^XAStart Format

What ^XA does

^XA is the first command of every ZPL label. It tells the printer that a new label definition is starting and must be paired with ^XZ to close it. All drawing and formatting commands live between ^XA and ^XZ.

Syntax

^XA

Example

^XA
^FO50,50^A0N,40,40^FDHello^FS
^XZ

A complete, minimal label always opens with ^XA and closes with ^XZ.

Paste this into the free ZPL viewer to see it render, or convert it to PDF.

Notes & tips

• ^XA takes no parameters.
• Everything between ^XA and ^XZ describes one label.

Related commands

• ^XZ — End Format
• ^FS — Field Separator
• ^FO — Field Origin

See the full ZPL command reference for all 92 documented commands.