Documentation
Printer Emulators
Compatibility
- ✅ 2.2 | ✅ 2.1 | ✅ 2.0 | ✅ 1.9 | ...
Background
The high costs of printer hardware can make a developer's job difficult when designing a product which has printing capabilities. Various methods exist for printing to virtual printers which avoid the need to purchase physical hardware during the research and development phases of a project as well as baseline troubleshooting of functionality.
Printer emulation is a critical part of reducing the overhead associated with a development lifecycle. Listed below are common printer hardware emulators/methods.
Pixel
| OS | Name | Pixel | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | PDFCreator | ✔️ | Recommended choice for Windows. Download |
| Windows | CutePDF | ✔️ | Good alternative to PDFCreator |
| Windows | PrimoPDF | ✔️ | Good alternative to PDFCreator |
| Windows | Microsoft XPS Document Writer | ✔️ | 600 dpi only; known to degrade image quality |
| Windows | Microsoft Print to PDF | ✔️ | 600 dpi only; known to degrade image quality |
| macOS | RWTS PDFwriter | ✔️ | Recommended choice for MacOS. Download |
| macOS | Lisanet PDFwriter | ✔️ | Requires workarounds for macOS 10.10+ |
| Linux | CUPS-PDF | ✔️ | Recommended choice for Linux. Download via apt/dnf/etc |
Raw
| OS | Name | Raw | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | QPCPrint | ✔️ ESC/P2 | Windows 7 or lower, disable UAC. Download |
| Windows | Bematech | ✔️ ESC/Bema | Download (Portugese language) |
| Windows | FILE: |
✔️ Raw | Configure, Inspect output using XVI32 hex editor |
| Windows | PSA Output Manager | ✔️ IGP/PGL (Printronix Graphics Language) | Recommended for IGP/PGL/Printronix testing. Please inquire with TSC support for a link to this software. |
| Windows | Virtual ZPL Printer | ✔️ ZPL | Recommended for ZPL. Visit site |
| All | Labelary | ✔️ ZPL | Recommended for ZPL. Visit site |
| All | Zpl Printer (Emulator, Chrome app) | ✔️ ZPL | Requires Chromium 109 or older. Download Notes:
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