There really is more to a label than you might think!
What if my tags open slightly after I've attached them to my jewelry?
DJ Tags products are made with a special Perma-Bond pressure-sensitive adhesive. You need to apply firm pressure when using the tags to activate and bond the adhesive. Squeeze the barbell or rattail tag ends together tightly for a few seconds after application for the most secure tag.
The rattail tags are made with a center folding perforation as a guide. The tail of this tag is not designed to extend across the perforation; doing so causes an air bubble inside which can cause the tag to open over time. See the following folding example. How to use rat tail tags
Once tags are applied the adhesive can take up to 12 hours to set or bond completely. Your permanent adhesive may not appear to be permanent until after the dwell or bonding period has occurred.
Adhesive bonding can be disturbed by exposure to oil substances including fingers tip oils, cleaning sprays and other chemicals. Always apply tags with clean dry hands!
Why does the adhesive on the jewelry tags feel different from the square labels?
Jewelry tags are specially designed to be folded and stuck together which requires a specific type of adhesive to bond to itself. Square and Round labels are designed to adhere to flat surfaces such as boxes, bags and display racks and must bond with multiple surfaces. You may feel a difference when you touch the adhesive however DJ Tags labels and tags are design to perform to application requirements. If you feel your application is out of the norm, please contact us for at test sample or a custom quote request.
Why is there a black stripe printed on the back of my roll of tags?
DJ Tags manufactures tags designed to be compatible with many different printer brands. The black line
ensures that a large variety of printer brands and models will calibrate properly and print consistently
using our tags. Many thermal printers available today feature a black line sensor option. Your printer
may not require use of this black line feature so check with the manufacturer if you encounter problems.
How do I separate my tags from the backing using the EZ-Peel™ feature?
How do I separate my tags (while they are still on the liner) without pulling the EZ-Peel™ strip?
The EZ-Peel feature is designed to stay intact until you are ready to peel the tags from the liner and
apply to your items. If you pre-print your tags you can separate them into batches by first folding
the backing along the perforation and then starting from the EZ-Peel edge, tear along the perforation.
DJTags EZ-Peel Liner Perf Demo
Where or how can I request a Custom Quote?
Download the following form, complete everything that applies to your quote request and fax to us at (480) 894-6255.
DJ Tags Custom Quote Website Form
Choose the best material for your needs!
Which tag material should I use on my products?
Mylar™ also known as polyester is durable, tear-resistant, moisture resistant and available in 2 Mil and 3Mil thickness. Suggested uses include moderate to high security risk items, products subject to cleaning processes and items exposed to UV lighting such as display cases.
Kimdura™ also known as polypropylene stretches and snaps apart. Suggested uses include products not requiring cleaning processes and low security risk items.
Paper can tear and deteriorate when exposed to moisture. Suggested uses include shipping labels and temporary labeling applications.
Scanners, Barcodes and Verifiers... What?
How do scanners work?
Scanners look at the pattern of light and dark bars and decode a bar code, returning the string contained in them. Often this string is a look-up into a database. That's how the grocery store cash register knows that you just bought a box of cereal for $2.59. The UPC bar code contains a number that matches a record in the store's database. Neither the item's name nor its price is in the bar code. It's just a record number that references a database.
Barcode Types
UPC, EAN, BookLand, & ISSN
UPC bar codes are used in the U.S. and Canada on retail items.
EAN and JAN symbols are used in Europe and Japan respectively.
Bookland symbols, based on ISBN numbers, are used on books.
ISSN bar codes are used on non-U.S. periodicals. All of these symbologies are numeric-only,have a fixed length, and one or more check digits.
Code39
Code 39 (a.k.a. Code 3 of 9) is the most popular symbology for ID, inventory, and tracking purposes. It has a variable length, supports alphanumeric strings, and can be printed at a variety of sizes and aspect ratios. This is the bar code used at video rental stores, on ID badges, and anywhere a simple bar code is needed.
