Shopify POS Printer

A POS Cafe Shopify POS printer prints prep tickets on the receipt printer that’s already connected to a Shopify POS device. POS Cafe sends the ticket through Shopify POS, so there’s no server URL, username or password to enter in the printer.

How it differs from other printers

Option	How it prints	What it prints
Shopify POS printer (this article)	Through the Shopify POS app, on the receipt printer connected to that POS device.	POS Cafe prep tickets for orders taken on that POS device.
Epson Server Direct Print and Star CloudPRNT	The printer collects tickets from the POS Cafe print server over the internet.	Tickets for every order at the location, including online orders and saved open tabs.

Requirements

• Shopify POS 11.11.0 or later on each POS device that prints.
• A receipt printer connected to the POS device in Shopify POS, under Connectivity → Receipt printer.
• One Shopify POS printer per location. It stands for the printer connected to whichever POS device takes the order, so each device prints its own orders on its own printer.
• At least one prep area for the printer.

Set up a Shopify POS printer

This video walks through setting up a Shopify POS printer and printing your first order tickets, or follow the steps below.

1. Check the printer name. On the POS device, open Connectivity → Receipt printer in Shopify POS and note the printer’s name exactly as shown.
2. Open the Receipt printers page. In your Shopify admin, go to Apps → POS Cafe → Locations, select your location, then under Devices click Receipt Printers.
3. Add the printer. Click Add printer, then set Printer Type to Shopify POS (Printing API).
4. Enter the name. In Printer name in Shopify POS, enter the name from step 1.
5. Choose the settings. Select the Prep Areas this printer should print, set Copies (1 to 3) and turn on Print Individual Receipts (optional) if you want one item per ticket (see One item per ticket).
6. Save. Click Add printer.

The window explains how the printer is chosen on each device: “If exactly one printer is connected, it is selected automatically. If several are connected and this name does not identify one uniquely, staff will choose once on that POS device and POS Cafe will remember the choice locally.” Device Source isn’t shown for this printer type.

On the Receipt printers page, the printer shows Shopify POS · prints on this POS and the Ready badge. Its status is shown in Shopify POS, not in POS Cafe.

When POS devices pick up the new printer

After you add a Shopify POS printer, the Receipt printers page shows: “POS devices pick this up within 4 hours. To update a device now, fully close and reopen the Shopify POS app, or open Send to prep and tap Check printer setup again.”

Devices where Send to prep was already available usually pick up the change within about an hour. To start printing straight away on a device, either fully close and reopen Shopify POS, or (if you’ve added the Send to prep tile) tap the tile with an empty cart and tap Check printer setup again. You’ll see Printer setup updated. when the device has picked up the change.

What a Shopify POS printer prints

When	What prints
Staff tap Send to prep on the POS device	The new items in the cart for this printer’s prep areas, on the printer connected to that device, usually about a second after the tap. Staff don’t need to wait. See Send to Prep.
A sale is completed on the POS device	An automatic prep ticket for this printer’s prep areas. It prints from the Order Complete screen, or from the Send to prep tile if staff tap Done first (see Tap Done straight away).
Staff re-send a completed order	The whole order again, from Re-send all to prep on the Order Complete screen or Re-send to prep on the order’s details.

A Shopify POS printer never prints online orders, and it doesn’t print when a cart is saved as a draft or open tab. To print a round on it before the customer pays, use Send to prep. If an Epson or Star printer (or a Fresh KDS screen) also has the same prep area, the item goes to both.

One item per ticket

With Print Individual Receipts (optional) turned on, the printer prints each item as its own ticket, cut separately, so each one can go with its cup. A quantity of 2 prints two tickets.

• Up to 8 tickets at a time. Each copy of each item counts, so 4 items with 2 copies is 8 tickets. A ticket with more than that prints as one combined ticket listing every item.
• Nothing is missed. If the printer refuses one of the item tickets, POS Cafe prints the whole ticket again as one combined ticket, so the prep team may get some items twice but never misses one.
• Reprints are combined. A ticket you print again from the Send to prep tile prints as one combined ticket.

Add the Send to prep tile

Add the Send to prep tile to the Shopify POS Home screen on every device at a location with a Shopify POS printer, even if you don’t send orders before payment. The tile finishes tickets after Done is tapped and lets staff see and reprint any ticket that didn’t print. See Add the Send to prep tile.

The automatic ticket after checkout

When a sale is completed, the Order Complete screen shows a Send to prep section that prints the ticket automatically. It shows Printing prep ticket…, then a message such as “1 copy sent to Kitchen. You can tap Done.” If the order has nothing for this printer, it shows “No new items were assigned to this printer.” If some items were already printed on this printer with Send to prep, they usually aren’t printed again. When POS Cafe can’t confirm what was printed, it prints them anyway, so the prep team may occasionally get a repeated ticket.

Tap Done straight away

On a POS device where the Send to prep tile is on the Home screen, staff can tap Done on the Order Complete screen at any moment, even before the ticket has printed. The tile takes over and prints the ticket within a few seconds.

If the tile isn’t on the device’s Home screen, the Order Complete screen says “Keep this screen open until it prints. Tip: add the Send to prep tile to your home screen so tickets finish after Done.” Wait until the ticket has printed before tapping Done, and add the tile when you can.

