escpos-php

If you print to a thermal receipt printer which support the ESC/POS protocol, then you can format the receipts to make larger or smaller text. If this is your first time reading about ESC/POS, have a read of What is ESC/POS, and how do I use it?. Some of these text size examples are borrowed from there, while some are new.

Smaller text

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Fonts (many printers do not have a 'Font C') */
$fonts = array(
    Printer:::FONT_A,
    Printer:::FONT_B,
    Printer:::FONT_C);
for($i = 0; $i < count($fonts); $i++) {
    $printer -> setFont($fonts[$i]);
    $printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog\n");
}
$printer -> setFont(); // Reset
$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

00000000  1b 40 1b 4d 00 54 68 65  20 71 75 69 63 6b 20 62  |.@.M.The quick b|
00000010  72 6f 77 6e 20 66 6f 78  20 6a 75 6d 70 73 20 6f  |rown fox jumps o|
00000020  76 65 72 20 74 68 65 20  6c 61 7a 79 20 64 6f 67  |ver the lazy dog|
00000030  0a 1b 4d 01 54 68 65 20  71 75 69 63 6b 20 62 72  |..M.The quick br|
00000040  6f 77 6e 20 66 6f 78 20  6a 75 6d 70 73 20 6f 76  |own fox jumps ov|
00000050  65 72 20 74 68 65 20 6c  61 7a 79 20 64 6f 67 0a  |er the lazy dog.|
00000060  1b 4d 02 54 68 65 20 71  75 69 63 6b 20 62 72 6f  |.M.The quick bro|
00000070  77 6e 20 66 6f 78 20 6a  75 6d 70 73 20 6f 76 65  |wn fox jumps ove|
00000080  72 20 74 68 65 20 6c 61  7a 79 20 64 6f 67 0a 1b  |r the lazy dog..|
00000090  4d 00 1d 56 41 03                                 |M..VA.|
00000096

Change height & width

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Text of various (in-proportion) sizes */
title($printer, "Change height & width\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 68 65 69  |.@.!..Change hei|
00000010  67 68 74 20 26 20 77 69  64 74 68 0a 1b 21 00 1d  |ght & width..!..|
00000020  21 00 31 1d 21 11 32 1d  21 22 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  |!.1.!.2.!"3.!34.|
00000030  21 44 35 1d 21 55 36 1d  21 66 37 1d 21 77 38 0a  |!D5.!U6.!f7.!w8.|
00000040  1d 56 41 03                                       |.VA.|
00000044

Change width only (height=4)

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Width changing only */
title($printer, "Change width only (height=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, 4);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 77 69 64  |.@.!..Change wid|
00000010  74 68 20 6f 6e 6c 79 20  28 68 65 69 67 68 74 3d  |th only (height=|
00000020  34 29 3a 0a 1b 21 00 1d  21 03 31 1d 21 13 32 1d  |4):..!..!.1.!.2.|
00000030  21 23 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  21 43 35 1d 21 53 36 1d  |!#3.!34.!C5.!S6.|
00000040  21 63 37 1d 21 73 38 0a  1d 56 41 03              |!c7.!s8..VA.|
0000004c

Change height only (width=4)

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Height changing only */
title($printer, "Change height only (width=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize(4, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 43 68  61 6e 67 65 20 68 65 69  |.@.!..Change hei|
00000010  67 68 74 20 6f 6e 6c 79  20 28 77 69 64 74 68 3d  |ght only (width=|
00000020  34 29 3a 0a 1b 21 00 1d  21 30 31 1d 21 31 32 1d  |4):..!..!01.!12.|
00000030  21 32 33 1d 21 33 34 1d  21 34 35 1d 21 35 36 1d  |!23.!34.!45.!56.|
00000040  21 36 37 1d 21 37 38 0a  1d 56 41 03              |!67.!78..VA.|
0000004c

