Printing Labels
This article contains the instructions for printing barcode labels (including FNSKU labels) and shipping labels.
With the Stations feature, you can automatically print labels to your specified printers without opening a PDF or otherwise interacting with the labels.
Install the Tray Application
We are currently partnered with AZLabels to use the AZLabels Instant application to provide this feature. This application needs to be installed on your local machine. The download links are available here:
Download for Mac (Apple Silicon)
Once the AZLabels application is installed and has been started, PrepBusiness will be able to communicate directly with your printers.
Grant Local Network Access (Chrome)
When you first use the printing feature, Chrome may show a prompt asking if PrepBusiness can "Access other apps and services on this device". You must click Allow to enable communication with AZLabels.
If you missed this prompt or previously blocked it, you can grant the permissions manually:
- Click the icon to the left of the URL bar in Chrome (on the PrepBusiness site)
- Ensure that Local network and Apps on device are both toggled on
- Refresh the page
Without these permissions, PrepBusiness will not be able to send print jobs to AZLabels.
Create a Station
To configure the printers, you will need to create a station. A station represents a single desktop or workstation, and is assigned to a user. If multiple users share a workstation, they can easily switch between them by click the station status icons on the top of the screen.
To create a station, click your profile picture on the top right and select Account Settings. In the tabs at the top of your settings, click "Stations".
Your printers will be automatically loaded, and you can select them from the drop-down for each printer category.
You can also specify the orientation and density for the printer, though in most cases this will be automatically detected.
You also will need to select the barcode label size that you would like to print.
The scale option is used for Order Fulfillment workflows, so that you can connect a scale and automatically pull in the weight for an order.
Label Language (ZPL and EPL)
By default we send your printer a rendered image of the label, which the printer has to convert before anything comes out. If your label printer accepts a raw label language such as ZPL or EPL, selecting it sends the label as printer commands instead, which prints noticeably faster.
When you pick a printer, we set the label language automatically from the printer name. A printer registered under a generic name (for example "2x1 Labels") cannot be identified, so it falls back to None (Rendered Image). The Auto-detect line under the printer shows what we detected. You can override it at any time:
- On the Stations tab of your Account Settings, click Edit on the station you want to change.
- Under Barcode Label Printer, set Label Language to ZPL or EPL, then save. The same setting is available for the shipping label printer.
- Print one label to confirm it comes out correctly.
This is set per station, so repeat it on every station you print from. If a label prints as lines of text instead of a barcode, that printer does not support the language you selected; set Label Language back to None (Rendered Image).
Station & Print Manager
To easily check the status of your printers and prints that you have requested, you can use the Station & Print Manager, which you can access from anywhere in portal by clicking the devices at the top right of the screen:
The stations tab allows you to see the status of the current devices and switch to a new station if needed.
The Print Queue tab will show a list of all the print jobs you have requested, any errors in the print, and an option to retry the print:
FNSKU/Barcode Labels
FNSKU labels can be printed from outbound or inbound shipments.
On inbound shipments, once you have received items, the Print Item Labels button will appear. The quantity printed will correspond to the number that you have marked as received.
You can also print individual labels for any item barcode by click More Identifiers on the item, then clicking the print button:
If you enable expiry dates in your account settings you can also add expiry dates when printing FNSKU labels:
Shipping Labels
We currently support generating and printing the following types of shipping labels: Amazon box labels (including 2D barcodes), Amazon pallet labels, Amazon partnered carrier labels, carrier labels for order fulfillment.
Click here for more information on generating and printing Amazon labels6+