Zebra Browser Print #

This is the bridge that lets a web app print to a local Zebra label printer — and
it’s one of the most support-heavy setup paths in Bizuno. Get it right once per
workstation and thermal labels print in a click; get it wrong and you’ll chase “no
printer found” all day. This page walks the setup and the failure modes.

What it is #

Zebra Browser Print is a small desktop application (from Zebra) that runs on the
shipping workstation and exposes the local printer to the browser over a localhost
service. Bizuno’s web page talks to that service, which relays the label data to the
USB/network Zebra printer.

  Bizuno web page ──HTTP──► Zebra Browser Print service ──► Zebra printer
   (labelThermal)          (localhost 127.0.0.1:9100)        (USB / network)

• The service listens on http://127.0.0.1:9100 (and https://127.0.0.1:9101
  for Safari / secure-context cases).
• The browser loads Zebra’s BrowserPrint SDK JavaScript, which Bizuno injects on
  the shipping page.

The SDK is not bundled. Bizuno expects the Zebra BrowserPrint-3.x.x.min.js
file to be present (downloaded from Zebra’s support site) — it is not redistributed
in the repo. If thermal printing says “Browser Print is not loaded,” the SDK file is
the first thing to check.

Per-workstation setup #

Browser Print is installed on each PC that prints labels, not on the server:

1. Install Zebra Browser Print for the workstation OS (Windows / macOS / Linux)
   from Zebra.
2. Connect and power on the Zebra printer (USB or network) and confirm the OS
   sees it.
3. Register the printer in the Browser Print app so the service reports it.
4. If the browser uses the HTTPS endpoint (:9101), you may have to trust the
   local certificate once — visit https://127.0.0.1:9101/available and accept the
   certificate so the browser will talk to the service. (The default
   http://127.0.0.1:9100 path avoids this, but mixed-content/secure-context rules in
   some browsers push you to HTTPS.)

How printing works #

When you click Print Thermal on a bought label:

1. Bizuno reads the thermal label file(s) — raw ZPL/EPL returned by the carrier
   and stored as .lpt — and hands them to the page’s labelThermal() routine.
2. The SDK’s device discovery (getLocalDevices()) returns the registered devices;
   Bizuno uses the first printer reported.
3. Each label is sent to that printer via the device’s send() method. Multiple
   labels from one shipment are sent in sequence on a single click.

There’s no printer-picker UI — it prints to the first Zebra device the service
reports. If you have several, the first registered one wins.

When it fails — and how to tell #

The thermal routine surfaces specific alerts; match the message to the fix:

Quick bridge test: browse to https://127.0.0.1:9101/available (or the
:9100 HTTP equivalent). If it returns device JSON, the service and printer are
reachable and the problem is elsewhere; if it doesn’t load, the service/cert/firewall
is the issue.

When to use it vs. plain PDF #

• Use Browser Print (thermal) when you print volume on a dedicated 4×6 Zebra — it
  prints a ZPL label directly, no PDF dialog, no scaling surprises.
• Use the PDF path for occasional shipping or when you print labels on a regular
  laser/inkjet — the carrier returns a .pdf you print like any document, with no
  desktop app to install. See Label printing → two print paths.

If a workstation only ever prints to a laser printer, you don’t need Browser Print at
all — stick with PDF labels.

Related #

• Label printing
• Carriers