Very narrow font

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very narrow text */
title($printer, "Very narrow text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(1, 8);
$printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 56 65  72 79 20 6e 61 72 72 6f  |.@.!..Very narro|
00000010  77 20 74 65 78 74 3a 0a  1b 21 00 1d 21 07 54 68  |w text:..!..!.Th|
00000020  65 20 71 75 69 63 6b 20  62 72 6f 77 6e 20 66 6f  |e quick brown fo|
00000030  78 20 6a 75 6d 70 73 20  6f 76 65 72 20 74 68 65  |x jumps over the|
00000040  20 6c 61 7a 79 20 64 6f  67 2e 0a 1d 56 41 03     | lazy dog...VA.|
0000004f

Very tall font

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very flat text */
title($printer, "Very wide text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(4, 1);
$printer -> text("Hello world!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 56 65  72 79 20 77 69 64 65 20  |.@.!..Very wide |
00000010  74 65 78 74 3a 0a 1b 21  00 1d 21 30 48 65 6c 6c  |text:..!..!0Hell|
00000020  6f 20 77 6f 72 6c 64 21  0a 1d 56 41 03           |o world!..VA.|
0000002d

Largest possible font

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Very large text */
title($printer, "Largest possible text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(8, 8);
$printer -> text("Hello\nworld!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

00000000  1b 40 1b 21 08 0a 4c 61  72 67 65 73 74 20 70 6f  |.@.!..Largest po|
00000010  73 73 69 62 6c 65 20 74  65 78 74 3a 0a 1b 21 00  |ssible text:..!.|
00000020  1d 21 77 48 65 6c 6c 6f  0a 77 6f 72 6c 64 21 0a  |.!wHello.world!.|
00000030  1d 56 41 03                                       |.VA.|
00000034

Double-height and doule-width

There are also commands which specifically double the width and height. These overlap with the commands covered here, but you can find them in the escpos-php documentation.

Full example

These examples were authored for escpos-php, a PHP printer driver for thermal receipt printers. The full file ships as an example with the driver, and outputs a block of ESC/POS code which can be sent a printer to give this output:

Receipt

PHP code

<?php
/**
 * This print-out shows how large the available font sizes are. It is included
 * separately due to the amount of text it prints.
 */
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;

$connector = new FilePrintConnector("php://stdout");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

/* Initialize */
$printer -> initialize();

/* Text of various (in-proportion) sizes */
title($printer, "Change height & width\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Width changing only */
title($printer, "Change width only (height=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize($i, 4);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Height changing only */
title($printer, "Change height only (width=4):\n");
for ($i = 1; $i <= 8; $i++) {
    $printer -> setTextSize(4, $i);
    $printer -> text($i);
}
$printer -> text("\n");

/* Very narrow text */
title($printer, "Very narrow text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(1, 8);
$printer -> text("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.\n");

/* Very flat text */
title($printer, "Very wide text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(4, 1);
$printer -> text("Hello world!\n");

/* Very large text */
title($printer, "Largest possible text:\n");
$printer -> setTextSize(8, 8);
$printer -> text("Hello\nworld!\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Printer $printer, $text)
{
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_EMPHASIZED);
    $printer -> text("\n" . $text);
    $printer -> selectPrintMode(); // Reset
}

Other formatting?

If text size is not what you’re after, then you can find similar examples in other posts I’ve tagged escpos.

How to print red/black on an impact receipt printer

escpos escpos-php howto printing

December 27, 2015May 3, 2016

I recently deployed an Epson TM-U220 impact receipt printer. These printers work by striking a ribbon onto the paper, like a type-writer. One of the up-sides to using these intead of a thermal printer is the ability to install a red/black ribbon in place of the default (black) one:

I connected up my printer using a USB-parallel cable, so my previous posts (Linux, Windows) apply for the connector setup.

