User guide

Getting started

PrintRight turns your Shopify products into a PDF of barcode labels at the exact size of your label stock. The PDF is built in your browser, so nothing is uploaded to be printed.

1. Install PrintRight from the Shopify App Store and approve the permissions it asks for (read products, inventory and inventory transfers; write products, used only to save barcodes you ask for).
2. Open the app from Apps in your Shopify admin. The page is called Print labels.
3. The app speaks your Shopify admin language: English, Traditional or Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or Dutch. Change it in your Shopify account settings.

If a later update asks for extra permissions, you will see a request to approve them the next time you open the app. Until you approve, the features that need them stay off.

Quick start: print your first labels

1. Under Label size, choose the stock that is loaded in your printer (or enter a custom size).
2. In the Product variants table, tick the variants you want. Use the search box to find a product by name, SKU or barcode.
3. Set the number of copies for each variant, or click Set copies to stock quantity.
4. Under Show on label, choose what appears on each label.
5. Click Generate PDF. Your browser downloads a PDF with one label per page for roll printers, or a filled grid for sheets.
6. Open the PDF and print it at 100% / "Actual size". Never use "Fit to page".

Tip: print the free test label first (see Test print) the first time you use a new printer or label stock.

Choosing variants and copies

• The table lists every variant with its SKU, barcode, stock on hand and copies. Variants without a barcode are marked Missing.
• Tick the box in the header to select every variant on the current page.
• Copies defaults to 1. Type any number, or use Set copies to stock quantity to print one label per unit in stock.
• The Print panel on the right shows how many variants and labels you have selected. Clear selection empties it.

Label size and printer

Pick your stock under Printer / label stock. Each page of the PDF has exactly that size, so nothing is squeezed, shifted or cut off.

• Roll printers: Dymo 30334, 30336, 30252 and 11355; Zebra / thermal 2" × 1", 2.25" × 1.25", 1.5" × 1" and 3" × 2"; Brother DK-1201, DK-1209 and DK-11204.
• Sheets: Avery 5160 (US Letter, 30 per sheet), Avery L7160 (A4, 21 per sheet) and a generic A4 sheet with 24 labels.
• Custom size: enter the width and height in millimetres (10 to 300) and choose your printer's resolution: 203, 300 or 600 dpi.
• Printer resolution matters because the bars are sized to your printer's dots. 203 dpi suits most Zebra and thermal printers, 300 dpi suits Dymo and Brother, 600 dpi suits laser and inkjet.

Partly used sheet? Set Start at label to the first unused label, counted left to right and top to bottom, and the grid starts there.

What shows on the label

Under Show on label, switch each item on or off:

• Product title and Variant (size, color…). Long names use a smaller font or wrap to two lines on taller labels before they are shortened.
• Price, in your store's own currency format.
• Compare-at price (sale items): shows the original price crossed out next to the sale price. It appears only on variants whose compare-at price is higher than the price.
• SKU and Barcode number.

Titles in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic, Greek, Thai, Vietnamese and most other Latin-based languages print correctly. Scripts that need complex layout, such as Arabic, Hebrew and Hindi, are not supported and print as ?, and the app warns you before you print.

Test print

Print a test label (free) makes one label with a ruler and a sample barcode. It never counts toward your monthly limit.

1. Click Print a test label (free) and print the PDF at 100% / "Actual size".
2. Measure the ruler with a real ruler. It should be exactly the length stated in the message.
3. If it is shorter or longer, your printer or print dialog is scaling the page. Turn off Fit to page and select the same paper size as your label stock.

Labels for received stock

When you receive stock in Shopify, PrintRight lists what arrived so you can label it without searching product by product.

1. In Shopify, receive a transfer or a purchase order (Products → Transfers, or Purchase orders → Receive). Receiving part of an order is fine.
2. Open PrintRight. The items you received appear under Received stock, grouped by delivery, with copies set to the quantity that actually arrived.
3. Click Select all received (or Select on a single delivery), then Generate PDF.

