Drop a shipping label PDF and get print-ready ZPL
per page, plus a pixel-true preview of what the printer will produce. Free, no signup; this is
the exact engine behind our API. Have a PNG/GIF/JPEG instead? Use the
Image → ZPL converter.
An 8-page PDF……printed as labels on a real Zebra. (hover to see every label)
Output carries a light watermark. Sign in and create a free API key; then every run here is watermark-free (500 credits a month, no card).
Drop a PDF here, or click to choose a file
Every page becomes print-ready ZPL, previewed as it would print
No file handy? Try a sample
About the PDF → ZPL
A PDF to ZPL converter turns the label a carrier or ERP hands you as a PDF into the raw ZPL a Zebra printer speaks. Zebra printers cannot print PDFs; they print bitmaps and commands, so every page here is rasterized at the printhead's real resolution, converted to a 1-bit image and packed into a ^GFA graphic field between ^XA and ^XZ.
You pick the label size and the density (203, 300 or 600 dpi; 8, 12 or 24 dots per mm). The page is scaled to that size, rotated when a landscape page is going onto a portrait feed, and previewed exactly as the printer will lay it down: what you see is the bitmap the printhead gets. The engine has been cross-checked against thousands of physically printed carrier labels (UPS, FedEx, USPS, DHL, Amazon and more).
The free tool takes PDFs up to 5 MB and 3 pages. The API takes 20 MB and 16 pages per call, streams pages as they finish, and returns clean ZPL for every language with an SDK.
Density and label size in dots
ZPL positions are printer dots, so the same label is a different number of dots at each density. Match the printer.
Printer
dpi
dots / mm
4 x 6 in label
2 x 1 in label
Most desktop Zebras (GX, GK, ZD, LP)
203
8
812 x 1218
406 x 203
Industrial and healthcare (ZT, ZD 300)
300
12
1218 x 1827
609 x 304
High resolution (ZT 600)
600
24
2436 x 3654
1218 x 609
Your data: Your PDF is processed in memory and discarded when the response is sent; nothing is stored, logged or read by a person. Anonymous runs carry a small stripyhorse.io logo in the corner; sign in for clean output. Details in the privacy policy.
Questions
Is the PDF to ZPL converter free?
Yes. The browser tool needs no account and no card. Anonymous output carries a small stripyhorse.io logo in the corner; a free account removes it and gives you an API key with 500 credits a month.
Do you store my PDF or the addresses on it?
No. The PDF is converted in memory and dropped as soon as the ZPL and preview are sent back. There is no upload directory and no history.
Which resolution should I choose?
Match your printer: most desktop Zebras (GX, ZD, GK) are 203 dpi, many industrial and healthcare models are 300 dpi, and 600 dpi is rare. Printing a 203 dpi image on a 300 dpi head makes the label two thirds of the size; the converter scales for you if you pick the right density.
Why does the barcode from my PDF not scan after conversion?
A rasterized barcode scans when its bars land on whole printer dots. Convert at the printer's real density, keep the label at its true size rather than fitting to a smaller one, and run the result through the Preflight tool, which decodes every barcode and measures its module width.
Can I convert multi-page PDFs?
Yes. Each page becomes its own label. The free tool handles 3 pages per file; the API handles 16 per call and streams them as they are ready.
The same engine is behind the API and the guides; every tool here is also an API call.
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