Thermal receipt printers — set up once, print every bill
This guide is for shops that bill at a counter with a roll printer, and for shops deciding whether to buy one. Pick your printer once under Settings › Invoicing › Printer and every bill opens ready to print on it.
What you get
- One choice, made once. Tell BillBook whether you print on an A4 sheet printer or on an 80 mm or 58 mm thermal roll. Bills, final bills and quotations then open in that layout, and the Print button just prints.
- A4 when you need it. Every bill page still has a button to switch to the other layout for that one customer — a wholesale buyer who wants a full invoice with bank details, for example.
- Print right after saving. Turn on "Print right after saving a bill" and the print dialog opens the moment a bill is saved or a quotation is converted. Press Enter and the receipt is out.
- GST on the receipt. Registered shops see CGST and SGST on the receipt; others see a single GST line. GSTIN, PESO licence number, phone and address print at the top.
What you need
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| A thermal receipt printer | USB or Bluetooth, 80 mm (3 inch) or 58 mm (2 inch). ₹2,000–₹6,000 models all work. It must be installed as a printer on the computer or tablet — the browser prints to it like any other printer. |
| Receipt rolls | 80 mm or 58 mm to match the printer. Any stationery shop stocks them. |
| A browser | Chrome or Edge on Windows, Safari or Chrome on Mac and iPad. Phones can print over Bluetooth when the printer is added in the phone's print settings. |
Set it up
- Install the printer's driver (Windows and Mac) or pair it (Bluetooth) so it shows up in the browser's print dialog. Print a test page from the operating system first.
- In BillBook open Settings › Invoicing and find the Printer card.
- Choose Thermal roll printer — 80 mm or — 58 mm to match your roll. Turn on Print right after saving a bill if you print every bill.
- Click Save printer.
- Open any bill. It opens as a receipt. Click Print, pick the thermal printer in the dialog and confirm. The browser remembers the last printer, so next time it is one click.
The receipt layout uses the paper width you chose, so there is nothing to adjust in the print dialog. Leave margins on the browser's default and turn off headers and footers if the browser shows them.
Which layout prints where
| Screen | Thermal setting on | A4 setting on |
|---|---|---|
| Sale invoice (Sales) | Receipt, with an A4 invoice button | Invoice, with Thermal and Delivery challan buttons |
| Final bill from a quotation | Receipt, with an A4 bill button | Bill, with a Thermal button |
| Quotation | Receipt, with an A4 quotation button | Quotation, with a Thermal button |
| GST tax invoice | Always A4 | Always A4 |
| Purchase, credit note, statement, payment receipt | Always A4 | Always A4 |
When things go wrong
- The receipt prints on a full sheet or cuts off. The wrong printer was picked in the dialog, or the paper width does not match the roll. Check the printer name in the dialog and the width chosen in Settings.
- The dialog does not open by itself after saving. "Print right after saving a bill" is off, or the browser blocked the dialog. Turn the setting on and allow pop-ups for the app if the browser asks.
- Text is tiny or huge. Set the print dialog's scale to 100%. The receipt picks its own font size for 80 mm and 58 mm.
- Bluetooth printer not listed. Add it in the phone or tablet's print settings first; the browser only shows printers the system knows.
- Need a proper invoice for one customer. Click A4 invoice on the bill page and print. The setting is unchanged for the next bill.