Printing FAQs

Printing Overview | Compatible Printers | Hardware Setup

The following lists include common questions about printing. Under the appropriate category below, click on a question to view the answer.

If you have problems printing, we recommend you use the Hardware Troubleshooter (access from the Help menu) for assistance. The troubleshooter will help you identify and correct your specific issue.

Printer Configuration & Preferences

My printer is not printing. What could cause this?

The Print or Print Tags buttons are grayed out. Why can't I access this option?

After upgrading, I can't find the same print template I used for a document/area before. Why is this?

Document & Report Printing

What is wrong when the right side of the text is truncated when printing the Z-Out Store Close report on the Star TSP600 receipt printer?

How can I change font size on a report?

What happens if I select print while viewing a document before the document has been updated?

What should I do if a printed document does not contain a field I want?

Can I customize my printed documents?

Can I change printing options at the time of printing?

How do I cancel a printing job after it has started?

When printing a X/Z-Out report to my 40-column printer, I get the error message "There was an error found when printing the document to LPT1: Do you want to retry or cancel the job?" If I cancel the print job Point of Sale freezes up. What can I do to correct this?

I am using the Epson TMU200 and am experiencing poor print quality. What is wrong?

Tag and Label Printing

How do I cancel a tag printing job after it has started?

When printing tags using the Zebra tag printer, tags are printed erratically, skipped, printed upside down, or not properly centered on tag stock. How can I fix this?

Tags are skipped when printing on a Zebra tag printer, even after a calibration. What could be the problem?

I accidentally sent a print job to the Zebra tag printer that was meant for another printer. What should I do?

The Zebra tag printer prints one tag, advances past several blank tags, and then the printer light becomes red, or the printer light becomes red when sending a job to the printer. How can I correct this?

When printing tags with cost there are unusual characters, but no cost. What has happened?

What is wrong when nothing prints on hangtags?

Can I customize my printed tags?

I changed fonts and font sizes in Print Designer, but my printouts are now messed up. Why?

See also Common issues with Zebra tag printers

Back to top

Didnt find an answer to your question? Try these other free resources:

Visit the Point of Sale Community Message Board to ask questions and share ideas, solutions, and advice with other Point of Sale users and experts.

Check out our support website to search our online Knowledgebase of answers to frequently asked questions at www.quickbooks.com/support.

Related Topics

Print records or documents

Print tags

Print the cost and last-received date on tags

Print customer labels

Workstation preferences: Printing

Compatible hardware list

Printer Configuration & Preferences Answers

My printer is not printing. What could cause this?

A number of things could cause this problem. Check for the following:

- No power/printer is offline

- No paper in printer

- Printer is not properly installed

- Printer is not properly connected to computer

- Workstation preferences are not properly configured for the printer (use the Hardware Setup Wizard, accessible from the File menu, to connect and configure new hardware)

- No template is selected in workstation preferences for the document type you are trying to print

- More than one printer is connected to the port assigned (use the Hardware Troubleshooter, accessible from the Help menu, to identify and correct the problem)

- You plugged a USB printer into a port other than the one on which it was originally installed. Replug the printer into the same USB port used before.

Receipt printer troubleshooter

Return to question list

The print or print tags button is grayed out. Why can t I access this option?

Typically, this happens when no printer has been set up in Windows or assigned in Point of Sale. Selecting Preferences Workstation from the File menu and then select Available Printers from the preferences menu on the left. If your printer is not listed, select Hardware Setup Wizard to install it now. Then select Documents & Printers and specify the printer for documents as necessary.

Return to question list

After upgrading to this version, I can t find the same print template I used for a document/area in earlier versions. Why is this?

Improved print templates (called "designs" in some previous versions) have replaced previous templates. Review your template choices in workstation preferences and make new selections as appropriate. If you do not have a print template selected when selecting to print, a dialog will be presented from which you can make your selection.

Return to question list

Can I customize how my printed documents and tags look?

Yes, if you are a Pro-level user, you can customize printed documents and tags using the Print Designer. Learn more.

Return to question list

Document & Report Printing

What is wrong when the right side of the text is truncated when printing the Z-Out Store Close report on the Star TSP600 receipt printer?

Go to File Preferences Workstation Print Options X/Z-out and change the template assigned to X/Z-Out reports to 4 0-column X/Z-Out.

Return to question list

How can I change font size on a report?

You can change a number of report options, including font, header/footer information, and the columns of information displayed in the report. In the Report Center, choose the report you wish to run. Depending on how you run the report, the Modify Report wizard may be displayed before running or you can select Modify from the toolbar after it is displayed. Choose Change Report Appearance and then select an area of the report in the Fonts section to review or change font characteristics.

Return to question list

What happens if I select print while viewing a document before the document has been saved?

In this case, selecting Print has the same effect as selecting Save & Print. The document is saved, then printed.

Return to question list

What should I do if a printed document does not contain a field I want?

Try a different document template at File Preferences Workstation Documents & Printers and see if the new template contains the field/information you want. A number of templates are provided for each document type, each containing different information and fields.

(Pro) f the provided templates dont meet your needs, you can customize them or create new ones to meet your needs using Print Designer.

Return to question list

Is there a way I can change printing options at the time of printing?

At File Preferences Workstation Print Options, make sure the check box for Display Print Dialog... is selected for each type of document for which you would like to change options at the time of printing. You will be able to change the printer, number of copies, template, and various other options depending on the document type.

