What is ESC/POS, and how do I use it?

90 Replies to “What is ESC/POS, and how do I use it?”

1. Hi dear!

   I’m learning to do POS receipts.
   I’m trying to print a message Hello World.
   But I get the error.
   Fatal error: Call to a member function write() on a non-object in C:\wamp\www\escpos-php-master\Escpos.php on line 460.
   I ask for help.

2. Hi Mike,

   Would it be possible to get in touch with regarding some ESC/POS assistance?

   Thanks, Tom

3. Hi Mike

   I found your tutorial very interesting, and easy to understand, but I’m having such hard times to make the codes run

   Errors: ‘Argument passed to Escpos::__construct() must implement interface PrintConnector, null given.’

   Can you help me? Is there any setup that I have to do to make it works?

   Thanks very much!

4. I want to use your code but have an error.

   Warning: require(D:\XAMPP\htdocs\php_fiscal\escpos-php-master\example/../vendor/autoload.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in D:\XAMPP\htdocs\php_fiscal\escpos-php-master\example\demo.php on line 3

   Fatal error: require(): Failed opening required ‘D:\XAMPP\htdocs\php_fiscal\escpos-php-master\example/../vendor/autoload.php’ (include_path=’.;D:\XAMPP\php\PEAR’) in D:\XAMPP\htdocs\php_fiscal\escpos-php-master\example\demo.php on line 3

   EPSON ARGENTINA TM-U220A

   contact with me if a have to buy a licence

   thanks

5. hi i have uploaded code in my hosting it is not finding my printer why?

6. Hello,

   How I can write the euro character?

   Thanks.

7. Hey, this depends on the printer and driver you’re using. If you’re using escpos-php, then please ask on the bug tracker with details of the type of printer you’re using, and a snippet showing what you’re doing now.

8. Hi, I got the printing working on Espon TM-T82 with RPi. Just one question, is it possible to use different fonts or unicode fonts?

9. Hello Mike,

   The printer is: pos-80-mini-thermal-printer (Excelvan) .

   My code is:
   $price = sprintf(“%0.2f €\n”, $value);
   $printer->text($price);

   and I you are printing the character ‘ñ’ instead of ‘€’.

   Thank’s

10. @Thomas- I haven’t blogged about it yet, but the text() function actually accepts UTF-8 input, and has a good attempt at encoding it. Please take a read of the driver README for all supported features that are not mentioned in this post: https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php

11. @Anderson- I’ll direct you to the bug tracker for this one. I don’t have a profile for Excelvan printers yet, so you should use the SimpleCapabilityProfile (details in the docs), which only supports ASCII.

12. Hi Mike,
    Thank you for your reply. I tried to insert UTF-8 input into text() function, I got “?” output. I guess the system font comes with the printer doesn’t have all the characters set. Is it possible to change the printer’s font somehow?

    I also tried to convert the unicode text to image using imagettftext() and graphics() function. The only issue is, it takes about 20 seconds to print a ticket. I tried to reduce the image resolution and print the header in advance but still about 9 seconds left.

    If I connect the printer to windows machine and print the ticket in same format from MS Words, it prints instantly. Do you know what’s the underlying format that windows / MS Words use or is it because of the windows driver comes with the printer?

13. HI Mike, My printer is stuck in a loop.
    It is printing same again and again. I restarted PC and printer. but no luck seems print command is stuck somewhere in PC.

    Thanks

14. @Thomas – Hey, I can’t really comment on MS Word or the vendor drivers do, as I don’t use either.

    Again, this post does not go into this UTF-8 stuff, so it’s a bit off-topic here. Please consider posting a snippet and description of the output to the escpos-php issue tracker (best include the printer make/model, every printer encodes differently). I think there are existing examples of what you’re trying to do, so I may be able to point you in the right direction with this extra detail.

15. @Mandeep – I’m not in a position to answer this type of query. I think you would be more likely to get a response via a software vendor or formal support channel. Best of luck!

16. Hi Mike,

    Thank you for your great work! and just want to konw how to set the font name? say, I want to use arial, or times new roman?

17. @Scot, there is no ESC/POS command for this, most printers just have “Font A” (normal) and “Font B” (small). The escpos-php driver can also render text to an image and print that instead, using a component called ImagePrintBuffer. This requires the imagick plugin, and allows you to use any font.

    Please search for examples of its usage in the code, and feel free to ask any questions on the issue tracker if this doesn’t answer your question: https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/issues.

18. Hi mike. Your examples helped me a lot.
    I’m using c# and I need to set up the page width and height.
    Do you know how to do this?
    Thanks.

19. We really need a tool for parsing ESC/POS files and convert the textual parts there to text . Do you know any tool which gives us that?
    Thanks

20. @Uri – I actually have an ESC/POS parser in the works on GitHub, which may do what you need. See https://github.com/mike42/escpos-snippets/tree/master/parser

21. @Federico – There’s no C# snippets on this blog, but I’ve got a follow-up post that discusses height and width from PHP, which you might us as a starting point- https://mike42.me/blog/print-larger-or-smaller-text-on-a-thermal-receipt-printer

22. Hi Mike,
    I’m developing my own USB based 2″ POS Thermal printer, in which, I’ve implemented ESC POS commands. I need to know what is the binary data format in which a page from Notepad is sent via USB.

