A group of zebras is called a "dazzle"
A lightweight, open-source Tauri desktop app for printing ZPL directly to thermal label printers. Cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux) and free alternative to QZ Tray.
- Printer discovery and selection
- Raw ZPL printing to thermal/label printers
- HTTP server for receiving print jobs from web apps
- System tray with status indicator
- Auto-start on login (optional)
- Print queue/history view
- Configurable port (default: 29100)
Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases.
- macOS:
.dmg - Windows:
.msi
Dazzle runs in the system tray. Enable "Launch at login" in the app to start it automatically.
- Zebra printers (ZPL native)
- Bixolon SRP-770III (ZPL emulation)
- Any thermal printer with ZPL support
Install the TypeScript client for easy integration:
npm install dazzle-zplimport { Dazzle } from 'dazzle-zpl';
const dazzle = new Dazzle();
// CORS-safe status check (no console errors when server is down)
if (await dazzle.isRunning()) {
// Print a ZPL string
await dazzle.print('^XA^FO50,50^A0N,50,50^FDHello World^FS^XZ');
// Print from a URL (fetches as binary, base64-encodes automatically)
await dazzle.printURL('https://cdn.example.com/label.zpl');
// Print multiple labels in order
await dazzle.printURLs([label1Url, label2Url, label3Url]);
// Print raw bytes (Uint8Array or ArrayBuffer)
await dazzle.print(uint8Array);
// Print to a specific printer
await dazzle.printURL(labelUrl, { printer: 'Zebra_ZD420' });
// List available printers
const printers = await dazzle.printers();
}All print methods automatically base64-encode data for binary-safe transmission — no manual encoding needed.
The server listens on http://localhost:29100 by default (configurable in the app).
Send ZPL to the selected printer.
If your ZPL contains binary image data (e.g. ^GF graphic fields, shipping label logos), you must use base64 encoding. Sending raw binary through fetch() will corrupt image data because the browser encodes the body as UTF-8.
// Fetch ZPL as binary to preserve image data
const response = await fetch('https://example.com/label.zpl');
const buffer = await response.arrayBuffer();
// Base64 encode the raw bytes
const bytes = new Uint8Array(buffer);
const CHUNK_SIZE = 0x8000;
const chunks = [];
for (let i = 0; i < bytes.length; i += CHUNK_SIZE) {
chunks.push(String.fromCharCode(...bytes.subarray(i, i + CHUNK_SIZE)));
}
// Send to Dazzle with base64 encoding
await fetch('http://localhost:29100/print?encoding=base64', {
method: 'POST',
body: btoa(chunks.join('')),
});Or just use the client library which handles all of this:
await dazzle.printURL('https://example.com/label.zpl');If your ZPL is pure ASCII (no binary graphics), you can send it directly:
await fetch('http://localhost:29100/print', {
method: 'POST',
body: '^XA^FO50,50^A0N,50,50^FDHello World^FS^XZ',
});| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
encoding |
Set to base64 to have the server decode the body before printing. Required for ZPL with binary image data. |
printer |
Override the selected printer by name (e.g. ?printer=ZebraRaw). Falls back to the printer selected in the app. |
200—{ "job_id": "..." }— printed successfully400— empty body, invalid base64, or no printer selected413— body too large (max 10 MB)500— print command failed
Check if the server is running. Use this to detect if Dazzle is installed.
async function isDazzleRunning() {
try {
const res = await fetch('http://localhost:29100/status');
return res.ok;
// { "status": "running", "version": "0.1.2" }
} catch {
return false; // Dazzle is not running
}
}List available printers.
const res = await fetch('http://localhost:29100/printers');
const printers = await res.json();
// [{ "name": "ZebraRaw", "is_default": true }, ...]- Tauri 2.0 — Rust backend, tiny binary (~5 MB)
- React 19 — UI
- Axum — HTTP server for print jobs
- Platform printing:
- Mac/Linux:
lp -d <printer> -o raw - Windows: Win32 raw spool API
- Mac/Linux:
npm install
npm run tauri devnpm run tauri buildMIT