Printer Settings

To adjust printer settings, open Menu → Settings → Devices & Connections → Printer assignment. The process has three steps: first connect the physical printers, then assign them to printer roles and printing groups, and finally configure the appropriate settings for each assignment.

Connecting a Printer

• Printer
  The "Auto" setting searches for and connects to the first available printer for each print operation. For performance reasons, however, we recommend setting a specific printer.
  Selecting "Do not print" disables output on this printer.
  With "Always ask for printer", the printer is only chosen when printing – see Always ask for printer.
  You can find supported printers under Printer Support. The Custom vendor in the list stands for printers from Custom S.p.A. and is not a generic driver for other printers, see Custom Receipt Printer. Besides receipt and label printers, you can also select the system printer here (vendor PDF printer → System printer), which outputs invoices and reports on an A4 printer or as a PDF file through the Android print dialog — see A4 Printers (System Printing).
  Network printers must be assigned a fixed IP address on the network.
  Since receipt printers do not have a queue, printers used by multiple devices must be connected via the main Sales Point so that it can take over the queueing function. On all other secondary devices, the printer must be added as a "Shared printer".

• Paper width
  Auto – The paper width of the printer is detected automatically where possible.
  58mm – The paper width of the printer is set permanently to 58 millimetres.
  80mm – The paper width of the printer is set permanently to 80 millimetres.
  This setting has no effect on the system printer — there the layout is derived from the A4 page format.

Printer Roles (Fixed Assignments)

In addition to the general printer, each Sales Point can be assigned the following dedicated printers:

• Invoice Printer
  Prints invoices and receipt copies.

• Cash Drawer
  Virtual "printer" slot used to open the cash drawer on payment. Select the device the drawer is physically connected to – typically the invoice printer. This role has to be set explicitly: there is no automatic fallback to the invoice printer, and with an empty slot the drawer stays shut on payment. Always ask for printer cannot be selected for the cash drawer. Connection and troubleshooting: Cash Drawer on the Receipt Printer.

• Report Printer
  Prints daily, monthly and Z reports. See Reports at the Sales Point.

• Order Ticket Printer (Default)
  General order ticket printer. Prints order tickets for all articles whose article group is not assigned to a printing group – serves as the fallback.

• Expediter Printer
  Prints the expediter ticket, a consolidated summary of all items of an order across stations – typically for the kitchen chef or expediter to coordinate the stations. Only items whose printing group has the Print on expediter ticket option enabled appear on this ticket.

Printing Group Printers (Flexible Assignments)

In addition, each printing group configured in bessa Manager can be assigned its own printer – for example a "Kitchen" printing group on the kitchen printer, "Bar" on the bar printer. A single physical printer can also serve multiple printing groups, and a printing group can print on several printers – see Several printers for one role or printing group.

Several printers for one role or printing group

From bessa Kassa version 6.2.0, a printer role or a printing group can be assigned several printers – in the room- and floor-specific assignments too. The same document then goes to every assigned printer, each as a full printout of its own.

Typical cases:

• Two kitchen printers for the same order ticket – the kitchen and the starter station each see the whole order and coordinate the course sequence.

• Invoice on a receipt printer and on A4 – the invoice comes out on the 80 mm receipt printer with orders merged, and additionally through the system printer as a detailed A4 printout without merging.

Adding and ordering printers

1. Open Menu → Settings → Devices & Connections → Printer assignment and tap the role or printing group.

2. Select the first printer as usual.

3. Tap + next to another detected device to add it as a further printer.

With one printer, the view stays as before. From two printers on, the list Printers of this group (n) appears instead, with numbered rows – name, manufacturer, width and the note Own settings where any are set. Each row's menu offers:

• Test print – on this printer only,

• Width – Auto, 58mm or 80mm; the width belongs to the device and applies wherever this printer is assigned,

• Own settings – from the second printer on,

• Move to top – from the second printer on,

• Remove.

Printing follows the order of the list. There is no "main printer" in the sense of a priority – all printers receive the same document. The first printer differs only in that it prints with the settings of the role or printing group and is resolved as before – see Sub-Terminals below.

Auto, Do not print and Always ask for printer always stand alone. If one of them is selected, no further printers can be added; the Sales Point points this out: Further printers can be added once a printer is selected here.

Own settings per printer

From the second printer on, Own settings lets you store differing values. Whatever you do not set there, the printer takes from the settings of the role or printing group; the dialog is prefilled with the saved values.

Settable per printer is what shapes the individual printout: Size, Template, Copies, Feed, Print prices, Merge orders, Print free modifiers, Add margin between order articles, Print comments, Activate buzzer and Always print hospitality receipt.

Settable only for the role as a whole is what is decided once per print run: Automatically print order, Single receipts, the expediter ticket and Print voucher. These fields do not appear in the own settings.

When a printer is unreachable

Each printer gets a print job of its own. If one of them is unreachable, the others print anyway; the missing printer's job stays visible under Print jobs and can be retried there once the printer is back.

For an invoice on several printers, the cash drawer opens only once, and an associated voucher is printed only once.

