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NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 02:59 PM

Hi,

pls recommend (any?) available barcode/label thermal printer for mac. Seiko smart printer is too small. need something with 6+" of print width. there are tons for pc, but I haven't found any powerful for mac. I think of buying powerbook, but label printer is the main criteria otherwise I should consider buying pc laptop

OreoCookie · 03:38 PM

There are actually not so many label printers which can print 6+ inches, at least from what I've seen and all of them are rather pricey.

Anyway, with the ESP PrintPro drivers you can use Zebra printers for instance. They have many, many companies listed, so I would just check their compatibility list for the printers you are looking for.

Before you shell out money, check if there isn't a driver available for free (yes, it says LinuxPrinting, but also applies to OS X as long as a cups driver is available).

If you were to add some of the choices you are thinking of, we could be more specific.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 03:37 PM

thanks, man. will definitely have a look there!

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 03:42 PM

Could you give us a hint as to what label printers you have in mind? The ones I've seen with at least 6 inch printing width aren't exactly cheap …

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 03:44 PM

they really have many printers listed, but I found only Zebra ZPL and this one is small again. any other resources to make "windows" label printers work with mac? or mac dedicated printers?

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 03:47 PM

Well, again, what windows printers would you be interested in?

On the ESP website, they claim to support all printers by Zebra which support the ZPL language and that's as far as I've seen their whole line-up.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Could you give us a hint as to what label printers you have in mind? The ones I've seen with at least 6 inch printing width aren't exactly cheap …

yes, they are not cheap, but does it matter? the issue is to find any of those for mac

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 03:49 PM

On the ESP website, they claim to support all printers by Zebra which support the ZPL language and that's as far as I've seen their whole line-up.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Well, again, what windows printers would you be interested in?

sorry mate. I don't understand what you mean. if you're about models, here they are:

Zebra 170XiIIIPlus, 220XiIIIPlus
Sato CL612E
Datamax W-8306
Citizen CLP 8301

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 03:53 PM

The Zebras are supported by ESP, all their printers have the ZPL printer language in common. Which in turn is supported by ESP.

If you want to know about practical experience, I don't know anyone with a label printer of that width on any platform

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:02 PM

ok, I see. Zebra 170XiIIIPlus seems to support ZPL and ZPLII programming languages. I wrote to eps tech support to confirm if this will work for mac.

btw, I have this Visioneer OneTouch 9000 scanner. any ideas if there is a solution to make it work with mac? the mfg says they have only windows drivers so far. pls advise

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

The Zebras are supported by ESP, all their printers have the ZPL printer language in common. Which in turn is supported by ESP.

If you want to know about practical experience, I don't know anyone with a label printer of that width on any platform

well, I have no practical experience either. I would probably go on refurbished one if I could only find any of that kind (6+") for sale

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 04:08 PM

I also found online documentation by Zebra itself that you can use Linux and Unix operating systems as well (and OS X is a *nix derivative).

AFAIK it does not work with Macs. However, most scanners you can nowadays buy (most notably Canons and Epsons) do work flawlessly.

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by NeverTriedApple

well, I have no practical experience either. I would probably go on refurbished one if I could only find any of that kind (6+") for sale

Just out of curiosity: what do you need the label printer for?

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:19 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

I also found online documentation by Zebra itself that you can use Linux and Unix operating systems as well (and OS X is a *nix derivative).

AFAIK it does not work with Macs. However, most scanners you can nowadays buy (most notably Canons and Epsons) do work flawlessly.

Re: printer - the documentation is about print servers, isn't it? you mean, by using this print server I will be able to print on Zebra printer under Mac OS X via TCP/IP? but the driver for printer is necessary anyway, no?

Re: scanner. yes, there are enough for mac, but visioneer is the fastest I ever used. try it if you find regular scanners too slow (it costs approx £60 here in the UK)

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by NeverTriedApple

Re: printer - the documentation is about print servers, isn't it? you mean, by using this print server I will be able to print on Zebra printer under Mac OS X via TCP/IP? but the driver for printer is necessary anyway, no?

Well, it seems to allude that you can use print services via lpr and other standard unix networking protocols.

Originally Posted by NeverTriedApple

Re: scanner. yes, there are enough for mac, but visioneer is the fastest I ever used. try it if you find regular scanners too slow (it costs approx £60 here in the UK)

Hmmm, my Epson is fast enough for what I do. I don't scan too much, though, it's basically just to scan old pictures and to attach copies to e-mails if I have to and I'm not at work.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Just out of curiosity: what do you need the label printer for?

there are some labels I need to print which are wider than 4". if I rotate the image - the barcode becomes unreadable (barcode scanner cannot recognize it). however, it was happening with "cheap" version of barcode printer (that zebra/eltron simple ones you can find in any office). I am not sure that industrial 4" printer will be perfect when printing rotated barcode, so I think of one time buying normal printer with normal 6"+ width. if you have experience of printing and then normally reading rotated barcodes on any 4" industrial printed (which is in fact much cheaper than 6"+) - pls share.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Well, it seems to allude that you can use print services via lpr and other standard unix networking protocols.