Using the escpos-php driver on GitHub, a line of red text is printed like this:

<?php
/*
 * Example of two-color printing, tested on an epson TM-U220 with two-color ribbon installed.
 */
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("php://stdout");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

try {
    $printer = new Escpos($connector);
    $printer -> text("Hello World!\n");
    $printer -> setColor(Printer::COLOR_2);
    $printer -> text("Red?!\n");
    $printer -> setColor(Printer::COLOR_1);
    $printer -> text("Default color again?!\n");
    $printer -> cut();
} finally {
    /* Always close the printer! */
    $printer -> close();
}

With this result:

How to connect a USB receipt printer up on Mac OS X

escpos escpos-php howto printing

November 5, 2015May 3, 2016

This post will show you how to set up a USB receipt printer on Max OS X. These steps were written on Yosemite, but should work on 10.6 onwards (ie, also Snow Leopard through to El Capitan).

This is another post in a series, which has so far covered direct USB printing on Windows and Linux. The printer tested here is this Epson TM-T20:

CUPS is the printing system that’s used on Mac, but most users would be more familiar with the system print dialog:

In our case, we need to set up the printer via the CUPS web interface. This is accessed via a web browser at this address:

http://localhost:631

At first, you will get knocked back:

To fix this up, open up Applications → Utilities → Terminal and type in:

cupsctl WebInterface=yes

You can then reload the browser and click through to Administration:

Click Add Printer and log in:

Select the USB printer from the list, and optionally share it:

Click Select Another Make/Manufacturer, and select Raw → Raw Queue:

Use the defaults for the other options:

Test print

Type some junk into a file called foo.txt and attempt to print it, using the CUPS printer name:

nano foo.txt
lpr -o raw -H localhost -P EPSON_TM-T20 foo.txt

The prints will be delayed for a few moments, as CUPS spools the jobs.

Disable CUPS web

Once you’re done, for security reasons you should reset this option from before, to disable the web interface to CUPS:

cupsctl WebInterface=no

Howto: QR Codes on receipts with escpos-php

escpos escpos-php printing qr-codes

April 26, 2015January 26, 2017

ESC/POS is a binary protocol for speaking to receipt printers. It contains a command for printing QR Codes on compatible printers. The PHP library escpos-php is used for generating these commands in PHP. This post will show you how to use it to generate QR codes on your receipt printer.

For printers which don’t support this command, a second option is available: sending the QR code as an image.

Getting started

First up, you need your receipt printer to be working with escpos-php. Here are some resources about how to go about that:

mike42/escpos-php on github (the most up-to-date reference)
What is ESC/POS, and how do I use it?
Setting up an Epson receipt printer
Getting a USB receipt printer working on Linux (or Windows)

Option 1: Direct printing

This method sends QR codes directly. From the documentation, the syntax for this command is:

qrCode($content, $ec, $size, $model)

Print the given data as a QR code on the printer.

string $content: The content of the code. Numeric data will be more efficiently compacted.

int $ec Error-correction level to use. One of Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_L (default), Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_M, Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_Q or Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_H. Higher error correction results in a less compact code.

int $size: Pixel size to use. Must be 1-16 (default 3)

int $model: QR code model to use. Must be one of Printer::QR_MODEL_1, Printer::QR_MODEL_2 (default) or Printer::QR_MICRO (not supported by all printers).

The below code snippets are directly from the QR code printing demo, showing how the output changes with the options given.

Simple example

This is the simplest use, with all default options. QR codes can be aligned in the same way as text or images on the page:

Example
PHP

// Most simple example
title($printer, "QR code demo\n");
$testStr = "Testing 123";
$printer -> qrCode($testStr);
$printer -> text("Most simple example\n");
$printer -> feed();

// Demo that alignment is the same as text
$printer -> setJustification(Printer::JUSTIFY_CENTER);
$printer -> qrCode($testStr);
$printer -> text("Same example, centred\n");
$printer -> setJustification();
$printer -> feed();

Data encoding

This is a demonstration of saving different types of data in a code. Numeric data is packed more efficiently than text. Binary data can also be stored.

