Choosing a thermal printer for your counter and kitchen

A thermal printer is a small purchase that affects your whole service. If the kitchen ticket is late or the receipt is unreadable, everyone notices. This guide covers what to check before you buy and how the connection type affects which Snapitto till you use.

The basics to look for

Snapitto prints to 80mm ESC/POS thermal printers, laid out at 42 characters per line. ESC/POS is the command language most receipt printers understand. Before buying, confirm:

• The paper width is 80mm.
• It supports ESC/POS commands.
• It has an auto-cutter, which saves a lot of tearing.
• Paper rolls are easy to buy near you.

Thermal printers need no ink or ribbon, which makes them cheap to run. They do need heat-sensitive paper, and receipts fade over time, so a copy you must keep for years should be stored away from heat and light.

Connection types

USB

A USB printer plugs into the till computer. It is simple and reliable. In the web till, USB printing works in Chrome and Edge through the browser's device permission; Safari and Firefox do not support it. The desktop and Android apps also support USB.

The drawback is distance. The printer must sit next to the computer it is plugged into.

Network (LAN)

A network printer connects to your router by cable or Wi-Fi and is reached by an IP address. It is our suggestion for a kitchen. Several tills can send tickets to it, and it does not need to sit by a particular computer.

The desktop and Android apps print to it directly. A browser cannot open such a connection, so the web till needs the small Snapitto print relay installed once on each till computer. Give the printer a fixed IP address in your router so it does not change.

Because the printer is on your local network, printing keeps working even when the internet is down.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is convenient for a mobile setup, but there is a catch. Many thermal printers use classic Bluetooth. Android can use those, but a web browser can only talk to Bluetooth Low Energy devices, and only some printers offer it. If you plan to use Bluetooth from the web till, check for BLE support before buying. If you use the Android app, classic Bluetooth is fine.

One printer or two?

Each till can have a separate printer for kitchen tickets (KOT) and for receipts. A common arrangement is:

• A receipt printer at the counter, by USB or network.
• A KOT printer in the kitchen, over the network.

Kitchen environments can be warm, greasy and noisy, so place the printer away from the stove and steam. Some people like a louder printer in the kitchen because it gets noticed.

Layout choices

Snapitto offers two layouts for each document, Classic and Columns. Columns prints an Item / Qty / Price table, and the KOT version leaves out price. Try both on your printer's paper before you choose.

Before you commit

1. Ask the seller to confirm ESC/POS and 80mm.
2. Buy one unit first and test it with the Test print button in Settings › Printing.
3. Make sure it prints a clear KOT and a readable receipt.
4. Only then buy more.

We cannot promise that every printer model will work. A single test unit is the honest way to be sure.

See Printing KOT and receipts for setup, or follow Print to a network printer.