How to print Shopify barcode labels on a Dymo, Zebra, Rollo or Brother printer

Every label printer takes the same kind of file from Shopify, and the settings that decide whether a barcode scans are the same on all of them. This page gives those settings once, then each printer's own part: the rolls that fit a product label, its driver, and the thing that most often stops it printing. The last sections cover a label that prints but will not scan, and the labels for a whole Shopify transfer or purchase order.

Published by Aislekit. I make a Shopify label printing app, I name it where it is relevant, and I say plainly when you do not need it.

Your printer: Dymo LabelWriter, Zebra, Rollo, Munbyn and other thermal printers or Brother QL.

Which label printer suits which job

A Dymo LabelWriter prints one small label at a time from a roll, which suits stickering stock as it comes in.
A Zebra desktop printer takes a PDF through its driver or a ZPL file in its own language, which nothing on the computer can rescale.
A Rollo or Munbyn is best known for 4 x 6 in shipping labels, and prints product labels just as well on a smaller roll.
A Brother QL prints from DK rolls through its own driver, and its smaller models take rolls up to 62 mm wide.

The settings that matter on every printer

Download the labels as a PDF. Each page of the file is one label at the roll's exact size.
Tell the driver the size of the roll in the printer: pick it from the paper sizes, or add it as a custom size.
Print at 100% or "Actual size", never "Fit to page", which shrinks the barcode below the size it was drawn at.
Print one label and scan it with the scanner you use in the stockroom or at the till, then print the rest.

Dymo LabelWriter

These are the Dymo rolls the app has sizes for. Any other roll works too, entered as a custom size.

Dymo 30252 (address roll)
Dymo 30334 (2-1/4 x 1-1/4 roll)
Dymo 30336 (1 x 2-1/8 multipurpose roll)
Dymo 11355 (19 x 51 mm multi-purpose roll)
Dymo 30323 (54 x 101 mm shipping roll)
Dymo 30330 (19 x 51 mm return address roll)
Dymo 30332 (1 x 1 in square roll)
Dymo 30299 (2-up jewellery tag, 3/8 x 3/4 in)

In the print dialog, choose the paper size for the roll in the printer: the driver lists each Dymo roll by its number.

The LabelWriter 550, 550 Turbo and 5XL read a chip in the roll and print only on Dymo's own labels. If one of them refuses a roll, the roll is the cause, not the file. The older 450 and 4XL print on any roll of the right size.

Zebra

These are the Zebra rolls the app has sizes for. Any other size works too, entered as a custom size. Check the widest roll your model takes: the 2 inch models, such as the ZD410 and ZD411, take narrower rolls than the 4 inch models, such as the ZD421 and GK420d.

Zebra 1.5 x 1 in roll
Zebra 2.25 x 1.25 in roll
Zebra 10015340 (2.25 x 0.75 in roll)
Zebra 10010043 (3 x 1 in roll)

Printing the PDF

Print it to the Zebra (on Windows through the ZDesigner driver), with the label size in the printer's preferences set to the roll. If the bars run together or look faint, change the darkness in the driver and print another.

Printing ZPL

A ZPL file is the label in the printer's own language, so nothing on the computer can rescale it. It is drawn for the print head's resolution, so choose the one your Zebra has when you download it: 203 dpi or 300 dpi (the printer's configuration report says which). ZPL is part of the Pro plan; the PDF works on every plan.

To send the file on Windows, open the ZDesigner driver's printer preferences, then Tools, Action, Send file. On a Mac or Linux computer, send it to a raw print queue with lp -o raw.

Zebra ZSB printers

The ZSB series prints from cartridges rather than rolls, and takes the PDF through its own driver like any other printer. These are the cartridges the app has sizes for:

Zebra ZSB-LC7 (1.25 x 1.25 in cartridge)
Zebra ZSB-LC8 (2.25 x 0.5 in cartridge)

Rollo, Munbyn and other thermal printers

The same steps work for a Rollo, a Munbyn and most other thermal printers that print through a driver. These are the thermal roll sizes the app has. Any other size works too, entered as a custom size.

Thermal roll 2 x 1 in (Rollo, Munbyn, Phomemo)
Thermal roll 2-1/4 x 1 in
Thermal roll 4 x 6 in (Zebra, Rollo, Munbyn)
Round thermal roll 2 in
Jewellery dumbbell tag 56 x 13 mm
Thermal roll 4 x 2 in (carton label)
Thermal roll 3 x 2 in (shelf edge)
Round thermal roll 3 in

After loading a roll of a different size, calibrate the printer so it learns the new label length (Rollo's setup guide shows how for your model). Then give the driver the roll's size: on a Mac, choose Manage Custom Sizes under Paper Size in the print dialog and add the width and height; on Windows, set the paper size in the printer's preferences.

Brother QL

These are the DK rolls the app has sizes for. Any other size works too, entered as a custom size. The QL-800, QL-810W and QL-820NWB take DK rolls up to 62 mm wide, and the QL-1100 and QL-1110NWB take wider ones.

Brother DK-1201 (29 x 90 mm roll)
Brother DK-1209 (29 x 62 mm address roll)
Brother DK-11204 (17 x 54 mm multipurpose)

Turn Editor Lite off first

A QL-800, QL-810W or QL-820NWB can arrive with Editor Lite on, and then the computer sees a drive instead of a printer and nothing prints. Hold the Editor Lite button until its green light goes out, then install Brother's driver for your model. In the print dialog, choose the paper size for the DK roll in the printer (the driver lists each one by its size).

When a label prints but will not scan

The barcode is smaller than it should be: the print dialog scaled it. Print at 100% or "Actual size".
A label runs onto the next one, or a blank label comes out between them: the paper size in the driver does not match the roll. Set it to the roll, and on a thermal printer calibrate after changing rolls.
The bars run together or look faint: on a Zebra, Rollo or Munbyn, change the darkness in the driver (some drivers call it density) and print one more.
A LabelWriter 550 or 5XL will not take the roll: it prints only on Dymo's own rolls.
A Brother QL does not show up as a printer: Editor Lite is on.

Labels for a whole Shopify transfer or purchase order

Shopify admin has no button that prints the labels for what arrived. AK: PO & Barcode Label Printer, the app I make, reads a transfer or a purchase order, takes each product's quantity from it, and makes the labels as one PDF for the roll you choose. It installs read-only, and writes only the barcodes, SKUs and stock you receive once you allow it.

For a few labels without installing anything, the free label tool makes a PDF for a Dymo 30334 roll (2.25 x 1.25 in), a Dymo 30252 address roll, a Zebra roll (2.25 x 1.25 in), a Zebra roll (1.5 x 1 in), or a Brother DK-1201 roll (29 x 90 mm) from a list of SKUs or barcodes. The guide to printing barcode labels in Shopify walks through purchase orders and transfers step by step, and the app is on the Shopify App Store.