FeaturedFedEx label stock: STOCK_4X6 and PAPER_4X6 are not the same thing
MeirunOfficial
When you buy a FedEx label through the API there is a field called labelStockType. PAPER_4X6 and STOCK_4X6 look like two names for one thing. They are not.
We bought every combination in the FedEx test environment and measured the page that came back:
- PDF + STOCK_4X6: the whole page is 4×6 inches. Print it straight on a thermal printer
- PDF + PAPER_4X6: a full 8.5×11 inch letter page with the label in the top left corner
- PDF + STOCK_4X675: 4×6.75 inches
- PNG + STOCK_4X6: refused with
INVALID.STOCK.TYPE
The trap
Send the PAPER_4X6 letter page to a 4×6 thermal printer and the driver shrinks the whole letter page onto one label. Everything prints at a third of its size, the barcode included, and nothing reports an error. The label goes on the box and fails at the first scan.
What to do
- Thermal printer (Zebra and the like):
PDF + STOCK_4X6, orZPLII + STOCK_4X6 - Laser printer and scissors: only then
PAPER_4X6 - After changing how you print, scan one real label before printing a hundred