Connecting Printers and Auto-printing receipts [Kenzap E-commerce]
This guide explains how to connect and setup up printers to the Kenzap Cloud account. After getting through this guide you should be able to print branded receipts and checks directly from your Kenzap Cloud account, set up auto printing functionality, and connect printers with the Kenzap QR Menu solution.
This guide is intended for:
- Individual hawker stalls
- Restaurants, bars
- Cafe, coffeeshops
1. Printers
The very first step in the process is to find a suitable printer. Simply search for " 58mm thermal bluetooth printer " on Lazada or Shopee. Thermal bluetooth printers are a great choice if you are on a budget, do not want to spend more than 50 SGD, and want to avoid complex setups.
As an option, you can also get an onboarding package directly from Kenzap that includes the free latest model printer and its setup on-site.
One important thing to note is that you can not use two Bluetooth printers connected to one device. This means that, if you want to have more than 1 printer you need to buy one that supports different communication mediums such as ethernet .
The price for a new ethernet printer starts from 110 SGD.
2. Android Device
The best way to connect your printers to the Kenzap Cloud is by connecting them via your Android device . The device can be anything, starting from your personal mobile phone, ending with a small or large tablet.
The only thing you need to be aware of is that your Android device runs Android version 9 or higher .
3. Kenzap Print App
In order to enable the auto printing feature, and ensure device compatibility and cloud connectivity make sure to install this Kenzap Print application.
One of the things to note after installing the application is the Device ID which is unique to every device. We are going to use this device ID to register printers in the Kenzap Cloud dashboard. Proceed to the next chapter for more details.
4. Connecting Bluetooth Printer
Go to Kenzap Cloud Dashboard > E-commerce > Settings and find the Printing section as shown in the image below.
Under the Device ID field provide the same number as in your Kenzap Print application. Choose Bluetooth as the device type and hit on the plus icon to add the device to the list.
Make sure to click on the Save Changes button to keep the updates permanently.
Once the above-mentioned steps are done do the following:
- Plug the Bluetooth printer in.
- Turn the printer on by pressing the on/off button.
- Insert the paper roll into the printer.
- On your android device, turn the Bluetooth printer on.
- Find available devices and pair (depending on the printer model the name RPP02N and default password 0000 may vary).
5. Connecting Ethernet Printer (optional)
Similarly, as with the Bluetooth printer, go to Kenzap Cloud Dashboard > E-commerce > Settings and find the Printing section as shown in the image below.
The main difference here is the different device type which is ethernet and additional settings related to the IP address of the printer.
The IP address of the ethernet printer is issued when it is turned on and connected to the network. Make sure to plug in the ethernet cable to your printer and to the router.
Unfortunately, most ethernet printers are not able to show their IP address but there are multiple ways how you can find it out.
- Login into your routing device as an administrator and find settings related to a list of connected devices.
- Install Android Network Scanner application.
Once the IP address of the printing device is obtained enter it into the IP Address field as shown in the previous image, click on plus sign, and hit on the Save changes button.
Important! Your Android device should be connected to the same network (router) wirelessly.
6. Receipt Template
To start printing you need to set up your first receipt design. Under the Kenzap Cloud Dashboard > E-commerce > Settings find the Templates section and hit on the New Template button.
You can copy and paste the basic template example from the code section below.
[L][C]<font size='big'>ORDER #{{order_id}}</font>[L][C]My Brand Name[C]<u type='double'>{{date_time}}</u>[C]================================{{order_items}}[C]================================{{order_totals}}[C]================================ So that the final output looks the following way.
Note the settings on the right side. Make sure the Template type is set to Receipt .
With the help of other settings, such as "Default for" and "Auto-print" you can restrict specific template designs to one particular user or pick an action that triggers specific printers to print the selected template.
Important! Y ou need to check corresponding checkboxes to instruct which printer to use for the selected template.
For example, if 1-4BJGESIYKQ0D is selected then only the Bluetooth printer will print the receipt. If both 1-4BJGESIYKQ0D and 2-4BJGESIYKQ0D printers are selected then two different printers will print simultaneously when users requests to print the receipt.
Once all of the changes are provided do not forget to click on the Save Changes button.
7. Test Printing
You can now do a first test receipt printing. Go to Kenzap Cloud Dashboard > E-commerce > Orders > New Order.
Add some information to the order and click on the green print icon as shown in the image below.
This action should trigger receipt printing according to your configurations.