Example
PHP

// Demo of numeric data being packed more densly
title($printer, "Data encoding\n");
$test = array(
	"Numeric"      => "0123456789012345678901234567890123456789",
	"Alphanumeric" => "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmn",
	"Binary"       => str_repeat("\0", 40));
foreach($test as $type => $data) {
	$printer -> qrCode($data);
	$printer -> text("$type\n");
	$printer -> feed();
}

Error correction levels

QR codes support fout levels of error correction. More error correction results in larger, but more durable codes:

Example
PHP

// Demo of error correction
title($printer, "Error correction\n");
$ec = array(
	Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_L => "L",
	Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_M => "M",
	Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_Q => "Q",
	Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_H => "H");
foreach($ec as $level => $name) {
	$printer -> qrCode($testStr, $level);
	$printer -> text("Error correction $name\n");
	$printer -> feed();
}

Code size

The defauly codes are quite small. Each pixel can be blown up, up to 16x, using the size option:

Example
PHP

// Change size
title($printer, "Pixel size\n");
$sizes = array(
	1 => "(minimum)",
	2 => "",
	3 => "(default)",
	4 => "",
	5 => "",
	10 => "",
	16 => "(maximum)");
foreach($sizes as $size => $label) {
	$printer -> qrCode($testStr, Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_L, $size);
	$printer -> text("Pixel size $size $label\n");
	$printer -> feed();
}

QR models

QR models have different appearances, storage parameters and physical sizes. The default (Model 2) is most common. The printer used here does not support micro QR codes, and used Model 2 as a fallback.

Example
PHP

// Change model
title($printer, "QR model\n");
$models = array(
	Printer::QR_MODEL_1 => "QR Model 1",
	Printer::QR_MODEL_2 => "QR Model 2 (default)",
	Printer::QR_MICRO => "Micro QR code\n(not supported on all printers)");
foreach($models as $model => $name) {
	$printer -> qrCode($testStr, Printer::QR_ECLEVEL_L, 3, $model);
	$printer -> text("$name\n");
	$printer -> feed();
}

Note

To run the snippets, you need to initialise the printer, and define a title() function to print headings, like so:

<?php
/* Demonstration of available options on the qrCode() command */
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new Printer($connector);

// ....

// Cut & close
$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

function title(Escpos $printer, $str) {
	$printer -> selectPrintMode(Printer::MODE_DOUBLE_HEIGHT | Printer::MODE_DOUBLE_WIDTH);
	$printer -> text($str);
	$printer -> selectPrintMode();
}

Option 2: Printing codes as images

Not all printers can generate QR codes natively. The work-around is to generate a QR code as an image on the computer, and then send that image to the printer. This is slightly slower, so if you print a lot of codes, you should consider upgrading your printer.

First up, fetch a copy of phpqrcode and generate some codes. I wont attempt to document the whole library here, but in short, it supports most of the same features as the native QR command. To generate a code, you simply use QRcode::png:

require_once("phpqrcode/qrlib.php");
QRcode::png("testing123", "test.png", 'L', 10, 0);

To print a PNG image, use the bitImage() command (the graphics command is also only available on newer printers):

require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\EscposImage;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$img = EscposImage::load("test.png"); // Load image
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0"); // Add connector to your printer here
$printer = new Printer($connector);
$printer -> bitImage($img);
$printer -> feed();
$printer -> text("Code printed from image\n");

$printer -> cut();
$printer -> close();

A more sophisticated way to hack in phpqrcode would be to add this new code as a different implementaton of the qrCode function. Other improvements are:

Use temporary files to avoid concurrency issues:
Where possible, expand the code on the printer, to send less data

