View ZPL files in your browser
The language of Zebra's label printers, which shipping labels from carriers and stores come in. Open a ZPL file right here, every label drawn at its size. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your labels are drawn one a page inside your browser, each at its own size with its barcodes, boxes and graphics, then open fitted to your window.
- Barcodes drawn • Code 128, QR Code, Data Matrix, EAN and more
- A page each label • Type a label to go to it
- Show details • Their size, dots an inch and barcodes
- Export • Save as PDF, PNG or JPEG
About ZPL
Zebra Technologies made ZPL for its label printers: commands that start with a caret, like ^FO to place a field and ^BC for a Code 128 barcode, between ^XA and ^XZ for each label. ZPL II is what Zebra's printers and many others understand, at 203 or 300 dots an inch.
Shipping labels from UPS, FedEx, USPS and DHL, and from the shipping apps online shops use, come as ZPL to print straight to a thermal printer, as do warehouse, pharmacy and lab labels. Without a Zebra printer, nothing on a computer or phone shows one but its commands.
Filepeek draws each label in your browser at its own size: its text in fonts like Zebra's, its boxes, circles, lines and graphics, and its barcodes, Code 128, Code 39, EAN and UPC, QR Code, Data Matrix, PDF417, Aztec and MaxiCode among them. Show details gives the labels' size, dots an inch and barcodes, and Export saves them as a PDF, or as PNG or JPEG.
Zebra Programming Language
.zpl
Format
- MIME type
- text/plain
- Made by
- Zebra Technologies
Inside the file
- Labels
- Each between ^XA and ^XZ
- Fields
- Text, boxes and graphics placed in dots
- Barcodes
- Code 128, QR Code, Data Matrix and more
- Graphics
- Pictures as hex, often compressed
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens ZPL files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. On their own, browsers show their commands as text, and Windows, macOS, iOS and Android need a label printer's app to show the labels.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open ZPL
- WindowsNo app built in opens it • Zebra's own tools, with its printer
- MacNo app built in opens it
- iPhone and iPadNo app built in opens it
- AndroidNo app built in opens it
Questions
How do I print a ZPL label without a Zebra printer?
Open it here, choose Export, then Save as PDF, and print the PDF at its size on any printer. A 4 by 6 inch shipping label fits on half a Letter or A4 sheet.
Why does my label look a little different from the printout?
Zebra's printers carry fonts of their own, so Filepeek sets text in fonts close to them, at the same size and place. Barcodes are drawn bar for bar at the widths the label sets.
What do the ^ commands mean?
Each command starts with a caret and two letters: ^FO places a field, ^A picks its font, ^FD holds its text, ^BC makes it a Code 128 barcode and ^FS ends it. ^XA and ^XZ start and end a label.