Zebra 170Xi4 300 (Or 304?) Dpi Follow

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I have a strange issue with the driver of a brand new Zebra 170Xi4 300 dpi. (driver version 7.2 and 7.3)
The problem is that everything is scaled about 1-2% so e.g. a line that in Bartender is 88 mm it is almost 90 mm on the printed label.
What "solves" the issue is to go to the driver, chose Tools -> Driver Options -> Override printer settings and set the resolution to 300 instead of 304 dpi.
It just feels wrong to do like this because for sure this printer is 304 dpi (12 dots / mm)????
With the ZebraDesigner driver from Zebra it works.

What might have caused this issue? I have printed both from Bartender and a 3rd party product to rule out printer software bugs.

Let me just add that the following zpl produces a result consistent with 300 dpi. The distance between the two text objects is almost 68mm.

^XA
^LH30,30
^FO20,10^AD^FDZEBRA^FS
^FO20,810^AD^FDZEBRA2^FS
^XZ


Kind regards
Johan

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I could be wrong, but I can't find any evidence in product specs that the printer is 304 dpi. Zebras typically come in the 203 dpi or 300 dpi version I believe. So that would be consistent with your results.
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Ian Cummings
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It should be noted that some Zebra print heads can come in the 305 dpi variety in addition to 300 dpi. It all goes to make life interesting. Our drivers go by the spec written by Zebra, although we can sometimes make a mistake. Also it can be wrong if Zebra change the spec without warning. It could also be that a replaced print head due to failure might have been replaced with one of a slightly different resolution. The option is there in the driver to adjust for just such an eventuality, if need be.
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Thanks for the update.
Just for clearification, when i install the driver it says 304 dpi. i tried also some other models and its the same. The sales guy have cormfirmed the print head is 300 dpi.
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Ian Cummings
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Ahh yes, true enough, I now recall an internal conversation we had on this and that some of the Zebra printers at least now being at 304 dpi.

Part of the confusion is that during the production lifetime of a printer model the manufacturer might switch the source/model of the print head that they use in the printer. This can result in slight discrepancy between old and new printers of the same model when being used with the same printer driver. I will submit a question with development on this and get their input.
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Ian Cummings
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Update: Our tests have confirmed a 304 dpi print resolution for the printer, even though the technical documentation from Zebra reports 300 dpi. I believe we will be updating this driver to the correct specification with the next release. Use the printer driver overrides for the time being.
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Interesant!!  :ph34r:

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