Zplbox

ZplBox revolutionizes ZPL label creation by allowing you to use the full web technology stack. Design your labels with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and let ZplBox handle the conversion. Your web content is rendered as a PNG and then transformed into a ZPL graphic, giving you the freedom to incorporate images, custom fonts, rich typography, and special characters with ease.

Beyond web content, ZplBox also features robust PDF support. It can convert any PDF document into a high-quality PNG using Apache PDFBox, which is then seamlessly integrated into your ZPL label. This allows you to leverage existing PDF designs and documents for your labels, simplifying your workflow and expanding your design possibilities.

Whether you submit your content as a web file, a URL, or a PDF, ZplBox provides a straightforward way to generate ZPL code as a string or send it directly to your printer. This unique approach leverages modern web and document technologies to create dynamic and complex labels that are nearly impossible to achieve with native ZPL alone.

ZplBox offers a flexible and powerful solution for generating ZPL labels, whether you use our Cloud-Hosted Service or our convenient Self-Hosted ZPL Print Server.

Cloud-Hosted Service (hosted)

Our cloud-hosted ZplBox API, available on RapidAPI, provides a seamless, serverless experience for your label generation needs.

ZplBox at RapidAPI >>

Quick Start

Create a ZPL label of test label https://zplbox.org/test-labels/test-label-2.pdf:

$ curl --request POST 
    --url https://zplbox2.p.rapidapi.com/v1/pdf2zpl 
    --header 'Accept: text/plain' 
    --header 'Content-Type: application/json' 
    --header 'x-rapidapi-host: zplbox2.p.rapidapi.com' 
    --header 'x-rapidapi-key: [YOUR_API_KEY]' 
    --data '{"url":"https://zplbox.org/test-labels/test-label-2.pdf","dotsPerInch":203,"orientation":"Rotate0"}'
    --output my-zpl-label.txt

To print a file containing ZPL code (e. g. my-zpl-label.txt), use the netcat (nc) command-line utility, available on macOS and Linux. Zebra printers are listening on port 9100 by default:

$ nc -N 192.168.100.42 9100 < my-zpl-label.txt

If you are using Windows, the official replacement for Netcat is Ncat, which is included with the popular Nmap network utility.

Community Edition (self-hosted)

ZplBox is designed as a Docker container what can be started using this command:

$ docker run -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/ricebean-net/zplbox:latest

ZplBox comes with an intuitive user interface (UI) designed to help you get started with ZplBox and its API effortlessly. The UI allows you to manually convert HTML and PDF files to ZPL (Zebra Programming Language) and send the generated ZPL labels directly to a printer.

Once the docker container is started, you can access the interface at http://localhost:8080.

Documentation and Examples

For a complete guide, technical documentation, and additional code examples, please visit https://zplbox.org.

• Extended Quick Start: Get up and running fast with our step-by-step guide.
• API Reference: Explore the full API with our visual Swagger documentation.
• Test Labels: View and run examples for both HTML and PDF labels.
• Code Examples: Find code snippets for common use cases.