Direct Printing


The direct printing feature allows print jobs to be sent from GroovePacker directly to your printer. This is ideal for anything that is printed during the pick pack workflow where every second impacts efficiency. 


Currently the following items can be sent directly to the printer with this new integration:


  • Packing Slips

  • Order Number barcodes

  • Shipping Labels

 

Shipping Labels? Yes! ShipStation's label API makes it possible to have your shipping label print directly after an order is scanned. This is covered in the  ShipStation Label API article. 


You can control which of these items will use direct printing at the bottom of the General Settings page: Settings > System > General. If you do not see the option please contact support and ask to have Direct Printing enabled for your account.


Each user can set their own printer for these items which will be used when they send print jobs. Having a separate printer for each user is not required but it can be beneficial when multiple users are sending the same type of label.


Once a user has selected the printer to use their preference will be saved and automatically used when they print in the future.


Direct Printing Setup

The direct printing option can be used on Windows, Mac or Linux machines. Chromebooks and mobile devices are not supported at this time.


The QZ tray app which sends the jobs to the printer can be downloaded here

It will need to be installed on each workstation that will be generating print jobs.


If Java is not already installed on the workstation you’ll be prompted to install it as well.


Admin rights on the workstation will be required to complete the installation.


Once both are installed, please restart the workstation and verify that the QZ app has started automatically and is running in the icon tray. (image below)




Next, under Direct Printing options on the General Settings page in GroovePacker (Settings > System Settings > General) , toggle on the switches for the items that should use direct printing.  If you do not see these options please contact support and ask to have Direct Printing enabled for your account. 




That’s it. The direct printing is now enabled.

How it works

Now you can initiate the printing of any of these items as you normally would and rather than opening a new tab with the item that is printing a print job will be sent to your printer. 


When you try to print one of these items for the first time you should see a dialog that prompts you to select a printer. This selection is saved for the currently logged in user. (image below)




 The printer will need to be installed on the client machine or installed via the local network for it to be visible on the list. Once a user has selected a printer the preference should be re-used for future print jobs of the same type. Currently the “Reset” button in the direct printing options can be used to clear saved printers.



After selecting the printer and clicking continue, the document should print. You may be prompted to give permission to the print tray app. Granting permissions should only be required the first time printing is done from each workstation. 



Troubleshooting



If these suggestions do not work, please do not hesitate to contact support using the "Get Support" tab.


If the printer does not show in the list:  Please verify that it appears in other print dialogs and is available in other apps. If it is not available in other apps please troubleshoot the printer installation first, then try printing again once printing is possible from other sources.


If other apps are able to print but the printer is not visible: Please restart the machine and run GroovePacker in Chromes incognito mode. If it is still not visible in the printer list please contact support.


If the printer was selected but printing does not occur: Please verify the QZ tray app is running. Please try quitting and relaunching the app. If jobs are still not send to the printer please contact and let us know.


If you are prompted for permissions each time you print: The permissions are not getting saved. Please verify that cookies are permitted from GroovePacker.com. If the issue continues please contact and let us know.