Labels the ZT421 203 dpi is suited for
The ZT421 203 dpi is a 6-inch industrial printer with a 168 mm print width that prints at up to 305 mm per second. It suits sites that quickly print bold barcodes on labels wider than 114 mm, such as pallet labels and large carton labels.
It prints bars from 5 mil, and a single continuous print can run up to 2,590 mm. If you have a lot of small text and dense 2D codes, see the ZT421 300 dpi on the same body; if a 104 mm print width is enough, the 16 kg ZT411 is lighter.
Starting printhead pressure settings by label width
Printhead pressure is set between 1 and 4 with two dials, inner and outer. Start from the setting for your label width in the table below, then lower it to the lowest pressure that still prints clearly.
| Label width | Inner dial | Outer dial |
|---|---|---|
| 51 mm (2 in) | 4 | 1 |
| 76 mm (3 in) | 3.5 | 1 |
| 102 mm (4 in) | 3 | 2 |
| 127 mm (5 in) and wider | 2.5 | 2.5 |
If the left side of the printout is faint, raise the inner dial one step; if the right side is faint, raise the outer dial one step. If the whole print is faint, raise both dials one step together.
ZT411-only options not available on the ZT421
The 1-inch core media hanger and the spindle for ribbons wound ink side in are for the ZT411 only. So the ZT421 takes label rolls on a 76 mm core (up to 203 mm OD) and ribbons wound with the ink side out. The on-metal RFID kit, 600 dpi printhead, and linerless configuration are also available only on the ZT411.
A standard UHF RFID encoder (EPC Gen2 V2, ISO/IEC 18000-63) can also be added to the ZT421 in the field.
Installation space and power
The printer is 335 mm wide, 500 mm deep, and weighs 18 kg, making it 61 mm wider than the ZT411. At 120 V, power on the PAUSE test print is 215 W, more than twice the ZT411 (98 W), so when connecting several units to one outlet, it is best to calculate the power headroom first.
USB 2.0, RS-232 serial, 10/100 Ethernet, two USB host ports, and Bluetooth 4.1 are standard, and a dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi card is optional. The driver is available at ZT421 driver download.
