Troubleshooting
Printer Diagnostics
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P1062653-002 Rev. A ZD500 Series™ Thermal Transfer Printer User’s Guide 1/16/2014
4. See Figure2 and Ta ble 6. Inspect the test labels and determine which one has the best
print quality for your application. If you have a bar code verifier, use it to measure
bars/spaces and calculate the print contrast. If you do not have a bar code verifier, use your
eyes or the system scanner to choose the optimal darkness setting based on the labels
printed in this self test.
Figure 2 • Bar Code Darkness Comparison
Table 6 • Judging Bar Code Quality
Print Quality Description
Too d ark Labels that are too dark are fairly obvious. They may be
readable but not “in-spec.”
•The normal bar code bars increase in size.
•The openings in small alphanumeric characters may fill in
with ink.
•Rotated bar code bars and spaces run together.
Slightly dark Slightly dark labels are not as obvious.
•The normal bar code will be “in-spec.”
•Small character alpha numerics will be bold and could be
slightly filled in.
•The rotated bar code spaces are small when compared to
the “in-spec” code, possibly making the code unreadable.