<?php
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;

require_once("phpqrcode/qrlib.php");

class EscposQrImgPrinter extends Printer {
	function qrCode($content, $ec = self::QR_ECLEVEL_L, $size = 3, $model = self::QR_MODEL_2) {
		// Validate inputs
		self::validateString($content, __FUNCTION__);
		self::validateInteger($ec, 0, 3, __FUNCTION__);
		self::validateInteger($size, 1, 16, __FUNCTION__);
		$model = self::QR_MODEL_2; // Only Model 2 supported in phpqrcode, change back to it.
		$sizeMod = 0;
		if($size % 2 == 0) { // Optimisation to enlarge codes on the priner, sending 1/4 of the data.
			$size /= 2;
			$sizeMod = self::IMG_DOUBLE_HEIGHT | self::IMG_DOUBLE_WIDTH;
		}
		// Map error-correction to phpqrcode levels
		$ecMap = array(QR_ECLEVEL_L => 'L',
			QR_ECLEVEL_M => 'M',
			QR_ECLEVEL_Q => 'Q',
			QR_ECLEVEL_H => 'H');
		// Create QR code in temp file, and print it.
		$tmpfname = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), "escpos-php");
		QRcode::png("testing123", $tmpfname, $ecMap[$ec], $size, 0);
		$img = new EscposImage($tmpfname);
		$this -> bitImage($img, $sizeMod);
		unlink($tmpfname);
	}
}

This new class uses phpqrcode in the background instead, and can be accessed with the same function calls as the parent class:


require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
$connector = new FilePrintConnector("/dev/usb/lp0");
$printer = new EscposQrImgPrinter($connector);

$testStr = "Testing 123";
$printer -> qrCode($testStr);
$printer -> text("Most simple example\n");
$printer -> feed();
$printer -> cut();

$printer -> close();

The only visible difference between the implementations is a few pixels of spacing below the image.

How to use a Raspberry Pi as a print server

escpos-php howto printing raspberry-pi

April 16, 2015May 3, 2016

This post is designed for people who want to share a simple USB printer, such as this receipt printer, over the network.

Usually, you just connect up the printer to the computer like this:

But if you are sending the print jobs from a central server, you would instead follow these steps, and hook up a Raspberry Pi near the printer to pass on the print-outs for you:

This post will show you a very fuss-free way to do this. Because of its simplicity, if you have multiple computers printing (read: you need a server that can spool), or need two-way communication with the printer, then this setup will not be sufficient for your use case.

One-off setup

If your printer is /dev/usb/lp0, then the command to run is:

nohup nc -klp 9100 > /dev/usb/lp0 2> /dev/null&

There is quite a lot going on in this command, so I’m going to break it down into parts and explain what each one does.

nohup: Lets the command keep running after you log-out.
nc -klp 9100: Listens on port 9100 (-lp), and returns to listening after each connection (-k)
> /dev/usb/lp0: Redirects any incoming data to the printer device
2> /dev/null: Suppresses errors by sending them to /dev/null
&: Runs the command in the background so that you can keep using the terminal.

Run every boot

Simply schedule the command in cron as a @reboot task.

crontab -e

And add the line:

@reboot nohup nc -klp 9100 > /dev/usb/lp0 2> /dev/null&

Note that if you reboot the printer, you will also need to reboot the raspberry pi to get it to reconnect without logging in!

Send some tests

From a computer somewhere else on the network, send a test print-out:

echo "Hello world" | nc 10.x.x.x 9100

If the target printer is a thermal receipt printer, then you could also use escpos-php to send it more elaborate commands:

<?php
$fp = fsockopen("10.x.x.x", 9100);
/* Print a "Hello world" receipt" */
$printer = new Escpos($fp);
$printer -> text("Hello World!\n");
$printer -> cut();
fclose($fp);

Getting a USB receipt printer working on Windows

escpos escpos-php hardware windows

April 8, 2015May 3, 2016

Note:This post is a Windows adaptation of an earlier post, Getting a USB receipt printer working on Linux, mainly in response to these questions.

In this post, I’ll step through how to get a USB thermal receipt printer appearing on Windows. The aim of this is to be able to send raw text to the printer, so that we can point a driver such as escpos-php at it. The printer tested here is once again this Epson TM-T20:

The directions below are for Windows 7, so your mileage may vary if you are on an older or newer version.