Hmmm, my Epson is fast enough for what I do. I don't scan too much, though, it's basically just to scan old pictures and to attach copies to e-mails if I have to and I'm not at work.

sorry, I am completely new to unix/mac os and have no idea of how these services work. can you give some web links to read more about it? I am familiar with tectronix network printers (eg 360 series) and they require driver to work under windows. isn't it the same with mac (unix) or having it connected to the network is enough to use it?

visioneer is for rapid scanning. epson is for home use. I used both - visioneer is much faster.

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 04:37 PM

Well, I worked at a register for three months after I graduated from High School, that's pretty much my experience with barcodes

More seriously, have you thought of a dot-matrix/inkjet printers with label paper/rolls?

Other than that, that's pretty much outside of my field of expertise … sorry.

NeverTriedApple · Dec 18, 2005, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by OreoCookie

Well, I worked at a register for three months after I graduated from High School, that's pretty much my experience with barcodes

More seriously, have you thought of a dot-matrix/inkjet printers with label paper/rolls?

Other than that, that's pretty much outside of my field of expertise … sorry.

I cannot use matrix/inkjet printers due to application needs, I have to use thermal transfer printer. thanks for your help man.

OreoCookie · Dec 18, 2005, 04:51 PM

You're welcome, good luck. Let's hope things work out for you.

tooki · Dec 18, 2005, 05:37 PM

What about laser? For some applications (you haven't given us any indication what application this is for. Application ≠ requirements.), full-page label stock, or custom-printed sheets where part of the page is a label (used widely by mail-order companies), printed on a laser printer, might be a good solution.

tooki

NeverTriedApple · Dec 19, 2005, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

What about laser? For some applications (you haven't given us any indication what application this is for. Application ≠ requirements.), full-page label stock, or custom-printed sheets where part of the page is a label (used widely by mail-order companies), printed on a laser printer, might be a good solution.

tooki

no man. no laser is possible. i have some standards for printing out labels using thermal printers.

i spoke to zebra reseller today - they are going to check out zebra-mac solution. no news from eps guys so far. any fresh ideas on thermal printer for mac?

tooki · Dec 19, 2005, 10:32 PM

Sheesh, calm down. All I said is that if you gave us an idea of what task you need to achieve, not how you already think you need to achieve it, people might be able to come up with a creative solution.

tooki

NeverTriedApple · Dec 20, 2005, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

Sheesh, calm down. All I said is that if you gave us an idea of what task you need to achieve, not how you already think you need to achieve it, people might be able to come up with a creative solution.

tooki

<--- this related to the necessity of using thermal transfer, not your question

so calm down you now

All I need is to print the barcode using thermal transfer technology/quality, I cannot use laser or other printer. I cannot imagine which solution here is possible except simply using the thermal printer. The matter is not to take the chance and buy an expensive printer (like zebra above) which might have not work under mac, but to find existing printer with mac drivers. I haven't succeded to find any so far (seiko is not ok), so I asked the forum. no barcode-label-printer users here? any help is highly appreciated.

tooki · Dec 20, 2005, 10:03 PM

Again, you've avoided my question though! My question isn't what equipment you think you need, or why you think you need it. My question is "What task do you want to accomplish?" (Is it a state secret or something?!?) With that question answered, we might be able to come up with an easier (and/or cheaper) solution than an industrial-grade label printer, perhaps something you didn't think of, or didn't know existed.

Very few big label printers are used on Macs. Most users here won't have had any experience with such beasts.

Anyhow, did you try a Google search for 'industrial label printing "mac os x" '? You might like what you see... (and let us know what you think of what you do find.)

tooki

NeverTriedApple · Dec 21, 2005, 07:53 AM

the task I want to accomplish is to "recover" original, but damaged label. due to transportation, the original package of my customer's product got completely damaged. he has successfully found exact carton pkg for the product so now we make the label. in fact there are several tens boxes that need to be repacked and relabeled. the customer cannot sell this product any further since he is restricted to deliver only in original manufacturer pkg. that's the story. why not to use printing service of somebody else instead of buying such an expensive unit? well, there are issues of mfg rights for logo, privacy, etc. so not every company would want to deal with it. moreover, there are too many packages and all of them have unique serial no. so it makes no sence for printing companies to print one of every kind when they could print min 1K of same type. I can buy windows-based printer to finish the project, but since I want to use macintosh in future for "all my needs", I would rather think of buying mac-compatible printer now. I will definitely google the string you advised. so far I tried locating printers by manufacturer. will report later.

nrgsoft · Dec 23, 2005, 09:48 PM

If you want to easily create custom labels on the Zebra printer, check out the Peninsula Barcode driver for OS X. It's the only "driver" for these thermal printers.
http://www.peninsulasoftware.com/

If you have a network enabled Zebra printer, you can also write custom ZPL code which can get sent to the printer for output, no driver needed. Our UPS, FedEx and DHL solutions also can output direct to zebra printers (via USB) without the need for a driver. (http://www.nrgsoft.com/products/) We are well versed in creating custom label solutions thru EPL and ZPL programming.