What is DPL?
DPL (Datamax Printer Language) is the command language of Datamax thermal printers, later sold as Datamax-O’Neil and now as Honeywell. DPL printers are common in industrial and healthcare labeling.
Example
Section titled “Example”<STX>LD11191100801000025LabelZoom1e5504000000100012345678E<STX> stands for the control byte 0x02. A real DPL file contains the byte itself.
<STX>L enters label-formatting mode and D11 sets the dot size. Each numeric record that follows defines one text or barcode field. E ends the label and prints it.
DPL vs ZPL
Section titled “DPL vs ZPL”| Aspect | DPL | ZPL |
|---|---|---|
| Printers | Datamax, Datamax-O’Neil, and Honeywell | Zebra, and other printers that emulate ZPL |
| Command start | <STX> control byte |
^ or ~ |
| Field definition | One record per field: rotation, font, multipliers, size, row, column, then data | Separate commands for position, font, and data |
| Coordinate origin | Bottom-left corner of the label | Top-left corner of the label |
Convert DPL files
Section titled “Convert DPL files”These free tools run in your browser:
- DPL viewer: see a label without a printer.
- DPL to PDF: get a printable PDF.
- DPL to ZPL: convert the label for a Zebra printer.
- PDF to DPL: create DPL from a PDF.
The LabelZoom API converts DPL to and from ZPL, PDF, and images. For example, POST /api/v2/convert/dpl/to/pdf renders DPL as a PDF, and POST /api/v2/convert/zpl/to/dpl converts ZPL to DPL. DPL output starts with an <STX> byte, so save it as bytes, not text; see Binary output.