Code128
A denser, more compact symbology compared to Code 39, Code 128 supports the lower 128 ASCII characters. Used whenever space is at a premium. Variable length strings with a mandatory check digit. Widely used in the shipping industry, it has three variations: code set A,code set B, and code set C. The latter is numeric-only and employs simple compression. There are several industry-specific subsets of Code 128.
2D bar codes
2D (two dimensional) symbologies are extremely dense bar codes that look like a crossword puzzle or a honeycomb-like matrix. PDF417 has emerged as the 2D bar code of choice. The other popular 2D symbology is Maxicode used by United Parcel Service.
Human Readables
The human-readable is the data represented by the bars and spaces printed as text for people to read.
The Quiet Zone
The quiet zone is the clear area (free from marks) before and after the bars and spaces. Having a quiet zone is as important to readability as the bars and spaces! Scanners need to establish values for the quiet zone before they can evaluate the bars and spaces. Reading the color and reflectance of the quiet zone establishes how the spaces will read and determines the difference between the spaces and the bars. Bar code cannot be read without a quiet zone. Even though the quiet zone actually surrounds the code (the Bar/Space image), the clear area above and the below the Bar/Space image is not required for readability of most symbologies.
"Why can't I use a scanner to check if my printed bar code will scan at the register?"
A scanner is designed strictly to decode or read the bar code. A scanner will not give any reliable indication of how well any other scanner can decode the bar code. Nor does it help you understand whether the symbol deviates from perfect and the specifics of the symbol's imperfections. Whereas, a verifier is a precision instrument that is specifically designed not only to decode bar codes but also to evaluate the symbol print quality against industry published standards.
Why verify?
As bar code applications become more and more critical to a company's success, the cost of bar code scanning failure becomes more significant. Such giant merchandisers as Wal-Mart, for example, have become famous for leveling whopping fines of $50,000 or more on suppliers whose product labels repeatedly misread. Consequently, bar code verification systems, once exclusively used by printers and label vendors, are now commonly used for on-site printing. Using a verifier to complete your bar code quality program will help to avoid financial loss of business or possible fines of $10,000 to $250,000 for non-compliant bar codes. Verification is the insurance that your barcodes will scan effectively and efficiently.
Make it Work! Technical files and videos.
These products are discontinued and no longer supported by Ziptape.
Discontinue Model 2005
Service & Support Discontinuation Date
ZT1300
December 31, 2011
300 dpi desktop printer
Suggested Printer Replacement:
ZT-1300 Thermal Transfer Printer Manual
ZT-1300 Printer Manual
How to install the printer driver.
LPT - If you are using the Parallel cable over the LPT port, there is no driver to install.
USB - If you are using the USB cable, you will need to install the “USB Serial Driver” that is
on the disk that came with the printer. Once the USB cable is connected from the PC to the printer, the PC will
automatically detect the new device and begin the installation process.
Windows XP
- Load the disk that came with the printer in your PC, or download the driver from our website. ZT-1300 Printer Driver
- If you have downloaded the driver from our website, extract the zip file.
- Choose “No, not at this time.” Click “Next.”
- Choose “Install from a list or specific location”. Click “Next”.
- Choose the “Search for the best driver in these locations” radio button.
- Check only “Include this location in the search”. Click Browse.
- Locate the path for the driver “D:\USB Driver\Ziptape ZT-1000 Series USB” D:\ is the location
of the CD drive. Or the “USB\Ziptape ZT-1000 Series USB” folder that the zip file was extracted to.
Click “Ok”.
- Click “Next”.
- You will get a window that tells you this dirver is not signed by Microsoft. Click “Continue Anyway”
- Driver will install.
- Choose “Finish” to complete the installation.
- If the Found New Hardware Wizard pops up again, start again from Step 3
Windows Vista 32 bit
Just plug the printer in and turn it on. Windows will automatically download and install the correct drivers.