Sub-Terminals

The first printer of a role is resolved as before – including the fallback to the Main Sales Point when nothing is set on the Sub-Terminal, see Printer assignment on Sub-Terminals. Further printers are explicit targets: they print exactly where they are assigned, with no fallback to another printer or to the Main Sales Point.

If a Sub-Terminal delegates a role to the Main Sales Point, the Main Sales Point prints on every printer it has assigned to that role. Excluded are printers that need someone at the device – the system printer and Always ask for printer.

Existing assignments

When updating to version 6.2.0, every existing assignment stays unchanged: the printer assigned so far is the first and only printer in the list. There is nothing to do as long as you do not need further printers.

The Printer status and the overview of assignments show all printers involved in an assignment with several printers. Several printers can also be assigned in the bessa Manager, see Manage a Sales Point's printer settings.

Always ask for printer

From bessa Kassa version 6.2.0, the printer assignment offers the virtual printer Always ask for printer. It never prints itself: before every printout the Sales Point opens a printer selection, and the printer chosen there receives the job. This lets the same document go to different printers depending on the situation – for example the invoice for a counter sale on the receipt printer and for a delivery on A4 through the system printer.

Setting it up

1. Open Menu → Settings → Devices & Connections → Printer assignment and tap the role or printing group.

2. At the very top of the list, next to Do not print, select Always ask for printer. It is there even before a vendor is chosen.

3. Check the assignment with Test print: the test print asks just like a real printout.

Always ask for printer can be selected for every printer role except the cash drawer, and for printing groups. It always stands alone – no further printers can be added next to it. It does not appear in the Printer status, because it has neither a connection nor a queue.

It only applies where it is assigned explicitly. A role without its own printer that otherwise shares the invoice printer does not inherit the asking – the fallback skips the virtual printer. A single setting on the invoice printer therefore does not switch every order ticket to asking.

Using the printer selection

The Select printer dialog first lists the most likely printers:

1. those last chosen on this device,

2. those set up in the printer assignment,

3. those found in the last search.

The system printer is always available, even when other printers are present. Direct output as a PDF file is not offered here – you get a PDF file through the system printer and its print dialog.

If the printer you need is not in the list, tap Other printer…. Then follow Select vendor and the printers of that vendor. If no printers of this vendor are known yet, the Sales Point searches straight away; the button at the top right starts a new search. Printers appear as soon as they respond and can be tapped right away – the note Searching for printers… above them shows that more may still come. The search is limited in time and only runs for the chosen vendor. For an Epson or Bixolon printer without a detected model, the Sales Point asks under Select model, as in the settings.

Once a printer is chosen, the job is handed to it immediately. The Sales Point remembers the printers last chosen – at most five, on this device only. They are not synchronised: another device and a reinstallation of the Sales Point start with an empty list.

Settings

No width is offered for Always ask for printer, because which printer it will be is not known at setup. The width belongs to the device: printing uses the width stored for the chosen printer, otherwise Auto. If a printer needs a fixed width, also set it up once in the regular way and set the width there – only then does it apply when the printer is chosen in the selection.

Size, template, copies, feed, prices and all other settings stay with the role or printing group and apply unchanged to the chosen printer.

Cancelling and messages

• Cancelling: if you close the printer selection without choosing a printer, nothing is printed. The Sales Point does not ask again, queues nothing and does not catch up later; no error appears in the Print jobs. An invoice can be reprinted as an invoice copy if needed.

• No printer found: the search ran and found nothing on the network for the chosen vendor.

• The search could not be completed: the search itself failed – this says nothing about whether the printer is reachable. Search again, or go back and pick a printer that is already set up.

• No usable screen: if the Sales Point runs in kiosk mode or is in standby, the selection cannot appear. The print then fails and is recorded as an error in the Print jobs.

Printers that need someone at the device

Two printers open a dialog before printing: Always ask for printer with the printer selection, and the system printer with the Android print dialog. Neither can tell who triggered the print – the dialog appears over whatever is on screen at the moment.

At checkout that is intended. For roles that print in the background, however, both printers are unsuitable: automatic order ticket printing when placing orders, tickets from the order monitor, online orders. There the dialog appears for a print nobody at the device triggered, and stays until someone notices it. The Sales Point does not prevent you from assigning these printers to such roles – so assign them deliberately only where an operator is at the device anyway, above all for the Invoice Printer.

For Sub-Terminals, from version 6.2.0: neither printer is offered as a shared printer, because its dialog would otherwise open on the Main Sales Point – for a print someone triggered on the Sub-Terminal. If a Sub-Terminal delegates a role to the Main Sales Point, this does not trigger a printer selection there.

Sales Point without a printer set up

From version 6.2.0, a device with neither a built-in nor a configured printer no longer silently falls back to the system printer. Instead, the printer selection appears when printing; the system printer remains available there. A Sub-Terminal without its own printer still passes the job to the Main Sales Point.

