# Printing

Flow Retail has extensive support for printing on various types of printers, split into three different categories:

* Receipt printers
* Label printers
* A4 printers

## Connecting the printers

There are basically two ways of connecting a printer to Flow Retail:

a) via a Flowbox

b) directly over the network

### Connecting via a Flowbox

Please check out Flowbox documentation for details.

### Directly over the network

Make sure you printer is available directly over public IP, and has either an active LPD (port 515) printer queue or Jetdirect (port 9100-9102) printer queue.

{% hint style="warning" %}
Printing over the network directly to the printer requires direct IP access to the printer's IP address and port. In most cases this is NOT possible unless you use Flow Retail Enterprise, with a local installation of the platform. 
{% endhint %}

## Receipt printers

#### Thermal Printers

Thermal printers are typically situated in the checkout area for printing receipts. They utilize heat to create images on paper, allowing for easy installation and minimal upkeep. The paper comes in easily replaceable rolls.

### Requirements

* Must support the ESCPOS printing language.

## Label printers

Used to print various types of labels, like price labels or delivery notes to stick onto products for later pickup.

Also thermal-based, similar to receipt printers.

### Supported labels formats

<table><thead><tr><th width="129.4375">Format</th><th width="169.421875">Used for</th><th width="209.01171875">Supports Flow Gift Card<select><option value="mTb0mvbmE5rm" label="Yes" color="blue"></option></select></th><th>Content on print w/example</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>36x20</td><td>Price labels</td><td><span data-option="mTb0mvbmE5rm">Yes</span></td><td>Barcode + SKU + price + serial number [if present]<br><img src="https://593715853-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0GCVniU8V4PZKEK4axWz%2Fuploads%2FUrAAzoOytq8sFR2t9v8s%2Flabel_36x20.png?alt=media&#x26;token=3f573385-58fd-4119-b7e6-928362ad6c60" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td>40x27</td><td>Price labels</td><td><span data-option="mTb0mvbmE5rm">Yes</span></td><td>Barcode + SKU + price + serial number [if present]<br><img src="https://593715853-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0GCVniU8V4PZKEK4axWz%2Fuploads%2FadHJzNDesk001XZ1fzzj%2Flabel_40x27.png?alt=media&#x26;token=4a1c0866-6df6-428c-a2b1-f2142f1e1fc4" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td>40x50</td><td>Price labels</td><td><span data-option="mTb0mvbmE5rm">Yes</span></td><td>Barcode + SKU + price + serial number [if present]<br><img src="https://593715853-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0GCVniU8V4PZKEK4axWz%2Fuploads%2FoNV6ITkv0vTifKIDE2k6%2Flabel_40x50.jpg?alt=media&#x26;token=f0695efc-45f6-4ce5-a4fd-f08237e03bd0" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td>51x25</td><td>Price labels</td><td><span data-option="mTb0mvbmE5rm">Yes</span></td><td>Barcode + SKU + price + serial number [if present] + custom price list price [if present]<br><img src="https://593715853-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F0GCVniU8V4PZKEK4axWz%2Fuploads%2FH0teoFQFSF6MrPTjGqxk%2Flabel_51x25.png?alt=media&#x26;token=3cff0595-f72f-4b9c-be19-246af0adaa93" alt=""></td></tr><tr><td>100x100</td><td>Pickup note</td><td></td><td>Various order details + product details</td></tr><tr><td>100x190</td><td>Pickup note</td><td></td><td>Order details + product details.<br><br><strong>Remark:</strong> Customer details on this label are intentionally obfuscated. Personally identifiable information such as customer name and phone number is masked or anonymized for privacy and security reasons.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### Requirements

* Must support ZPL[^1] printing language

## A4 printers

Basically any modern A4 printer is supported.

### Requirements

* Must support printing a PDF directly to the printer (most modern printers supports this)

[^1]: Zebra Printing Language