Configuring print locations in the app

Understanding what a print location is, how to see the printers connected to Penny Black, and how to use them as print locations.

Following on from how to (physically) connect printers to your Satellite, we can now configure them to be used for printing in Penny Black via the app.

The app has a visual representation of your connected printers and their status, and this guide covers the basics you need to know to get started for your first test print.

What is a print location?

When triggering a print via your WMS we use a name to describe which printer you want to target, and this is known as a Print Location. Whilst it is closely related to a printer, it’s not tied to the physical device so that you can swap printers over in the case of replacement or maintenance, and the name remains the same. This means that regardless of any hardware, you can keep printing to a named location without any software changes in your WMS.

Naming your print locations

The print location is usually named after the location where the printer is, which is often the term used to describe a packing desk or workbench. Some examples include:

• BENCH_01, BENCH_02
• PACKING_DESK_A, PACKING_DESK_B
• 162351 (if you don’t have flexibility in your WMS and you must match whatever they provide, you can do so!)
• in the case of batch printers, you might just name it PENNY_BLACK_1

The names that you choose here need to either correspond to what your WMS uses, or the names must be entered into it, or configured in the Penny Black printing Chrome extension on each packing workstation (if using that approach). You can change the names through this app at any time.

Printers and Print Locations in the Penny Black apps

Having completed the initial setup of your Satellite, you should already have logged into the app and assigned it to your warehouse. If it is connected to the Internet it will show up as online:

Connecting printers

Now connect the first printer. Once it is online and connected, it will appear in the Penny Black app soon afterwards. This will usually happen within 30 seconds of the printer turning being connected, but some printers are slower than others to connect and might take a couple of minutes.

You can now create a print location from this printer.

• Click the MANAGE button to open the dialog for this printer

• In the lower section enter the name that you want to use for this print location

• Click CREATE

  

The bench icon is now shown below the printer to confirm this is a print location.

You can also now repeat this process for any other printers you want to connect to Penny Black:

Triggering a test print

Coming soon!