• Copies count what was received, not what was ordered. Items you rejected are left out.
• If a delivery arrives in several parts, only the newly received items are added each time. After you print, those labels are removed from the list, so nothing is printed twice.
• Already labeled by your supplier? Click Dismiss on that delivery (you will be asked to confirm).
• Selected a delivery by mistake? Click Remove to take it out of the selection again.
• Stock received before you installed the app, or a delivery that did not show up: use Load a transfer, choose the transfer and click Add to Received stock.
• Printing a single replacement label for a damaged one does not change the list. Only labels you selected from Received stock are counted off.

Barcodes

PrintRight picks the barcode format for each variant automatically:

• A valid EAN-13, UPC-A (12 digits) or EAN-8 is printed in that format.
• Anything else prints as Code 128.
• A variant with no barcode uses its SKU. With no SKU either, the label has no barcode.

Create missing barcodes: when variants have no barcode, the Print panel offers to create them. The app makes in-store EAN-13 codes (prefix 20 to 29) and checks each against every barcode already in your store before saving, so none repeats. These codes are for your own POS and scanners. They are not registered GTINs and don't work for Google Shopping or Amazon.

Barcode check

Check my catalog scans your products for problems you would otherwise find at the checkout:

• Missing barcode.
• Wrong check digit.
• Lost leading zero.
• Duplicate barcode (the same code on more than one variant).
• Spaces in the barcode.
• Spreadsheet formatting or scientific notation, usually from a CSV import.

1. Click Check my catalog. The results list each kind of problem with a count.
2. Click Select to put the affected variants on your print list, or Fix… to correct them.
3. In the fix window, tick only the variants to change. For missing or duplicate barcodes you see the new in-store code; for the others you see the suggested correction.
4. Click Review changes, then Confirm. Barcodes change only for variants you ticked, and existing barcodes are never overwritten in bulk.

Changing a barcode cannot be undone from the app, and labels you printed earlier with the old code stop matching, so reprint them. If part of a large catalog cannot be read, the result tells you.

Warnings before you print

Before you generate the PDF, PrintRight checks the selected labels with the same layout rules it prints with. A warning means the printed label would really have that problem.

• No barcode or SKU: the label will have no barcode.
• Cannot be encoded: the value has characters a barcode can't hold.
• Bars too thin, or no room: the barcode will not scan at this label size. Try a shorter SKU or a wider label.
• Narrow blank margin, small bars or few printer dots: it may scan on some scanners and not others. If scans fail, lower the printer's darkness setting.
• Characters that cannot be printed: they show as "?".

Plans and limits

• Free: 200 labels per calendar month (UTC), with every feature.
• Pro: US$5.99 per month for unlimited labels.
• The Plan panel shows how many labels you have used. Test labels and failed PDFs are not counted.
• If a PDF is larger than what is left of your free labels, the app asks you to lower the copies or upgrade. Upgrade, change or cancel from Manage plan, or from your Shopify admin at any time.

Troubleshooting

• The label prints too small or shifted: print at 100% / "Actual size" and turn off Fit to page. Choose the same paper size in the printer dialog as the label stock you selected.
• The barcode will not scan: read the warning under Print, try a shorter SKU or a wider label, lower the printer's darkness, and choose the right resolution (203, 300 or 600 dpi) for your printer.
• Sheet labels land off the labels: print one page on plain paper first and hold it up to the sheet. Choose the matching sheet type.
• A received item is missing: use Load a transfer on the Print labels page.
• A product name shows as ?: the name uses a script that can't be printed (for example Arabic or Hebrew). Use a name in a supported script.
• The app shows English: it follows your Shopify admin language. Change it in your Shopify account settings.

Still stuck? Email us with your printer model and label size and we usually reply within one business day.

Your data and uninstalling

PDFs are generated in your browser, and product titles, prices and barcodes are not stored on our servers. If you uninstall the app, we delete your store's data within 48 hours. See the Privacy Policy for details.