Printing and reprinting
A receipt can be printed as a receipt roll or a full page. Every print is recorded, the first is the original, and every later copy is stamped DUPLICATE.
Two formats
On the receipt screen the Print card has two tabs on an Android device. They are different documents, not one layout at two sizes. On iOS and on the web only the Full Page format is offered: receipt rolls are an Android feature in this release.
| Tab | Output | Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Receipt Roll (Monospaced · 58/80 mm) | Black-and-white text for a thermal head, 32 columns on 58 mm paper or 48 on 80 mm, with the logo and signatures as dot images. | The exact characters the print head receives, on a "paper" as wide as the roll. The caption names the width and columns and points to Settings → Receipts → Receipt Roll Printing to change them. |
| Full Page (A4 · colour) | A self-contained page with a masthead, headline amount, facts row, itemised summary, totals, custom fields, signatures and footer. | The exact document sent to the printer, shown inline; "not a capture of this screen". |
What prints on the roll, top to bottom
- The logo, or the label in capitals (see Branding).
- The location's name and address, when one was recorded.
- A DUPLICATE banner with the copy number and reprint time, on reprints only.
- Labelled facts, label on the left and value on the right: Receipt (or Offline Ref while there is no number), Customer, Issued, and for a receipt issued offline Issued (Offline) (the device's clock) and Offline Ref. Times on the paper are in the issuing location's time zone, or the organisation's when the receipt names no location — never the reader's. A value too long for its line wraps beneath its label.
- Custom Fields as label and value, directly under the customer. Long values wrap rather than being cut off.
- Each item: the description on its own line, then quantity, unit and unit price with the line total on the right (a custom-priced line shows its amount alone; one whose product works units out from the amount shows the units and the rate instead, "4.545 gal @ 1,100", with the amount on the right).
- Subtotal and TOTAL.
- Each signature with the signer's name and "Signed" time.
- The footer note.
The full page carries the same content in its graphical layout: the same labelled facts (plus Paid Via when payments are recorded) under the amount, with the custom fields below the totals. A receipt not yet synced shows its offline reference in place of the number.
Where the print goes
A receipt roll can reach a printer three ways. The app tries them in this order and uses the first that is present on the device; Print via… lists the routes when more than one applies so you can pick another for one print. What the next print will do is shown under the roll preview ("Next print: Ready · Vendor Print Service · …") and at the top of Receipt settings → Receipt Roll Printing, where the routes are set up.
| Route | Format | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor Print Service | Roll | The terminal's own printer through its built-in printer service. Nothing to set up: an Android point-of-sale terminal whose printer service the app knows (today IPosPrinterService and recieptservice, the services behind the Q1/Q2/Q2i and H10 terminals) prints with one tap and no dialog, and where the service reports it, can say paper out or overheating before anything is sent. Needs the installed app, not Expo Go. |
| Bluetooth | Roll | A paired Bluetooth printer chosen under Bluetooth Printers: the terminal's own printer where it is exposed that way (for example IposPrinter on a Q2), or an external 58 or 80 mm printer. One tap, no dialog; Bluetooth must be on. |
| Android Print Service | Roll | The system print dialog and the printer registered with it ("Local Printer" on many terminals). The dialog opens for one confirmation each time. Same output character for character. |
| Printer (Paper) | Full Page | Any device with the system print dialog: network and USB printers on Android, AirPrint on iOS, the browser's print dialog on the web. That dialog usually offers "Save as PDF". |
| Share Receipt | Both | Always. Opens the share sheet with the receipt text (roll, Android) or the receipt page (full page), for WhatsApp, email and the like. It is the fallback when no printer is available. |
How the fallback works
Before printing, the app checks which routes are present without touching any printer, then tries them in order. A route that turns out unusable at that moment (the printer service does not answer, Bluetooth is off or the printer is out of range, no print service is registered) is skipped and the next one is tried; the message afterwards names the route used and any that were skipped. Two things never fall through. Once a printer has the receipt, a problem is reported rather than retried elsewhere, so one print record never means two copies on paper. And a printer that reports paper out or overheated stops the attempt, because sending the same receipt to the same printer by another route cannot help; an external Bluetooth printer is a different printer and is still tried. A pinned route that is not available falls back rather than stopping receipts, and the message says so.
Messages after printing
A message in the bottom-right corner reports the outcome. Green: "Original sent via Vendor Print Service." or "Duplicate (copy N) sent via Bluetooth · IposPrinter." Amber: the same, naming a route that was skipped or a pin that was unavailable. Red means nothing was recorded, and the message says what to do:
- "Paper out. Load a roll and press Print again."
- "The printer is overheated. Let it cool for a minute and press Print again."
- "The printer is busy. Wait a moment and press Print again."
- "The printer did not answer in 15 seconds." Check it; a test print under Receipt settings tells you whether it is responding.
- "The Bluetooth connection dropped while printing, so the receipt may be incomplete. Check the printer and press Print again."
- "No printer is set up on this device. Open Settings → Receipts → Receipt Roll Printing to set one up, or use Share Receipt." Set Up Printer is offered under the roll preview in that case.
- "No printer could take this receipt (…)." Each route is named with why it was skipped.
Originals and duplicates
The copy number comes from the print history: copy 1 is the original and every later copy is a duplicate. A duplicate needs Receipts.Reprint (checked before any paper moves) and prints with a *** DUPLICATE *** banner, its copy number and the reprint time, while the original issue date stays on the receipt. The print is recorded only after the printer has finished: a jam, a cancelled print dialog or a dismissed share sheet does not count as a copy, so the next attempt is still the original. If the paper came out but the record could not be sent, a red message says so and the record is retried through the queue.
- The Print card's subtitle tells you what the next print will be: "Not printed yet — the next print is the original" or "Printed N times — the next print is a DUPLICATE".
- The button reads Print Receipt or Reprint (Duplicate · Copy N).
- A reprint uses the current branding, because a receipt is data, not a frozen picture; the duplicate stamp is what marks it as a copy.
- Offline, and for a receipt not yet synced, the copy number is counted on the device with the same permission rule, and the print record is queued.
Print History
The Print History card lists "Every physical copy of this receipt": copy number, an Original or Duplicate badge, the format, when, and who printed it. The Receipts Register report shows the count of prints per receipt.