Zebra Printer - Cut on last page

Question

I've a Zebra ZT610 and I want to print a label, in pdf format, containing multiple pages and then have it cut on the last page. I've tried using the delayed cut mode and sending the ~JK command but I'm using a self written java application to do the invocation of printing. I've also tried to add the string "${^XB}$" into the PDF document before each page break, except the last, and used the pass-through setting in the driver to inhibit the cut command but that seems to not work either as the java print job is rendering such text as an image.

I've tried the official Zebra driver as well as using the NiceLabel zebra driver too in the hope that they may have more "Custom Commands" options in the settings but nothing has yet come to light.

Answer 1

After we had the same issues for several weeks and neither the vendor nor google nor Zebra's own support came up with a FULL working solution, we've worked out the following EASY 5 step solution for this (apparently pretty common) Zebra Cutter issue/problem:

Step 1: Set Cutter-Mode to Tear-Off in the settings. This will disable the auto-cutting after every single page.

Step 2: Go to Customer-Commands in the settings dialog (Allows ZPL coding).

Step 3: Set the first drop-down to "DOCUMENT".

Step 4: Set the Start-Section to "TEXT" and paste in

 ^XA^MMD^XZ^XA^JUS^XZ

MMD enables PAUSE-Mode. The JK command is only available in Pause-Mode and many Zebra printers do not support the much easier command CN (Cut-Now). JUS saves the setting to the printer.

Step 5: Set the End-Section to "ANALYZED TEXT" and paste in

˜JK˜PS

JK sets the cut command to the end of the document, PS disables the pause mode (and thus starts printing immediately). When everything looks as described above, hit "APPLY" and your Zebra printer will automatically cut after the end of each document you send to it. You just send your PDF using sumatra or whatever you prefer. The cutter handling is now automatically done by the printer settings.

Alternatively, if you want to do this programmaticaly, use the START and END codes at the corresponding positions in your ZPL code instead. Note that ˜CMDs cannot be send in combination with ^CMDs, thats why there's no XA...XZ block to reset any settings (which is not necessary in this scenario as it only affects the print session and PS turns the pause mode back to OFF).