Printing

What it is for#

Pixel One prints on four papers: Thermal 80 mm, the roll most point-of-sale printers use; Thermal 58 mm, for small and portable printers; Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) and A4 (210 × 297 mm). This page explains how you choose the company's paper and each cash register's, what the print screen does and how to set up the thermal printer once.

Before you start#

• The printer installed on your computer, with its driver, like any other printer. Pixel One prints through the browser's print dialog; it needs no extra software.
• The Configure the company permission to change the paper in Settings and in Cash registers.
• Chrome or Edge to print straight from the app. In Safari and Firefox the document opens in another tab and you print it from there.

The formats#

The same invoice on the four papers. Open each one to see it whole:

On a roll, the document fills the width the printer reaches (72 mm on an 80 mm roll, 48 mm on a 58 mm roll) and the page is exactly as long as the document: no paper is wasted. On Letter and A4, the header repeats on every sheet and each one is numbered.

Choosing the paper#

1. The company's paper

   In Settings, Printing tab:

   • Invoice and receipt paper: how invoices and credit notes come out when you click Print. It starts as Thermal 80 mm.
   • Page size: Letter or A4, the paper of Print on sheet, for when the customer asks for the invoice on a sheet.
   • Logo for thermal printers: thermal printers print only in black. Upload your logo with Upload black and white logo; without it, the receipt uses your logo converted to black and white.

   Click Save changes.

   

2. Each cash register's paper (optional)

   If a cash register has a different printer (a 58 mm thermal at the bar and an 80 mm one at the counter, for example), in Cash registers open the cash register's menu, click Edit and choose This cash register's printer. The company's uses the one in Settings. What you choose here wins over the company's for what is sold at that cash register.

   

The print screen#

When you print an invoice, a credit note, a quote, or a work order's estimate or repair order, Pixel One prepares the document on your cash register's paper (or the company's) and opens the print dialog on its own. At the top you have:

• Paper: changes the paper for this print, without touching the settings.
• Download PDF: saves the document to send by email or WhatsApp.
• Open in a new tab: the PDF on its own, to print from the browser's viewer.
• Print: opens the dialog again.

On a roll, the screen reminds you: "In the print dialog pick the thermal printer, the roll paper (80 mm) and 100 % scale". That is what follows.

Setting up the thermal printer#

Do it once on each computer that prints receipts. The browser remembers what you choose for next time.

1. The roll in the printer

   In your system's printer preferences (on Windows, Printers & scanners; on a Mac, System Settings, Printers & Scanners), choose the roll paper you use: 80 mm (some drivers call it "80 x 297 mm") or 58 mm.

2. The browser's print dialog

   Print a test invoice and, in the dialog, check:

   Option	What you choose
   Destination or printer	The thermal printer, not "Save as PDF".
   Paper size	The roll: 80 mm (or 58 mm), the same as the printer's.
   Scale	100 %, or "Actual size". Never "Fit to printable area".
   Margins	"None", if the dialog offers it.
   Headers and footers	Off, if the option appears.

   In Chrome, scale, margins and headers are under "More settings".

3. Compare with the sample

   The receipt should come out as wide as the roll, readable and not cut at the sides, like this one:

   

Product labels have their own formats (Roll 50 × 25 mm and Letter sheet 3 × 10). See Catalog.

By country#

Common mistakes#

• "The receipt prints tiny." It is almost always the scale: set it to 100 % (or "Actual size") and the paper to the roll, not Letter.
• "It is cut on the right, or there is a wide margin." Margins on "None" and the paper size the same as the printer's roll.
• "The print dialog does not open." In Safari or Firefox the document opens in another tab when you click Print: print it from there.
• "A cash register prints on a paper I did not want." Check This cash register's printer in Cash registers: it wins over the company's.
• "The logo comes out as a black blot." Upload a black and white logo in Logo for thermal printers.

Next step#

Who voided or changed each thing, and when: History and control.