Thermal printing shouldn't need a manual.
ThermalDraw is a free, browser-based designer for thermal labels and receipts. Design visually, export ZPL, DPL or ESC/POS, and print from your own system via the API. This blog is where we write down everything we learn making that painless.
What ThermalDraw does
Design in the browser
A drag-and-drop, to-scale canvas for labels and receipts. Text, barcodes, QR, boxes, tables, variables — no ZPL by hand.
Export any language
One design renders to ZPL (Zebra), DPL (Datamax) and ESC/POS (receipts) — byte-identical to what the printer expects.
Print via API
Wire printing into your own system — POS, WMS, ERP, e-commerce. Map your data to a template and POST to /v1/export.
Free to design
The editor is free forever. You only pay to print at scale through the API — no paywall on the design tool.
Languages we speak
A single template retargets across printer families — design once, print anywhere.
Why this blog
Thermal printing is full of tribal knowledge — dots vs millimetres, barcode subsets, print bridges, per-platform quirks. We hit these problems building ThermalDraw and shipping real integrations, so we write the guide we wish we'd had: practical, no fluff, and tested against real hardware and real stores.
Design your first label — free
Open the editor, drop on a barcode and some text, preview it, and export ZPL in a couple of minutes.
Open the editor →