Adobe Reader not printing USPS barcodes clearly on 4"x6" thermal shipping labels

Question

Hi All,

I'm having an issue printing eBay shipping labels with U.S. Postal Service barcodes on my Zebra LP-2844Z thermal printer.

I'm seeing jagged edges, or horizontal spikes coming out of the main vertical barcode lines.

It looks perfect when viewing it in Reader, but printing to the 203DPI Zebra printer it looks less than optimal.

The barcode in the PDF appears to be an image, not a vector object. Not sure if that matters.

I am not using "Print As Image" and printing at Actual Size, or 100%. Using "Print As Image" degrades the quality of the entire label.

I don't think there's a printer driver problem, because other PDF reader software (like Foxit) can print the barcodes perfectly, as straight, smooth lines, as would be expected.

I tested this on Adobe Reader DC v023.008.20555 in both Windows 7 and WIndows 10, and it prints exactly the same in both OS's.

Please see attached images. Oddly enough, both barcode images below scanned successfully at the post office, but I would feel more confident that my shipments woud not get lost if the barcode were printed as it appeared on the screen.

As to why I prefer to use Adobe over the other application, the other one causes kerning problems with fonts and some letters within words appear with extra spaces between them. In fact, you can see that anomaly in the image below, where the other app displays the word TRA CKING with some space inserted between the 'A' and 'C'. Adobe Reader handles the font printing perfectly.

Any help is appreciated!

Scoey · Accepted Answer

Well, it seems it may have been a printer driver issue after all. The Zebra driver may not have been handling images correctly as sent by Acrobat Reader, although Foxit sent the images correctly to the driver. Go figure.

In any case, I bought a new printer (Vevor Y-468BT) and Acrobat Reader printed the shipping label perfectly, including the barcode image.

So case solved 🙂

elite_8265 · Answer

To fix the jagged edges in barcodes when printing eBay shipping labels on your Zebra LP-2844Z printer, follow these steps: First, make sure you have the latest drivers for your Zebra printer installed. Check your print settings in Adobe Reader; ensure the printer is set to 203 DPI and that the print quality is set to "High." If you prefer Adobe Reader for its font handling but find that Foxit prints barcodes better, consider using Foxit for your shipping labels. If you must use "Print As Image," try adjusting the DPI settings in Adobe to see if that helps. If the barcode is just an image, you might need to recreate or convert the PDF for better results. For more detail check outhttps://munbyn.com/collections/all-printers

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