• Added links to purchase a license from the FastSpring ecommerce site.

• The EULA has been updated.
• Improved the license activation dialogs to prevent activation attempts with the wrong type license key.
• GS1 General Specifications Standard has been updated to Release 25.
• Updated the Activation and Proxy sections in the help system.

• Corrected a license activation issue that generated the error: Activation Failed - Request denied due to clock tamper detection.

Important Licensing Changes for Existing Customers

In January 2025, Zebra announced an enhancement to the customer experience related to license management where Zebra Software Licensing is migrating from license servers managed by vendors Revenera and Nalpeiron to a new server platform, managed by Thales Sentinel. Zebra intends to stop using the Nalpeiron license server used by ZebraDesigner Professional 3 in July 2025.
• The free Essentials edition is not affected by this change.
• Working installations of the Professional edition using Nalpeiron license numbers (starting 3467) in versions prior to 3.3.x should continue working past July 2025.
• From July 2025, Zebra will no longer be able to reset license numbers beginning 3467. For customers needing a license reset, they should contact their Reseller and obtain a free replacement (Customer ID and License Key combination) associated with the original order and upgrade to the new version of ZebraDesigner 3.
• From July 2025, existing license numbers beginning 3467 can no longer be activated or de-activated. Customers needing to re-install or move the software should contact their Reseller and obtain a free replacement (Customer ID and License Key combination) associated with the original order and install the new version of ZebraDesigner 3.
• Customers who purchased a license through the FastSpring ecommerce site should contact Zebra at https://supportcommunity.zebra.com/s/license-reset to get the replacement Customer ID and License Key combination.
• For license activation and deactivation of the Customer ID and License Key combination via the internet, ZebraDesigner must be able to access zebratechnologies.prod.sentinelcloud.com via port 443.
Upgrading
• Upgrading from versions prior to v3.3.x will remove the Nalpeiron license starting 3467.
• Existing Nalpeiron licenses starting 3467 cannot be activated after the upgrade. The new Customer ID and License Key combination is required to activate the Professional edition.
Other Changes
• Improved handling in GS1 barcodes where the require check digit option is used with the Always use printer counter option. In this scenario a message is displayed indicating the computer counter option must be used to calculate the check digit.

• Corrected an issue that caused either a Cannot access a disposed object or Object reference not set to an instance of an object error message.

• The licensing related library files have been updated.
• Corrected the contact information in the application and help system for Zebra Technical Support.
• GS1 General Specifications Standard updated to Release 24.

• A security vulnerability has been addressed in the installer.

• The application now requires .NET Framework 4.7.2 as Microsoft have announced .NET Framework 4.5.x and 4.6.x will reach end of support in April 2022. In line with this change, the application is no longer being tested or supported on Windows 7, Windows 8.x and Server 2012 versions.
• Users are now prompted to use the computer counter if the RFID content data source is a counter.
• Corrected an issue where a "This document was created using a higher product level" message was displayed when opening certain labels designed in version 2.5.x.
• Corrected an issue where any characters could be entered for the stored template name which may have resulted in an error being displayed. Only characters the printer supports can now be entered for the template name.
• Improved the information displayed on the "Database provider not found" dialog.
• Corrected an issue where the initial counter value could not be changed from numeric to all when opening a label designed in version 2.5.x
• The EULA has been updated.

• Updated the licensing components for compatibility with Windows 11.

• Enhanced the licensing system so an activated license works for different users that login to a single computer.
  • For existing installations, the license must be deactivated and re-activated for it to work for all users. It's recommended to deactivate the license prior to upgrading ZebraDesigner 3.
• Added the "Remember the last used value" dynamic value option for counter fields. When enabled, this will save the last used counter value in a .dvv file so future sessions will start with that value.
• When uninstalling the product, the user will now be prompted to deactivate the license first if it's active.
• Corrected an issue where objects could not be selected after setting the output language of a date field to an Asian language.
• Corrected an issue where a "Value is invalid" error was displayed when a text field connected to excel database field used to be of decimal type but was later changed to string type.
• Corrected an issue that generated a "This document was created using a higher product level." when opening a label where a variable keyboard input data source had been assigned to an RFID data field.
• Added an "RTL printing" option under Text > Style > Effects to allow Arabic numerals to be displayed correctly when using non internal printer fonts such as TrueType fonts. This option is not supported when using Zebra internal printer fonts.

• In the RFID Tag dialog, the "Print RFID data fields as internal text or barcode objects" option has been removed as it's no longer required to enable this option. The RFID tag sources are now always visible in the list of data sources.
• RFID serialization is now supported (^RU command).
• When creating a new label, the default font will now be an internal printer font instead of Arial.
• Corrected an issue where the following issue message may be displayed when attempting to print. "There was no endpoint listening at net.pipe://localhost/ScriptingService43732 that could accept the message"
• The "Use asterisk" option has been added for the Code 39 barcode.
• Improved the description of the offline license activation and de-activation process in the appropriate dialogs.
• It should no longer be possible to start the 30-day Trial if the product is running on a virtual machine.
• When using the STORE function, the user shall now be warned if text objects are using True Type fonts. Text objects must use internal printer fonts when using the STORE function.
• The license related computer ID is now shown in both the Essentials and Professional About dialogs.
• A VB Script editor has been added.
• The licensing dll components have been updated.
• Initial counter values can now be any ASCII character.
• Corrected an issue where an error occurred if a database field was selected for a GS1-128 application identifier value.
• GS1 July 2019 specification updates are included.
• Code 32 barcode (Italian Pharmacode) has been added.
• The Content Mask feature is now available when printing barcodes as a graphic.
• Usability improvements.
• The Professional edition should now run if Hyper-V technologies are enabled on the computer.

Advance Notice: Microsoft has announced here that support for Windows 7 is ending on January 14, 2020. Zebra intends to remove Windows 7 support for this product in a future release.

• Initial release of the v3.x platform.