Return to question list

When printing a X/Z-Out report to my 40-column printer, I get the error message "There was an error found when printing the document to LPT1: Do you want to retry or cancel the job?" If I cancel the print job Point of Sale freezes up. What can I do to correct this?

There are really two separate issues here. First, ignore the error message and let the printer continue printing. This error is caused by an overrun in the Windows print buffer, and if you just ignore it the message will disappear as soon as the buffer catches up. If it is a large report, this may take a few minutes but the message will disappear on its own and the print job will finish correctly.

The second issue, Point of Sale freezing when you do cancel the print job, is most likely because your printer properties are set to "Print directly to printer." If this is the case, system control is never returned from Windows to Point of Sale after canceling the print job. Open your Windows Printers folder, right-click your 40-column printer and select Properties. Locate the setting for spooling print jobs (typically on the Advanced page) and be sure the "Spool print jobs" and "Start printing immediately" settings are selected.

Return to question list

I am using the Epson TMU200 and am experiencing poor print quality. What is wrong?

Try the following suggestions to improve the print quality with this printer.

- Uninstall the printer from the Windows Printers dialog. Then run the ADT206E.exe file from the Extras\Drivers\Epson Printer & USB drivers folder on your Point of Sale installation CD, choosing the Status API and TMU 210 ReceiptA(R) options. This will reinstall the printer with the correct driver.

- Select print templates that use the Arial font at File Preferences Workstation Documents & Printers. Look for the {Arial} suffix on the template names.

- If you have a cash drawer attached and get extra characters printing, try changing the Cash Drawer settings in workstation preferences to "Connected through Epson Generic".

- If extra paper is fed after a receipt is cut, try switching report/partial cut settings to assigned paper size on the Windows Printer Properties Device Settings tab.

- This is a dot matrix printer and does not support printing of scannable bar codes.

Return to question list

Tag Printing

When printing tags using the Zebra tag printer, tags are printed erratically, skipped, printed upside down, or not properly centered on tag stock. How can I fix this?

There are two possible reasons for this. 1) A dirty printhead, or 2) the printer needs to be calibrated. Calibration is offered required right after switching between label types, changing the roll, or just because tag printers can be finicky.

See Common issues with Zebra tag printers for advice on these issues and more.

Return to question list

Tags are skipped when printing on a Zebra tag printer, even after a calibration. What could be the problem?

Earlier models of the Zebra LP2824 printer work erratically with the current driver. Ensure that the manufacture date of the Zebra LP2824 is after October 2002.

See Common issues with Zebra tag printers for advice on these issues and more.

Return to question list

I accidentally sent a print job to the Zebra LP2824 that was meant for another printer. What should I do?

Jobs meant for other printers are likely to have embedded commands that will create printing problems on the Zebra LP2824 printer. When this happens:

1. Delete all pending print jobs for all printers (this may require rebooting Windows).

2. Power the printer off, and then back on.

3. Recalibrate the printer by selecting the Calibrate button on the Print dialog.

Return to question list

The Zebra tag printer prints one tag, advances past several blank tags, and then the printer light becomes red, or the printer light becomes red when sending a job to the printer. How can I correct this?

This problem may be caused by accidentally sending a printer job meant for another printer to the Zebra LP2824.

1. Delete all pending print jobs for all printers (this may require deleting jobs and rebooting Windows).

2. Power the printer off, and then back on.

3. Recalibrate the printer by selecting the Calibrate button on the Print dialog.

Return to question list

When printing tags with cost there are unusual characters, but no cost. What has happened?

Tags can be printed in code to prevent inadvertent disclosure of Cost and Last Received Date information. The default at Edit Preferences Company Pricing Price Tag Codes maps the first 10 letters of the alphabet to the numbers 0-9 (a=1, b=2, c=3, etc.). Cost will print on tags in this code when you use a tag template with a suffix of "+ cost" (for example, "Zebra Label +cost"). Change the cost codes to suit your taste.

Return to question list

What is wrong when nothing prints on hang tags?

Only one side of tag stock is designed for thermal printing. Reverse the direction that the tag stock feeds and try printing again.

Return to question list

(Pro) I changed fonts and font sizes in Print Designer, but my printouts are now messed up. Why?

Print Designer allows you to change almost everything about a print template, including fonts, special characters, font sizes, colors, etc. But Print Designer doesn't know what printer you will use to actually print your tags or documents. Take care to not make changes that your printer won't support. For example, receipt and tag printers may not support all font characters, sizes, or color. Always test template changes to be sure the output is what you expected before putting the template into use in your store.

How do I cancel a printing job after it has started?

Point of Sale "spools" a printing job to Windows and Windows then sends the job to your printer. This allows you to begin another task sooner in Point of Sale, while Windows handles the printing chores. You can cancel the print job using the Cancel button on the print progress dialog in Point of Sale. Unfortunately, on many print jobs the spooling and this dialog are visible for only a few seconds in Point of Sale.

You may still be able to cancel the print job in Windows. Look for the printer icon in your system tray and double-click it. This opens the Windows print queue window for the printer. Your print job and its status is displayed. To cancel the print job, select the document and then from the Document menu, select Cancel.

Another, and possibly quicker, method of canceling a print job is too power off the printer itself. Cycling the printer power off and on typically clears any printer buffer (memory) that the printer itself may be using to hold the print job. You may still have to cancel or delete the job in the Windows print queue or it will remain there and possibly attempt to restart later.

Refer to Windows help for more information on working with printers or changing your print settings.

Return to question list