agreement has been accepted, choose to do a typical installation and click Next. Once that step has completed choose Finish. A message will be displayed to tell you that Java has been successfully installed. You now need to check to see if you have the necessary printer drivers. 2) Download the printer driver if necessary. If the thermal printer is displayed on the Windows printer window, there may be no need to perform this step. If your thermal printer is not displayed, you will definitely need to download the required printer driver. If you are using a Zebra/Eltron printer, you can download the necessary driver by going to Note that you should actually be able to use the links in this document to go directly to the pages mentioned. The following are the most common Zebra/Eltron Thermal Printers, but there are others in use besides those listed below: (Note: the Eltron 2543 is manufactured specifically for UPS, and most likely will not work with anything but UPS Worldship.) LP 2443 (Eltron Orion) LP 2722 LP 2742 LP 2824 LP 2844 LP 2844-Z TLP 2722 TLP 2742 TLP 2844 TLP 2844-Z TLP 3742 TLP 3842 TLP 3844-Z Page 2 of 7 3/1/2007

3 2) Download the printer driver if necessary (continued). Once at click on > Download Drivers, Select your printer model from the drop-down menu (LP 2443 for the Worldwide Express printer), and click submit You may need to fill out some registration information before you may download. (If you re using one of the most common printers mentioned above, you will be able to use the Zebra Universal Driver. (Click here to download it) If not, then you ll have to search for your printer on that page and download the appropriate driver). Click on the link to start the download process. From here on, some of the names of files and such might be slightly different if you had to download a different driver, but the basic process is the same. Clicking the link to the driver takes you to another page where you will be asked to accept the license agreement (and you may have to fill out a form with some user information). You have to accept it to download the file. You will then be asked to save the file to disk. Click OK and save it to your desktop. You will now see a new icon on your desktop for the zipped up printer driver. Double-click this to install the printer driver. You will then be asked to unzip the driver to a folder (Zebra Drivers if yours is one of the most common ones). You can use the default or choose your own. It is important that you make a note of the folder the driver is being extracted to, since you will need this to install the printer. This will complete the printer driver download procedure. A side note on the Eltron/UPS 2442 it is usable in Windows XP with the universal driver 3) Install the printer, if required. If you downloaded the Zebra Universal Driver, an automatic Add Printer Wizard will pop up after you ve unzipped. (If you ve downloaded a different driver, skip down to 3A, below.) Choose English on the Language selection, and the printer wizard will pop up. Click Next. On the next screen, choose ZEBRA EPL for Manufacturers, and then find your printer model. (If your printer is one of the ones distributed with the Worldwide Express logo on it, then it is an Eltron Orion, aka. Zebra LP2443.) In Available Ports menu, checkmark LPT for parallel, USB for USB. When prompted for a Name, it is recommended that you make it Thermal for simplicity. In the Thermal Printer configuration wizard, choose 4.00 x 6.00 for the Label Size, and Inches for the Unit of Measurement. On the next screen, select None for the action you want to see performed. On the next, Direct is the media type. For the Label or Tag Type, choose Use Label Gaps. Choose whether or not to print a test page, click Finish, and skip down to Step 4. Click on Start, click on Settings (or Control Panel), choose Printers, click on Add Printer, choose Next, choose to install a local printer and then click Next. You will then be asked to select a port, so if you are using parallel, choose LPT1 and if USB then choose USB. When asked to choose a manufacturer, click on the Have Disk. You will then be asked where you would like to copy the files from. This is the same location you made a note on in step 2 (the folder to which you unzipped the downloaded file). You can use the browse button to find the folder, and inside you will find two files with a.inf extension. The first is OEMSETUP.INF (used for parallel/lpt1 connections), and the second is USBPRINT.INF (used for USB connections). Choose the appropriate file and click Open. You will then see the manufacturers Page 3 of 7 3/1/2007

4 displayed on the left. Choose the manufacturer (e.g. if it s a Zebra printer, then choose Zebra). The printer models will be displayed on the right. Choose the correct model number for your printer and click Next. You will then be prompted for a printer name. For the sake of simplicity, we recommend that you change the name of the printer to THERMAL. You will be asked if you wish this to be your default printer, so choose No and click Next. It is not necessary to share the printer so click Next. You will then be asked to print a test page, so choose yes or no. By now, the printer should be installed, and you can disregard any warning that might appear about compliance with Windows XP Logo testing. 4) Configure to print thermal labels. To configure to print thermal labels you have to change the label size. This is located under Preferences on the Account Setup pull-down menu. Choose Preferences, move down to the Options and Services section, and click on the 4 x 6 inch label size and check the Autoprint box to automatically print the thermal label. If you did not name your printer Thermal as mentioned in the step 3, you will need to enter the Windows printer name in the Thermal printer name box. Click on the save button to save your changes. You are ready to print thermal printer labels. Note that if you uncheck the Autoprint box, then you will be prompted to select the printer every time you print an airbill. ******* To Print to Thermal Labels with the DHL Logo ********* (This step requires that you have the Zebra Universal Driver installed. If you have installed the printer using a driver from a CD, it will need to be re-installed with the Zebra Universal Driver) If you have labels that are provided by DHL, which have the DHL logo at the top and a 2 inch by 4 inch tab at the bottom, these may be printed to by 1)selecting the 4 x 8 inch label size on the Preferences page and clicking Save 2) In Windows, go to Start Settings Control Panel Printers. From there, right-click on your thermal printer, and select Printing Preferences. Double-Click on Paper/Output, and then click on Paper Size. A Customize button will appear click on it. In the Paper Sizes section, a Width and Height are listed change the height to 8.00 inches. You may also wish to change the Paper Properties at the top to 4.00 x When done, click OK, click OK again and you are ready print to DHL thermal labels. Note that there are so many different combinations of operating systems and drivers out there that you will most likely encounter variations on this installation procedure, and it would be impossible for us to foresee all of them, so if you re having trouble printing a thermal label from the website but also cannot even print a test page from Windows (by going to Settings or Control Panel, then Printers, and then right-clicking the printer you installed and choose Print Test Page from Properties), then the printer is probably not installed properly, and the people who would know most about every possible issue would be the printer s own technical support staff. If it s a Zebra printer, their current number might be (847) The up-to-date number can be found via the Technical Support link off of the Service & Support menu ( and choosing the model number of the printer Page 4 of 7 3/1/2007

5 you are trying to install. Sometimes, users are able to print just fine from even though Windows cannot print a decent test page. USB and Parallel Printer Cable Either a USB or Parallel cable may be used to connect a thermal printer for use with Page 5 of 7 3/1/2007

6 Zebra / Eltron Model 2844 (most common and most versatile) This is the most common printer installed by UPS and FedEx. This printer offers both parallel and USB connectivity. Valid Connection Types: USB or Parallel Page 6 of 7 3/1/2007

7 Citizen CLP-1001 This is the standard thermal printer used with Airborne s LIBRA. This printer is limited to only a parallel connection. Valid Connection Type: Parallel only Page 7 of 7 3/1/2007