If you have issues following these steps, make sure you can locate your printer in Device Manager, and that it has “USB Print Support”.

Add the printer

Find Devices and Printers and click Add a Printer.

Add it as a Local printer, using the USB virtual port, probably USB0001:

Use the Generic / Text Only driver.

Name the printer whatever you like, and then share it under the same name:

At this point, it should pop up in the window in the background, and also prompt you to Print a test page.

The test print is plain-text, and depending on your printer, will look something like this:

Finally, you need to verify that your printer can be accessed locally, by typing \\localhost into Windows Explorer. If all goes to plan, you will see the new printer there too:

Run a command-line test print

We now know that your printer is working, and can be accessed via its share name (even locally).

Test printing from the command-line. Fire up cmd.exe and try to send it some text to verify that it’s working:

echo "Hello World" > testfile
print /D:"\\%COMPUTERNAME%\Receipt Printer" testfile
del testfile

Printing something useful

This is where you start to see real results. Receipt printers are not just for printing plain-text. Many of them support a standard called ESC/POS, which contains formatting commands.

The snippet below, from this earlier post, generates some basic ESC/POS commands.

Install PHP if you don’t have it already, and call the below code foo.php:

<?php
/* ASCII constants */
const ESC = "\x1b";
const GS="\x1d";
const NUL="\x00";

/* Output an example receipt */
echo ESC."@"; // Reset to defaults
echo ESC."E".chr(1); // Bold
echo "FOO CORP Ltd.\n"; // Company
echo ESC."E".chr(0); // Not Bold
echo ESC."d".chr(1); // Blank line
echo "Receipt for whatever\n"; // Print text
echo ESC."d".chr(4); // 4 Blank lines

/* Bar-code at the end */
echo ESC."a".chr(1); // Centered printing
echo GS."k".chr(4)."987654321".NUL; // Print barcode
echo ESC."d".chr(1); // Blank line
echo "987654321\n"; // Print number
echo GS."V\x41".chr(3); // Cut
exit(0);

You would send generated commands to the printer like this:

php foo.php > testfile
print /D:"\\%COMPUTERNAME%\Receipt Printer" testfile
rm testfile

Scaling this up

The correct ESC/POS codes are quite tricky to generate with manually, which is why I put together the escpos-php driver. You can find more information on that at:

A simple “Hello World” receipt to your Windows shared printer would be scripted as (call this one foo2.php):

<?php
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector;

try {
	// Enter the share name for your USB printer here
	$connector = new WindowsPrintConnector("Receipt Printer");
	$printer = new Printer($connector);

	/* Print a "Hello world" receipt" */
	$printer -> text("Hello World!\n");
	$printer -> cut();
	
	/* Close printer */
	$printer -> close();
} catch(Exception $e) {
	echo "Couldn't print to this printer: " . $e -> getMessage() . "\n";
}

This would be sent to the printer by loading it from the web, or running the script on the command-line:

php foo2.php

The full ESC/POS snippet with formatting, coded up with escpos-php, would look like this (call this one foo3.php):

<?php
require __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector;
try {
	// Enter the share name for your USB printer here
	$connector = new WindowsPrintConnector("Receipt Printer");
	$printer = new Printer($connector);

	/* Print some bold text */
	$printer -> setEmphasis(true);
	$printer -> text("FOO CORP Ltd.\n");
	$printer -> setEmphasis(false);
	$printer -> feed();
	$printer -> text("Receipt for whatever\n");
	$printer -> feed(4);

	/* Bar-code at the end */
	$printer -> setJustification(Printer::JUSTIFY_CENTER);
	$printer -> barcode("987654321");
	
	/* Close printer */
	$printer -> close();
} catch(Exception $e) {
	echo "Couldn't print to this printer: " . $e -> getMessage() . "\n";
}

And again, this could be executed by loading the page through the web, or invoking the command directly:

php foo3.php

Tag: escpos-php

Print larger or smaller text on a thermal receipt printer