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 > Printer Settings) , 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.
If you are using the GPX app, these direct printing settings can be found in the Settings section of the menu. They need to be enabled there separately.
The "Reset" button
You'll notice the direct print options each have a Reset button. When each user uses the direct print feature for the first time they will be prompted to select a printer. This will become the default printer for that user so they will not need to make this selection each time they print. The Reset button allows you to clear the default printers list so that they can be chosen again if needed. Like the switches, these buttons are specific to the GPX and Legacy apps.
The options found in the Printer Settings section of the legacy app work similarly for the legacy app. While most settings in the Legacy app apply to both apps, the printer settings are unique in that they are set independently.
That’s it. Direct printing is now enabled.
How it works
Now you can initiate the printing of any of these items as you normally would. 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 nothing happens when you try to print: There is a chance that Direct Printing is enabled but that the QZ app is not being found.
You can try clicking on the QZ app in your system tray and using the reload option. If you do not see it in your system tray the issue is most likely that it is not running and needs to be started. It is possible to have it automatically start when Windows and MacOS start.
If the print job continues to open in a browser tab rather than using the Direct Printing method: Direct print may not be enabled for your user or you may have popups blocked in your browser. In the GPX app you'll need to open the settings section from the main menu and enable the switch for the items that you want to print directly. Once this is enabled you should be prompted to choose a printer and it should use the chosen printer the next time you try to print the item. You can check your URL bar for an icon that indicates popups have been blocked. Clicking this will give you an option to allow popups from GroovePacker.
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 Chrome's 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 sent 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.