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Printing Problems

Most printing problems are network or paper problems, and they are almost always fixable at the counter without support. Work down this page in order — the checks are arranged so the cheapest ones come first.

Reading the Status Icon

Every line on an order carries a small icon on its left. It tells you exactly where that item is:

Icon Meaning
Clock The item was sent but has not printed yet
Printer The item printed successfully
A payment icon The item has been paid — the icon now shows the payment type instead

Note

A clock is a printing delay, not an order error. The item is registered, the kitchen simply has not received its ticket. Nothing is lost, and nothing needs re-entering.

When the problem is fixed, pending items print on their own and the clock turns into a printer icon. You do not need to re-send the order.

Order Tickets Are Not Printing

1. Check the printer itself

  • The printer is switched on and the power cable is seated
  • It has paper, and the roll feeds from the top

Warning

Paper loaded the wrong way round is the single most common cause. The printer looks healthy, accepts the job and prints nothing, because thermal paper only prints on one side.

2. Check the network

The tablet and the printer must be on the same network.

  • Check which Wi-Fi network the tablet is on
  • Check that the printer's Ethernet cable is plugged in and has not been knocked loose
  • The socket lights on the back of the printer should be blinking

Tip

Forget every Wi-Fi network on the tablet except the one your printers are on. A tablet that silently reconnects to a guest network at the start of service is a printing failure waiting to happen, and it is invisible until the first ticket goes missing.

3. Check the Main device is running

Kitchen tickets are dispatched by the device signed in as the Main account. If that tablet is off, asleep or on a different network, tickets from every other device stop.

Make sure it is powered on and on the printer network.

4. Check the printer address

In the Admin Panel, open Printers and confirm the IP Address matches the printer.

To read the address off the printer, print its test page:

  • On Posbel printers, hold the FEED button while switching the printer on and keep holding until the red light blinks, then release.

5. Check printing is switched on

Two switches must both be on:

  • Print Order Ticket in the Admin Panel settings
  • Printing enabled on each product group you are ordering from

Warning

A group with printing disabled produces no ticket at all, even though a printer is assigned to it. This is the check people miss, because everything else looks correctly configured.

The VAT Ticket or Provisional Bill Will Not Print

These are printed by the user's own printer, not the kitchen printer, so they fail independently of order tickets.

1. Check a printer is assigned

  • For a Register or Main account, a printer should be assigned to the user in the Admin Panel
  • If no printer is assigned, the app falls back to the establishment's main printer address in the general settings

If neither is set, there is nothing to print to.

2. Run a print test

On the tablet, open the Menu, then Settings, and use:

  • Print test — sends a test ticket to every printer the device can reach
  • Print test (User Printer) — sends one only to the printer assigned to the signed-in account

This tells you immediately whether the problem is the printer or the configuration. If Print test works and Print test (User Printer) does not, the printer is fine and the user's assignment is wrong.

3. Check the address and the cabling

Same checks as above — matching IP address, blinking socket lights, same network.

Barcode Labels Print Crooked or Unreadable

See Printing Product Barcodes, which covers label stock and roll alignment.

Summary

  • A clock icon means not yet printed; it clears itself once printing works again
  • Nothing is lost during a printing failure — do not re-enter the order
  • Paper direction and network mismatch cause most failures
  • Kitchen tickets depend on the Main device being online
  • Print test and Print test (User Printer) separate a printer fault from a configuration fault