If the POS device is offline or the printer isn’t available, the Order Complete screen tells you what will happen:

Message	What it means
“Offline. The home screen prints this ticket when you’re back online; after 30 minutes it will need a tap. You can tap Done.”	The tile prints the ticket when the device reconnects. If that takes more than 30 minutes, it’s listed on the tile for you to print.
“The printer isn’t available. The home screen prints this ticket when it’s back; after 30 minutes it will need a tap. You can tap Done.”	The tile prints the ticket when the printer is back. If that takes more than 30 minutes, it’s listed on the tile for you to print.
“Waiting for an internet connection. Automatic printing will resume when this POS device reconnects.”	Shown when the Send to prep tile isn’t on this device. Keep the screen open until it prints.

Note

If the Send to prep section doesn’t appear on the Order Complete screen, fully close and reopen Shopify POS, and check that Shopify POS and the POS Cafe app are up to date.

Tickets waiting on the Send to prep tile

The Send to prep tile finishes any ticket after checkout that the Order Complete screen didn’t print, for example because staff tapped Done early, the printer was off or the device was offline. It tries again after a few seconds, then every couple of minutes. With an empty cart, the tile shows what’s happening:

Tile shows	What it means
Printing 1 prep ticket…	The tile is printing a waiting ticket now.
1 ticket waiting for printer	The ticket is waiting for the printer to be available. It’s retried automatically.
Offline · 1 ticket waiting	The POS device is offline. The ticket prints when it reconnects.
1 ticket not printed · tap to print	The ticket still hasn’t printed, or its sale is more than 30 minutes old. Tap the tile to review it.

A ticket whose sale is more than 30 minutes old is never printed automatically, so the kitchen doesn’t get a surprise late ticket. You may also see a reminder such as Prep ticket not printed – tap Send to prep.

Print a waiting ticket

1. Tap the Send to prep tile. The Prep tickets not printed list opens: “These tickets from completed sales didn’t print automatically. Print now sends them to this device’s Shopify POS printer.”
2. Check with the preparation team. Each entry shows the time of the sale and why it didn’t print.
3. Print or dismiss. Tap Print now on an entry, or Print all when more than one is listed. If the ticket did print, tap It printed — dismiss and confirm.

Print now won’t print a ticket twice if the printer already confirmed it: you’ll see “This ticket was already printed.” If a ticket reached its print limit, Print now re-sends the whole order to every printer and Fresh KDS screen at the location instead, so other stations may get a repeat. For a sale POS Cafe couldn’t match to its order, Print nearby orders again reprints the orders around that time, which may repeat tickets.

Message after printing	What it means
“Sent to the printer.”	The ticket was sent to this device’s Shopify POS printer.
“This ticket was already printed.”	Nothing more to do.
“Not printed: nothing for this printer, or it is paused.”	The order had nothing for this printer, or the printer is paused.
“The Shopify POS printer isn’t available. Check it is on and connected, then try again.”	Check the printer, then tap Print now again.
“Couldn’t print yet. Check the connection and try again.”	Check the device’s internet connection, then try again.
“This ticket is already printing. Check again shortly.”	Wait a moment and check the printer.
“Re-sent all items to 2 prep destinations.”	The whole order was re-sent to every station (see above).

Reprints

If the printer doesn’t confirm a Send to prep copy, the tile prints it again once automatically, then lists it so you can tap Print now. Tickets after checkout are retried by the tile and listed if they still don’t print. One ticket prints at most five times. After that you’ll see a message that it was “printed the most times allowed without the printer confirming it”; check the printer, and if the ticket is missing, tap Re-send all to prep.

Pause a Shopify POS printer

You can pause a Shopify POS printer on the Receipt printers page. “Pausing stops this POS device’s printer from printing new tickets. Other printers and KDS keep working.” Tickets for orders taken while it’s paused aren’t printed on it later.

After you resume it, POS devices pick up the change within 15 minutes. To update a device straight away, fully close and reopen Shopify POS, or tap Check printer setup again in Send to prep.

Troubleshooting

What you see	What to do
Sent · not printed on this device, or 1 ticket waiting for printer	Check the printer is on, has paper and is connected to this POS device under Connectivity → Receipt printer in Shopify POS. The tile keeps trying; you can also tap it and use Print now.
“Sent to prep. More than one connected printer could be the prep printer: choose it, then Print now prints this device’s copy.”	Tap the tile, tap Print now, then tap Use next to the right printer. The device remembers the choice. Tap Refresh connected printers if it isn’t listed.
“Sent to prep. This device’s Shopify POS copy hasn’t printed yet. Print now tries again.”	Check the printer, then tap Print now.
“Sent to prep. This device’s copy is too large for the Shopify POS printer, so it didn’t print. Check the prep team has these items.”	Send the cart in smaller rounds, or turn off Print Individual Receipts (optional) for this printer.
“The configured receipt printer is not connected to this POS device.”	Connect the printer in Shopify POS, then reopen the order.
“Shopify POS printer paused or not set up – ticket not printed.”	Resume the printer on the Receipt printers page, or check it’s set up for this location.
“Not printed: nothing for this printer, or it is paused.”	Check the printer’s prep areas, or resume it on the Receipt printers page.