Windows 7
There is no driver needed. Just plug the printer in and turn it on. Windows will automatically download and install the necessary drivers.
How to calibrate the printer to your labels.
YouTube video showing how to calibrate your ZT-1300 printer.
Turn off the printer. Then press and hold the FEED button and turn the printer back on while still holding down the
FEED button. The “Ready” and “Status” lights will cycle through 6 color sequences (READY light will flash
and STATUS light will remain solid). Watch the “READY” and “STATUS” light till they both become yellow.
Once the “READY” and “STATUS” light turn yellow release the “FEED” button immediately. The printer will
then execute the calibration command.
When the printer executes the calibration command, the labels will advance forward and retract back. It does this to
detect the gap between labels then proceed detecting the length of labels. The printer then saves these settings.
Why does the paper feed continuously after calibrating the printer?
This might be a printer setup or configuration setting problem.
1. Verify that the gap sensor is directly under the printing area on the left side of the label (this is
typically 1/4in from the left edge of the label liner).
2. Verify that the “See-Through Sensor” is set to OFF. (See “How to use the LED printer configuration
settings.” FAQ)
How do I get a label to advance or feed out after each label is printed?
The Stop Position controls how much of the labels are advanced after each print job. These settings are
located in the Print Driver settings.
ZT-Label Settings:
- Open a label file.
- Go to File choose Printer Setup in the Label/Printer Setup.
- In the Label / Printer Setup window choose the Printer Setup tab.
- Locate the field labeled “Feed Paper to Desired Stop Position”
- Enter into this field the height of 1 Tag. This measurement is usually in millimeters (mm).
- Choose “Ok” to accept the settings.
- Save your label file.
DJ-Tracker driver (NiceLabel 4 driver):
- Go to the Printers folder (usually located at Start button> Control Panel> Printers and Faxes(WinXP) or Start button> Settings> Printers(Win2000)).
- Right click the printer for the ZT-1300 printer and choose Properties.
- Choose the Printing Preferences button.
- Choose the Advanced Setup tab on this window.
- Locate the field labeled “Paper Feed”.
- Adjust the value in “Paper Feed” to the height of 1 Tag. This measurement is usually in inches (in).
Godex driver:
- Go to the Printers folder (usually located at Start button> Control Panel> Printers and Faxes(WinXP) or Start button> Settings> Printers(Win2000)).
- Right click the printer for the ZT-1300 printer and choose Properties.
- Choose the Printing Preferences button.
- Choose the “Stock” tab on this window
- Locate the “Feed Options” section.
- Clear the “Use Current Printer Settings” check box.
- Adjust the “Stop Position” to the height of 1 Tag. This measurement is usually in inches (in).
Ziptape driver (printer driver that is on the CD):
- Go to the Printers folder (usually located at Start button> Control Panel> Printers and Faxes(WinXP) or Start button> Settings> Printers(Win2000)).
- Right click the printer for the ZT-1300 printer and choose Properties.
- Choose the Printing Preferences button.
- On the Print tab on this window locate the field labeled “Stop Position (mm)”.
- Adjust the Stop Position to height of 1 Tag. This measurement is usually in millimeters (mm).
DJTracker Software
This software is provided for our customers who have purchased and registered the DJ Tracker Inventory Program.
DJ Tracker Inventory Software v8
DJ Tracker Software Patch - Update to v9
Installing DJ Tracker on Windows 64-bit
1. Download and install build 1.0.0.8 from the following link: DJTracker1008full
2. Follow the instructions during the installation until finished.
3. Restore the backup files to: C:\Program Files (x86)\DJ Tracker\
4. Download and run the build 1.0.0.9 patch. DJTracker1009patch
5. Run DJ Tracker
The most important backup file is “djtracker.mdb” this is the item database.
Other files to backup would be the C:\Program Files\DJ Tracker\Images if you have images of the products stored.