How to configure a Raw printer on macOS

This guide will walk you through preparing a Zebra label printer on macOS to print high quality barcode and shipping labels from Scan to Ship. To print high quality barcode and shipping labels from Scan to Ship, the target label printer must be configured on Mac as a “Raw” printer. The following instructions explain how to do that on a macOS computer.

Before you start…

If you have previously set up your label printer through the Printers & Scanners pane in System Preferences, it is recommended that you first remove the label printer from the list in Printers & Scanners. This will provide a clean starting point and reduce the chance of confusion later on. Please note that after completing the steps below, your label printer will not be displayed in the System Preferences, Printers & Scanners pane but will be available as a printer in Scan to Ship.

Step 1: Open a Terminal window.

Method 1: Type Command (⌘) + Space. A Spotlight Search overlay will open. Type “Terminal” and hit the return key.

Method 2: From the Finder, go to your Applications folder. You’ll usually find this in the sidebar of any open Finder window, or you can select “Applications” from the “Go” menu in the menu bar. From Applications, go into the Utilities folder. From there, double click on the Terminal application.

Step 2: Enable the CUPS web interface.

Type “cupsctl WebInterface=yes” into the Terminal window and press the enter/return key. You should not see any output or response in the Terminal. You can now close the Terminal application.

Step 3: Open the CUPS web interface

Open a new web browser window and enter the following address into the address bar: http://localhost:631/

Step 4: Add the printer

First, make sure that your Zebra printer is attached to your computer via a USB cable and powered on.

Click on the Administration tab at the to of the page. Now click on the “Add Printer” button. When you are prompted to enter a username and password, enter your macOS account username and password.

You should see your Zebra printer in the list of “Local Printers”. Select it and then click the Continue button.

You can enter whatever you like into the Name, Description and Location fields, but it is recommended to add a “Raw” suffix to the printer name (e.g. “Zebra GX420 Raw”) to avoid confusion if the same printer is later configured (for example, to print PDFs) via the System Settings application. Click Continue when finished.

On the next page, in the “Make” list, scroll down and select “Raw”. The click Continue.

On the next page select “None” for both “Starting Banner” and “Ending Banner”. Click the “Set Default Options” button.

Step 5: Finished

Your printer is now set up to receive label print jobs in a native raw format (ZPL for Zebra printers). Please note that “Raw” printers do not show up in the System Preferences, Printers & Scanners panel. However, you will see it listed in the Printer Connect application’s printers list, and within Scan to Ship. To access the full status of this printer, you may need to view the printer via the CUPS web interface by following the first few steps above.

If you haven’t done so already, you can now download and install the Printer Connect application to connect your Scan to Ship account to your physical printers.

If you are already running our Printer Connect application, you may want to relaunch the application in order to update the connected printer list.