Printers and formats
A compatibility matrix is only useful if it is honest about the gaps. Verified means we have run it. Unsupported means it returns an error rather than printing something wrong.
Content types
Raw content goes to the queue untouched. Documents go through the station's print system. Which path you take decides how much the local machine can change your output.
| contentType | Carries | Path to the printer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
raw_base64 | ZPL, EPL, ESC/POS — base64-encoded | Written byte-for-byte to the print queue | Verified |
pdf_base64 | A PDF document, base64-encoded | Rendered by the station's print system | Verified |
text | Plain text | Rendered by the station's print system | Verified |
raw_uri | A URL the station fetches raw bytes from | Disabled by default — returns a validation error | Operator-gated |
pdf_uri | A URL the station fetches a PDF from | Disabled by default — returns a validation error | Operator-gated |
URI content types exist in the API surface but are off unless an operator explicitly turns them on. Customer integrations should send base64 — it avoids a station making outbound requests to arbitrary URLs on your behalf.
Printer languages
If your printer speaks it and you can produce it, we will deliver it unmodified.
The default for shipping and product labels. Every major carrier returns ZPL for thermal label printers, and it is what we recommend for anything with a barcode.
The older Zebra/Eltron language, still common on long-lived hardware like the GK420d. Treated identically to ZPL: encoded, sent, written to the queue.
Receipt and kitchen printers. Same path — your bytes, including cut and drawer-kick commands, reach the device unchanged.
For packing slips, invoices, pick lists, and work orders. These print through the station's own print system, which means the local driver decides scaling and margins — fine for documents, not what you want for a 4×6 label.
Platforms
The agent is an ordinary desktop application. It needs to see the printer the way any other application on that machine would.
| Platform | Printer discovery | Documents (PDF / text) | Raw pass-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS | Verified | Verified | Verified |
| Linux (incl. Raspberry Pi) | Verified | Verified | Verified |
| Windows | Verified | Verified | Not yet |
Printer families
This list is not an allow-list — it is what we have run. Anything the station's OS can print to should work.
| Printer family | Typical use | Recommended content type | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zebra ZD-series (ZD421, ZD621) | Shipping and product labels | raw_base64 | Verified |
| Zebra GK/GX-series (GK420d) | Long-lived warehouse label printers | raw_base64 | Verified |
| Generic ESC/POS receipt printers | Counter receipts, kitchen tickets | raw_base64 | Expected |
| Office laser and inkjet (via OS queue) | Packing slips, invoices, work orders | pdf_base64 | Verified |
| Network printers via a station queue | Shared printers with no attached machine | Either | Verified |
Running something not listed here? Install the agent and look at the printers it registers — that answer takes about two minutes and is more reliable than any table. Download the agent →
Questions
If the operating system on the station can see the printer and print to it, RocketPrint can almost certainly drive it. Install the agent and it will register every queue the OS exposes. The exception is raw pass-through on Windows, which is not finished.
You need a queue the OS can address. For raw ZPL we bypass driver rendering entirely and write your bytes to that queue, so driver choice does not affect output — a generic or raw queue is fine, and often better.
Yes, as long as some station on that network has a queue pointing at it. The agent does not have to be on the same machine as the printer, only able to reach it the way any other application would.
Supported the same way — the station's OS exposes the queue, the agent registers it, and raw content is written to it.
Because it does not work yet, and printing a rasterized approximation of your ZPL would be worse than an honest error. A Windows station registers printers and prints documents today; raw pass-through returns an explicit error until the spooler binding is finished.
Two minutes to certainty
It registers every queue the operating system exposes, and the console shows you the list.