Hardware can have a significant impact on your business, so it’s important to choose the right device. With a single tap on the POS, printers control the following:  

• Production dockets printed in your kitchen, bar, barista, or other production areas. 
• The bump screen, if you prefer to operate paper-free.
• The cash drawer, which the printer triggers to open for cash sales.
• Customer receipts, if you aren't emailing the invoices.

Printers are a vital part of running your business, and buying the wrong printer can be a costly mistake. This guide will help you decide which printer best suits your setup.

What's in the guide?

Lightspeed app printing vs Intelligent printing: Which is for you? 

Compatible Printers 

Lightspeed app printing

Bluetooth printing

Intelligent printing

What's next?

Frequently asked questions

Lightspeed app printing vs. Intelligent printing vs. Bluetooth printing: Which is for you?

Before you buy a printer, you need to take stock of what POS devices you are using and the complexity of your setup.

Lightspeed app printing

This is the most common setup for restaurants, cafes and bars that have more than one production area so need more than one printer. Use Lightspeed app printing if you want to print from any of the following POS devices:

Bluetooth printing

Bluetooth printing is a one-to-one connection. Think about a Bluetooth speaker, only one phone can be connected via Bluetooth at any one time. It's the same with Bluetooth printing, only one POS can be connected to a Bluetooth printer. This is why we only recommend Bluetooth printing for simple setups like a food truck - one POS, one printer. 

Bluetooth printing is only supported on iOS devices.

Intelligent printing

Chrome (Windows and MacOS) cannot communicate directly with the Lightspeed app. However, intelligent printers are able to bridge the gap between these devices and Lightspeed O-Series. If you have a combination of Windows and iOS devices, you will need an intelligent printer. 

Note: these printers are becoming increasingly hard to come by. We would recommend planning a migration to iOS devices to use App Printing as soon as possible.

Use intelligent printing if you are going to print from Lightspeed POS have any of the following devices in your setup:

Windows device	Mac computers

As you can't access the Lightspeed Restaurant POS app from these devices, you will instead access our webapp from your browser.

Note: Lightspeed is developed and optimised for use with the Google Chrome browser. Visit the Google Chrome website to confirm that you have the latest version. Lightspeed O-Series is not tested on any browser other than Chrome.

Compatible printers

Review the following hardware lists and field guides to ensure that your printer is compatible before setting up Lightspeed App printing, intelligent printing, or Bluetooth printing.

⚠️ Note: If your specific printer model is not on this list, there is no guarantee it will be compatible with Lightspeed O-Series. Even if the model number looks similar.

Be aware that if we list 'Ethernet' on the model number, you must have the proper Ethernet version of the printer in question.

Lightspeed app printing

Field guide

Review the infographic to understand how each component is connected and ensure that your venue can support the layout. Then, you can choose from the list of printers below to complete your setup.  

List of printers

Now that you've reviewed the field guide and confirmed your venue can support your setup, choose your printers. 

Epson

• TM-M30 Ethernet
• TM-M30II Ethernet
• TM-M30III (232)
• TM-T82II Ethernet
• TM-T82III Ethernet
• TM-T82IIIL Ethernet
• TM-T20 Ethernet
  
• TM-T20II Ethernet
• TM-T20X Ethernet
• TM-T70 Ethernet
• TM-T88V Ethernet
  
• TM-T88VI Ethernet
• TM-U220 Ethernet Impact Printer
• TM-L90 Ethernet (for use with Single Product Printing)
• TM-L90II Ethernet (for use with Single Product Printing)

Must use authorized Epson ethernet interface boards (UB-E03, UB-E04, TM-I)	Serial adaptors and other third-party add-ons are not supported, and neither are serial or parallel versions of printers.

 

Star (iOS app only) 

Lightspeed O-Series is not compatible with the Bluetooth versions of either printer, we only support Ethernet versions.

• TSP-100 Series (also known as TSP-143) Ethernet
• TSP-654 Ethernet

Element (iOS app only)

Note: Element printers only work in setups with other Element printers. They are not compatible with Epson printers and mixing these different printer types will cause printing issues. Lightspeed O-series is only compatible with the Ethernet versions of these printers.

• • Element RW973 MKII Ethernet
  • Element RW873 Ethernet

Bluetooth Printing 

Intelligent Printing

What's next?

Do you have the devices you need for your system? View this guide to learn more about compatible hardware.

With the right hardware you can start setting up your printers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Lightspeed sell printers?

Lightspeed sells a range of compatible printers in our online store.

If you have any questions about purchasing hardware, email our Hardware team at hardware@kounta.com.

I'm only using my Windows/Mac laptop to access the Back Office, do I still need an intelligent printer?

No. You only need an intelligent printer if you are using Windows or Mac to take orders on the POS.

Does Lightspeed support Wi-Fi printing?

Lightspeed O-Series does not support or recommend WiFi printing.
If you need wireless printing, we would suggest using Bluetooth printing (being aware this only works over a short distance from the iPad). 

Do I even need a printer setup?

More and more businesses are going paper-free and saving on printing supplies.

Lightspeed natively supports paper-free with:

1. Bump Screens for your Production Area/s
2. Email receipts for your customers