Element Printers is a new range of printers available for Lightspeed POS.
This guide will cover the basic setup, anything you should be aware of and some common questions.
What’s in this guide
Enable Element Printing in Settings
Connect your Element Printer to your Network| 5 mins
Enable DHCP| 20-25 mins
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Verify the printer is connected to your network | 5 mins
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Perform a status print on the printer | 5mins
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Prepare your iPad to enable DHCP| 5mins
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Enable DHCP on your Element Printer| 5mins
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Perform a final status print to get your new IP Address| 2 mins
Configure your Element Printer with Lightspeed| 5 mins
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Configure Site Printer settings
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Configure Register Printer settings
Test your Element Printer| 2 mins
Example Receipts and Production dockets
Before you begin
- Element Printers are currently only compatible be iOS Devices like an iPhone or iPad.
- You will need Version 3.7 of the Lightspeed Point of Sale app from the AppStore.
Please Note: Element Printers are only able to be configured with other Element Printers, attempting to connect them with other Epson or Star Printers will break printing for your setup.
Please also note that Element Printers can only be added manually, the printer search function does not work for Element printers.
Enabling Element Printing in Settings
Due to compatibility issues, a switch must be enabled to turn on the Element Printing function. Enabling this switch will disable the ability to print to Epson Printers, but enabled the ability to print to Element Printers.
Note: This will apply on version 3.7.2 of the app which should launch shortly after May 11th 2022
Step 1 - If you're running Lightspeed, double tap the Home button and then swipe Up on the app to close it. (If unsure, hold down the power button, swipe right to shut the iPad down, then restart it).
Step 2 - Go to the Settings app in your iPad
Step 3 - Scroll down to 'Restaurant' and then turn on 'Enable Element Printers'
Which models are supported?
We currently have two supported models for Element Printers.
We currently only support the Ethernet models. WIFI and Bluetooth are currently not supported.
Connecting your Element Printer to your network
- Open the printer, insert a thermal paper roll with orientation as per the image under the lid.
- Connect the cables
- Plug in power cables (note the outline of the connector to get the orientation correct)
- Connect the printers to your network via ethernet cables.
- If you will be using a cash drawer you can also connect the RJ11 plug from the cash drawer to the cash drawer socket at the back of the printer
RW873
RW973 Mk II
Enable DHCP
Note: This setup method relies on your router being able to use a feature called 'Direct Routing' which is common in newer routers but not guaranteed. If these steps do not work you will need to follow the traditional DHCP enablement steps found here.
The Element Printers will come with a pre-configured IP address from the factory, before you are able to set it up with your POS, you will need to enable DHCP.
Verify the printer is connected to the network
On the printer you should see a solid green light and a yellow blinking light signalling that the printer is connected to your network and able to receive a data connection. (example below)
Perform a status print on the printer
Using a pen/pencil or other thin pointy object press and hold the reset button for 3 seconds; a short docket with the current IP address will be produced, the printers as supplied will have factory-set static IP addresses of 192.168.0.30 or 192.168.0.31
Prepare your iPad to enable DHCP
To configure your printer with an IP address that is compatible with your network, we will first need to make a temporary change to your iPad's network settings.
1. Make sure that you are connected via wifi to the same router where your printer is connected
2. Under Settings, select Wi-Fi
3. Select the ‘i’ icon beside your current wifi connection
4. You will be taken to the further settings for the selected network. Write down the number under Router - you will need this later.
5. Select Configure IP
6. On the Configuration page, select Manual
7. Fill in the following fields.
IP Address: 192.168.0.32
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Router: <fill in with the numbers from Step 4>
After you've configured the above, hit save in the top right hand corner.
Note - When you are done with the Enable DHCP section in this guide, change the above setting back to Automatic to restore your original settings.
Enable DHCP on your Element Printer
Open Safari on the iPad & enter the IP address for you printer found in the previous step in the URL field.
(Not working? Try this guide here)
Under Configuration select TCP/IP
Change the ‘Get IP address’ value from Manual to DHCP (tap on it and a list of options will show)
Before
After
Tap on RESET
The config page page says “Please Wait for printer to reset” and the printer should beep
Perform a final status print to get your new IP Address
Using a pen/pencil or other thin pointy object press and hold the reset button for 3 seconds; a short docket with the new IP address will be produced (note this down, we will use this in the next step).
Configure your Element Printer with Lightspeed
Now that we have configured the printer on your network we are ready to set the printer up to work with Lightspeed.
Open the Lightspeed POS application on the iPad and select My site (this will show as Sites if you have multiple sites) and select Printers.
Configure Site Printer settings
Set the Production Printing method to “Lightspeed App”, then add your printer with a name you find useful and the newly-discovered IP address you found in the previous step and select save.
For details on how to set Production Printer (Kitchen Printer) settings you can follow the detailed steps in this guide.
Setup Production Printing with Lightspeed
Configure Register Printer settings
Here will we configure the Element Printer to your POS, these will be the settings to configure your receipt printing and cash draw settings.
While still in the Back Office, navigate to my My site (sites) > Devices > Registers and select the cog next to your desired POS register.
Select the register Printers tab and select the printer you just created as your Receipt printer. If you are also using a cash drawer you can select the printer in the Cash Drawer field, and save. (This can be done on multiple POS registers if you want a receipt to print from multiple POS devices)
Test your Element Printer
You're now ready to load into the POS and test your printer. You can do this by selecting the POS button in the top right hand corner.
Once you have loaded into the POS
- If you are at the select User screen, select your user and pin.
- Select the Menu button (3 lines icon) and Printing
- You should see the printer you added, ensure the toggles for Print Receipts, Open Drawer and Print Dockets are set to YES, and press the Test button
- You should see test dockets print from the printer.
Note: In order from Receipts and Production Printing to work, you will need to force close the iPad application and re-open, this is to refresh the printing settings.
Force quit Lightspeed application
- Swipe up on the white line on the bottom of the iPad
- Swipe up on the Lightspeed application (this will close the app)
- Select the Lightspeed application to reopen it.
Example Receipts & Production Dockets
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Element Printer have the ability to print in another language, Eg: Chinese?
Yes. The Element Printer is an image based printer so it doesn't require any fonts to be loaded to be able to print. If your iPad is able to display it then it will also print from your Element Printer.
How will I know when the Element Printer runs out of paper?
The Element printer has a great feature that will beep when there is no paper prompting you to change the printer roll.
Can I mix & match an Element Printer and another printer like Epson?
No you can't, Element Printers can only work with other Element Printers. If you attempt to connect an Epson or Star printer to your network with an existing Element Printer then your printing will cease to work.
The app keeps asking me to provide an Intelligent Printer Address?
This happens if no printers are added in Back Office before starting the app in POS mode.
Simply go to back office, delete any pre-existing printers, and then run through the process of adding your printers. Once this is done, you can safely use POS mode.
How do Chinese characters appear on kitchen dockets and customer receipts?
The photos below show you how Chinese characters appear on kitchen dockets and customer receipts when printed from an Elements printer.