This selection is the quickest way to set up a newly installed Sales Point: at the bottom of the dialog is the checkbox Use this printer for ‹role› from now on, where ‹role› names the role that triggered the printout. If it is ticked, the chosen printer is taken over for this role, and the next printout no longer asks.

• When it appears: only as long as no printer at all is set up on the Sales Point, and only for users with the Manage Printers permission (see User Roles and Permissions Management). If you do not see it, set up the printer in the printer assignment as usual.

• When it does not appear: for a role explicitly set to Always ask for printer – asking is intended there – and for printing groups.

• Not preselected: without the tick, the choice applies to this one printout only, and the next one asks again.

• Effect beyond the role: further roles without their own printer then share the taken-over printer through the fallback to the invoice printer. One tick therefore practically sets up the whole Sales Point, not just the one role.

• Afterwards: the taken-over printer appears in the printer assignment like any other printer set up there and can be given a fixed width there.

Settings per Printer Role or Printing Group

The general printer as well as every printer role and printing group has its own settings. Tapping one opens the options available for it – depending on the purpose, only a meaningful selection is shown. The "applies to" note lists the roles each setting is available for.

• Size
  Normal – The printer uses the standard font sizes.
  Reduced – The printer uses reduced font sizes. This can be especially useful on narrow printers (e.g. 58mm) for space reasons.
  Enlarged – The printer uses enlarged font sizes. This can be especially useful for drinks, kitchen or order tickets to improve readability.
  (applies to: all printers except the cash drawer)

• Template
  Here you can select either the standard template, or one or more specially adapted print templates, if these have been purchased. (applies to: invoice and report printers)

• Copies
  Specifies the number of additional copies to be printed. 0 means only the original is printed. 1 means the original and one copy are printed. (applies to: all printers except the cash drawer)

• Feed
  Adds extra blank lines at the end of a ticket so it can be torn off more easily. (applies to: order ticket printers, printing groups)

• Automatically print order
  In direct sales ("Bonieren"), automatically prints an order ticket (e.g. for the kitchen) with each invoice, without a separate order. (applies to: invoice printer)

• Print prices
  Also prints prices and totals on order tickets. (applies to: order ticket printers, printing groups)

• Merge orders
  Merges identical articles from multiple orders on the invoice. If this setting is deactivated, each order is listed separately on the invoice. (applies to: invoice printer)

• Print free modifiers
  Also prints article options on the invoice that have no effect on the total price. (applies to: invoice printer)

• Add margin between order articles
  Adds extra spacing between individual articles on the order ticket. This improves readability in the kitchen but increases paper usage. (applies to: invoice and order ticket printers)

• Print comments
  Prints comments recorded for items. (applies to: invoice, report and order ticket printers as well as printing groups)

• Activate buzzer
  Triggers an acoustic signal on the printer after printing – useful at noisy stations such as the kitchen or bar. The buzzer plugs into the printer's drawer connector and rules out a cash drawer on that same printer; Epson printers need an additional setting on the device. See Buzzer on the Receipt Printer. (applies to: order ticket and expediter printers as well as printing groups)

• Print voucher
  Prints an associated voucher with the invoice. (applies to: invoice printer)

• Always print hospitality receipt
  Appends the hospitality receipt form to every original invoice. From bessa Kassa version 6.2.0, only on Sales Points fiscalised for Germany or Austria, see Print a hospitality receipt. (applies to: invoice printer)

• Single receipts
  Determines whether the items of an order are printed together or as several single tickets. (applies to: order ticket and expediter printers as well as printing groups – never on the invoice printer)
  None – All items appear on one combined ticket (default).
  Per article – A separate ticket is printed for each article line, regardless of quantity.
  Per piece – A separate ticket is printed for each single unit (quantity 5 → 5 tickets), each showing the single-unit price. Items with a fractional quantity (e.g. weighed articles) or more than 50 units stay on one combined ticket. Handy e.g. for laundry tickets.

Printing groups additionally offer the Print on expediter ticket option – see Printing Groups.

Setting up the cash drawer

The cash drawer hangs on the receipt printer, not on the Sales Point – wiring and hardware troubleshooting are covered under Cash Drawer on the Receipt Printer. Two things are needed at the Sales Point:

1. Set the Cash Drawer role to the device the drawer is physically connected to – typically the invoice printer. This role has to be set explicitly; if the slot stays empty, the drawer will not open on payment.

2. If the drawer should also open outside a payment, add the Open cash drawer function key on the order screen – see Displays.

Several Sales Points can open the same drawer, provided each of them points its Cash Drawer role at exactly the printer the drawer is attached to.

Setting up the buzzer

The buzzer plugs into the drawer connector of the receipt printer. Wiring, the either/or with the cash drawer and the device setting Epson printers require are covered under Buzzer on the Receipt Printer.

At the Sales Point you activate it per assignment: tap the printer role or printing group and switch on Activate buzzer. The setting is available for order ticket and expediter printers as well as for printing groups.

If nothing beeps, check these two points first: is Activate buzzer set on this role or printing group, and is the setting made on the device that takes the order? Only then is it worth looking at the hardware.