Barcodes are a great way for you to keep track of your inventory and make sure that the right items are shipped to your customers. You'll need a barcode printer, scanner, and labels to get started.
This Article Covers:
Setting Up Product Barcodes
To enable barcodes within CommentSold, visit the Setup tab. Then click "Barcodes."
Be sure that both Product Barcodes and PDF Barcodes are enabled.
If you would like the price and/or location to show on your barcodes, enable these options as well.
Click the three dots to the right of any product in the Products tab. Select "Inventory."
From the inventory page, click the gear icon next to the Print All Barcodes button. Select which printer is connected to the computer you are using.
Note: You will need to select the Barcode Label Type on each computer you use to print barcodes.
You can now print barcodes! When the printer menu appears, be sure to select the desired barcode printer.
Printing Barcodes with Dymo
Printing barcodes with a Dymo printer is incredibly simple. Just be sure to print on labels with a minimum size of 1 1/8” X 3 1/2”. Otherwise, barcodes can turn out blurry.
- Plug the Dymo printer into the desired computer.
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Click the three dots to the right of a product in the Products tab and select "Inventory."
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Click the three dots in the Manage column next to the variant you would like to print a barcode for and select "Print Tag."
- Select the Dymo printer and click "Print."
Your barcode label should now print!
Note: As you grow your business, you may find that you need a more efficient printer to keep pace with the increase in orders. If you're looking for an upgrade, we highly recommend the Zebra ZT610 printer, which can print up to 14 labels per second!
Printing Barcodes with Zebra
CommentSold supports printing labels with the Zebra ZT410 and the Zebra ZT610.
The instructions to print barcodes with the Zebra printer will vary between Windows and Mac. We'll outline instructions for both. Please note that these methods do not support the cutter attachment on Zebra printers.
A quick reminder of how to properly load the Zebra printer!
Printing barcodes with the Zebra using Windows:
- Before you connect the ZT610 to your computer, power it on and load the labels.
- Download Zebra Setup Utilities. Do not change the settings on the printer itself. Zebra Setup Utilities is not currently available on Mac. If using a Mac, click here. When you've completed those steps, return to this page and skip ahead to the steps for printing!
- Open Zebra Setup Utilities and select the correct printer.
- Click "Configure Printer Settings."
- Set the Label Parameters to the Width and Height of your loaded labels and click "Next."
- Set the Speed to 10.0/s and click "Next."
- Set the Print Mode to Direct and click "Next."
- Set Media Handling to "Tear Off" and click Finish. If you need the cutter, press "Cancel" and use the old barcode system. This method for printing barcodes is not compatible with Zebra cutters.
- Go to your printer and press the Pause button twice.
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Click the three dots to the right of a product in the Products tab and select "Inventory."
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Click the three dots in the Manage column next to the variant you would like to print a barcode for and select "Print Tag."
- Select the Zebra printer and click "Print."
Your barcode label should now print!
Printing barcodes with the Zebra printer using Mac:
1. Before you connect the ZT410 to your computer, power it on and load the labels. Once that is complete, connect your printer to the computer using the supplied USB cable.
2. Now you will install the printer using the CUPS interface.
CUPS is the interface you will use to add your Zebra printer and select a driver. To access CUPS, copy and paste the following address into your web browser: http://localhost:631
If you have never accessed CUPS through Chrome, you will get the message: "Web Interface is Disabled". If this happens, select the magnifying glass icon in the upper right-hand corner of your screen and enter, "Terminal" into the search bar that appears.
3. Open Terminal, then paste this text cupsctl WebInterface=yes , and press Enter. There will be no notification but the next step will let us know if this is completed.
4. Now refresh your browser on http://localhost:631, you will now see the CUPS web interface main page.
5. Under the heading CUPS for Administrators, select "Adding Printers and Classes".
6. This will take you to the Administration page. Under the heading Printers, click “Add Printer.” You will likely be asked for the username and password for your computer.
If your printer is turned on and connected to your computer, you should see it on the list of local printers, called Zebra Technologies ZT410.
7. If your printer is turned on and connected to your computer, you should see it on the list of local printers. Select your printer from the list and click “Continue.”
8. The next screen allows you to edit information about the printer, but this is not necessary. Click “Continue” to proceed.
9. Choose the printer driver. From the list in the Model field, select Zebra ZPL Label Printer (en) and click “Add Printer.”
10. CUPS will prompt you to set printer options. Under General, set the default Media Size to the label size you'll be most likely to use and click Set Default Options.
Troubleshooting the Zebra Printer
If your barcodes are printing incorrectly, open the "Paper Size" drop-down in the Chrome print dialog. Set the size to one with a 1:1 aspect ratio, such as "3.00 x 3.00." Once you set the size to the same width and height, it should start printing the size you have set within CommentSold.
Note: We don't profit from you shopping the links in this article. We're just sharing what we've found to work well for CommentSold shops!