OTF fonts on Link-OS printers

Hello John and Steven,

Since your last response to me I performed a lot of experiments and I have to confirm you are right about it. It doesn't work in a way it was documented.

TLDR: It is able to print labels using pre-installed Z:0.TTF font and unable to print same labels using downloaded OTF fonts that were renamed to TTF before downloading. Also there are some issues with fonts downloading tools.

I used my ZQ320 for all tests:

For my experiments I used two OTF fonts:

1) Montserrat-Regular.otf https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/montserrat renamed to Montsera.ttf

2) Pecita.otf https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/pecita renamed to Pecita.ttf

Also I have them installed as Windows fonts.

First I attempted to print text block from ZebraDesigner using Pecita font. It was printed ok but with capturing ZPL output I discovered that ZebraDesigner get rendered it before sending to a printer and then have it sent as graphic field. It is using a ^GF command. So it isn't that was needed.

Next moment I attempted to download OTF fonts (renamed to TTF) to my printer using Zebra Fonts Downloader. I created a new card and selected a ZPL driver for my printer. When I selected Fonts->Add from menu it offered me two options:

Initially I selected "Download all characters" option and discovered that my fonts are not in the list of available fonts despite a fact they were successfully installed as Windows fonts:

Also there was no option to enter a name of font manually. So I decided to try option "Download selected characters" and next moment it showed me installed fonts among others. Also, for some reason it asked me about needed font size:

I selected Fonts->Download from menu and successfully downloaded them to my printer. I used ^WDE:*.* command to print all files on printer drive E: and discovered that fonts were converted to non-scaled fonts MON000.FNT and PEC000.FNT

Next moment I attempted to download fonts to printer using Printer Tools from Zebra Setup Utilities. For some reason an option to copy files to a printer is available for CPCL driver only. There is no such option for ZPL driver despite the fact ZPL language has respective commands. So I used CPCL driver to download needed OTF fonts to my printer without converting them to FNT fonts:

Also I successfully downloaded Pecita font to my printer using following ZPL command:

~DYE:PECITA01,A,T,862520,1,T,<BASE64 DATA GOES HERE..>

As result I have following fonts in my printer:

Then I attempted to print label. Using FNT fonts made of OTF ones it was able to print  labels with following commands:

^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,10,15,E:MON000.FNT
^FB450,5,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&MON000.FNT font^FS
^XZ
^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,10,15,E:PEC000.FNT
^FB450,4,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&PEC000.FNT font^FS
^XZ

And it is totally unable to print the same labels using TTF fonts with following commands:

^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,10,15,E:MONTSERA.TTF
^FB450,5,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&MONTSERA.TTF font^FS
^XZ
^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,10,15,E:PECITA.TTF
^FB450,4,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&E:PECITA.TTF font^FS
^XZ

It printed them totally empty. I suggested there could be something wrong with a way I downloaded TTF fonts to printer in CPCL mode. So I decided to try a TTF font I have downloaded with ~DYE:PECITA01,A,T ZPL command:

^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,10,15,E:PECITA01.TTF
^FB450,4,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&E:PECITA01.TTF font^FS
^XZ

Resulted label was empty also.

However, I discovered it is able to print label using pre-installed Z:0.TTF font with following commands:

^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A@N,60,45,Z:0.TTF
^FB450,4,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&Z:0.TTF font^FS
^XZ

Also, I have it tested with a following form of ZPL command: "^A3N,20,20,E:MONTSERRATALTERN.TTF". With ^A3 it is able to print a label but seems using a font that is associated with number 3 by default. It is definitely not the Pecita.ttf font:

^XA
^CI28
^FO10,10
^A3N,60,20,E:PECITA.TTF
^FB450,5,,
^FDThis text has been\&printed using the\&E:PECITA.TTF font^FS
^XZ

Dmitry Prokhorov

Software Engineer, Kutir Mobility

Posted on behalf of Zebra Technologies

Hello John,

Would like to add two cents more.. On a page 36 of release notes document for my printer firmware I able to see a following note:

https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/zebra_new_ia/en-us/software-printer/firmware/en/release-notes/P1105470-002_LINK-OS_FW-…

ZPL Fonts: All standard ZPL fonts are available. Custom fonts must be True type (.ttf) only, Intellifont (.fnt) fonts are not supported. 

Unsure it means OTF fonts are not supported but it could be the case. Also this note is for version V68.18.0Z of firmware and my firmware have version V81.20.10Z. No any mentions of OTF has been found in this document.

Dmitry Prokhorov

Software Engineer, Kutir Mobility

Posted on behalf of Zebra Technologies