^PO controls whether the label prints in normal orientation (N) or inverted 180° (I). When inverted, the entire label — all fields, barcodes, and graphics — is flipped both horizontally and vertically, as if the label were rotated 180°.
This is useful when a printer is mounted upside-down (e.g., under a conveyor or in a fixed-position applicator) but the label design was created for normal orientation. Rather than redesigning every field's coordinates, you flip the whole label with ^PO.
^PO does not rotate individual fields — use the orientation parameter (o) on ^A0, ^BC, ^BQ, etc. for per-field rotation. ^PO is a whole-label inversion.
When ^PO,I is active, the label home (^LH) origin is now the bottom-right corner instead of the top-left. Field coordinates still work the same way relative to the (now-inverted) home position.
^PO is a format-level setting — it applies to all fields within the current format.
Syntax
^POa
Parameters
| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | N | I | N | Orientation: N = normal, I = inverted (180° rotation of entire label). |
Examples
Normal orientation
Try in Viewer^XA ^PON ^FO50,50^A0N,36,36^FDNormal Label^FS ^FO50,100^A0N,28,28^FDTop to Bottom^FS ^XZ
Inverted label (180° flip)
Try in Viewer^XA ^POI ^FO50,50^A0N,36,36^FDInverted Label^FS ^FO50,100^A0N,28,28^FDFlipped 180 Degrees^FS ^XZ
Common Mistakes
- !Confusing ^PO with per-field rotation (the o parameter in ^A0, ^BC, etc.) — ^PO flips the whole label, not individual fields.
- !Using ^POI without adjusting ^LH — the origin is now at the opposite corner, which may shift all fields unexpectedly.
- !Applying ^PO when what you actually want is to change the media loading direction in the printer settings.