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PrintNode

PrintNode has been designed with versatility in mind. We help warehouse operations to print labels and barcodes; we print prescriptions for pharmacies; we facilitate order printing in restaurants/bars, and we power stock handling processes in global shipping and logistics operations.

Requirements

  • PHP 8.1.0 +
  • Joomla! 4.x/ Joomla! 5.x +
  • J2Commerce / J2Store 4.x +

PrintNode works on all major brands of printers and scales, including:

Creating a PrintNode Account

Sign-up tab

Go to Printnode.com and create an account by clicking Sign-up

Pricing tab

  • Click on the Pricing tab

  • Choose what type of account you want. ie: Single, Integrator, Standalone

  • Choose the appropriate plan for your business.

    Example: If you choose the 5,000 prints and have multiple departments using the same account, the 5,000 prints will be shared between the different computers.

Download tab

Download the printer that will work with the type of computer you have. ie: PC/Mac

Install the Printer

Once you have downloaded the printer, double-click on it to start the installation. When it gets to the page shown below, select Create a desktop Shortcut. This will come in handy if your computer shuts down and you need to easily turn on the printer again.

API Key tab

Step 1: Enter your PrintNode Password to open the API Key page

Step 2: Name your 'API Key Description', then select Create

Step 3: Your new API Key will appear below. This is the API Key you will need when setting up the configuration in the App on your website.

Purchase the App

Step 1: Go to our J2Commerce website > Extensions > Apps

Step 2: Locate the PrintNode App > click View Details > Add to cart > Checkout.

Step 3: Go to your My Downloads under your profile button at the top right corner and search for the app. Click Available Versions > View Files > Download Now

Install the App

Go to System > Install > Extensions > Install the app

User Group

Enable the App

Go to J2Commerce > App > search for PrintNode

Click on the 'X' under Status to enable it.

User Group

Click on "Open App" or the Title to start setting up the app

Set up the Parameters

Connection tab

PrintNode API Key: Enter your PrintNode API key. You can find this in your PrintNode account dashboard. To locate the API Key, log in to your Printnode account, click on the API tab, and enter your password to open the API field. See example below

Test Connection: Click to test the connection to PrintNode with your API key

Select Printer: Choose the printer to use for printing invoices. Click 'Refresh' after testing the connection to update the list.

Order tab

Print Trigger Statuses: Select order statuses that should trigger automatic invoice printing. Multiple selections allowed. The example above shows that as soon as the order has been paid for and 'Confirmed', it is ready for printing.

Post-Print Status: Optionally change the order status after successful printing. You can create additional status options by going to J2Commerce > Localization > Order Statuses

Display Print Button: Select 'Yes' to display a manual print button on the individual order page. This is very important if you do not want to enable the auto print function.

Enable Auto Print:

  • Select 'Yes' automatically send new orders to the selected printer after the assigned trigger status has been activated. ie: 'Confirmed'

  • Select 'No' to manually press the print button in the order page. Some customers will want to review the order before sending it to the printer to make sure there's nothing missing

Manual Print Button: The print button will appear once the status switches to 'Confirmed'. See image below

Invoice Template: Select which invoice template to use for printing. You can create as many as you want. After creating an invoice template, you can click 'Save' on the Print tab to refresh the page, and the new templates will appear. To create an invoice template, follow the steps under Creating Invoice Templates

Paper Size: Select the paper size for printed invoices

Number of Copies: Number of copies to print for each invoice

Advanced tab

Enable Debug Logging: Enable detailed logging for troubleshooting. Logs are stored in the Joomla logs folder

Retry Count: Number of times to retry failed print jobs before giving up

API Timeout (seconds): Maximum time to wait for PrintNode API responses

Status/Troubleshooting tab

If your invoice isn't printing, go to the Status tab and make sure that the State and Computer State are online and connected.

All of your current and previous print jobs will be listed below with their success status and any errors that may have occurred.

Creating Invoice Templates

To create an invoice template, go to J2Commerce > Design > Invoice Template > New

Basic Settings tab

Title: Name your template

Order status: Use this template for all order statuses or restrict it to one status

Language: Choose the language for the email. You can create separate emails for different languages

Groups: Use this template for all user groups or restrict it to one

Payment Methods: Use this template for all payment methods or restrict it to one

Enabled: Select 'Yes' to enable the template

Advanced Settings tab

You can customize what is shown on the printed invoice. ie: Customer name, invoice number, items ordered, phone number, etc.

Click on the items you want added in the right panel and click the green arrow button to bring them into the invoice box to the left.

This is very helpful if you have multiple departments using the same printNode account

The image below shows all of the invoice templates you have to choose from in the App

For technical support or help, contact us at support@j2commerce.com