    There are lots of documents available online, describing ESC/POS commands. However, how should I go about interpreting the binary data that follows the commands?

    I’ve tried sending these directly to the printer’s strobes in the form of a dotline image, but it prints something else.

    Any help/ C language source code in this regard shall be highly appreciated.

    Regards
    Kavita

23. this link not found ( https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/blob/master/test.php

24. Cheers, fixed. File is now at https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/blob/development/example/demo.php

25. @Kativa- This post doesn’t go into image formats, but you would need to look for commands like ‘ESC *’, ‘ESC ( L’, and ‘GS v 0’ commands in the output, then interpret each one according to the manual. The binary data is either ‘raster format’ or ‘column format’ depending on the command. Best of luck!

26. Thanks. This library is great.

    I was wondering if instead of printing the receipt can I save the output to a file (like image or pdf).

    thanks,

    ankit

27. hello Mike from mexico. Diseño systems of points of sale y la verdad es muy interesante encontrar a aguien que entiende como funciona esto. saludos

28. @ankit – Replied via GitHub on issue #280.

29. kindly let me know the sequence of command to print character in thermal printer

30. @Rekha – Please check out the “Hello World” example on GitHub. The same function accepts UTF-8, and will translate it for your printer. This works best for Epson-branded printers. Best of luck!

31. i realize this is more about the ESCPOS lingo itself, but perhaps you still can help.
    i have downloaded a bitmap into the NV area of the POS printer i have. Epson T88II.
    what command will make the printer PRINT the content of the NV area? I find i need to steer this little fellow around in detail, from my non-php application. i have made commands to cut and to print the info i need, next is how to make the lilttle fellow start each new job with the logo item in the NV. any hints ? The manuals are confusing me..

32. Hey Mike. I’m trying to print to an oki ml320 turbo.

    I am sending commands directly to the printer via lpr like this..

    echo “0123456789” | lpr -l -P CARDS1

    I want to print in double height/double width but i cant seem to get the hex from the decimal http://myokidata.com/man-ml320-1turbo.nsf/MOCContents/7707890B7EE2F06985256A6F006F33AE?OpenDocument

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

33. Hi,
    Is it possible to print text of different sizes in the same line (large font and smaller font ) and both vertically aligned top ?

    If possible can u help me on these.

34. HI Mike,
    Can you help me with printing ARABIC WORDS with your codes. Is there any way using your particular driver. We are doing in PHP code.

35. dear sir, how to installed black copper model: Bc-80p-usb plz sir give me link of proper driver

36. Hi mike, first i have to thank you for this lib. i’m using server with php setup. Is that possible to connect multiple printer with this server, if possible please give me the explanation .

37. @Henrik – I’ve never been able to get NV images to work correctly, but I would recommend the online ESC/POSmanuals from espon-biz.com as a starting point for that level of complexity (requires log-in).

38. @Geoff – That’s not an ESC/POS printer, but for reference, you need echo -e for thr escape codes. Check out-

    $ echo -e "\x27\x32\x49hello" | hexdump -C
    00000000  27 32 49 68 65 6c 6c 6f  0a                       |'2Ihello.|
    

39. @Subas – Different sizes on one line have always aligned to the base. I’ve got some examples @ Print larger or smaller text on a thermal receipt printer.

40. @Aash – Glad you’ve asked. Arabic text is still really difficult to print on embedded printers. The best resources I can link you to are the issue tracker, this StackOverFlow answer that I wrote (python), or this PHP example.

41. @vignesh – Depends what you want to do, but yes. Check out the selection of PrintConnector objects, and feel free to file a new issue on the issue tracker with details of your use case if you think the library needs a dedicated multiple-printing interface to support it.

42. Mike, I’m trying to COM port in Bixolon SRP 350II but the printer don’t print.

    I used a COM port monitor and can see how the code send the code to the printer.

    Any idea?

43. Hello Mike, Can you tell more about printing bit images or logos on ESCPOS command?
    I am using ESC* command to print logo. Is this an appropriate command?

44. I’m facing a similar isse, but with an ON 500 thermal printer. I’m kaing a C# console and deskpot application that uses “RawPrinterHelper”, however, I don’t know the language used by the thermal printer (or any idea about what kind of language is). I tried with no success find manual for this thermal printer. I’m having problems with settings about font, speed, cut.

45. @Kaylani – I haven’t blogged about producing images in ESC/POS yet, but I posted an answer to somebody who was using ESC * on StackOverflow today. I’m assuming it’s either you, or you might be interested to check out the answer anyway – https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44107254/esc-pos-command-esc-for-printing-bit-image-on-printer/44212388

46. @Alberto Chirinos – This is probably not the best place to get an answer. If you’re programming, you could try posting a mimimal working example to StackOverflow. If not, you should contact your POS system vendor.

47. Hello Mike,

    I really really appreciate with your escpos. But I have problem with printer connector file. I make a POS apps using php and try to use escpos, but that apps have to install in Windows.

    Can you tell me the connector file for Windows to change this statement “/dev/usb/lp0″ or ” php://stdout” (I using that, but it not works).

    I hope you can help me. Thanks in advance Mike.

48. I forget to say, the apps and printers are installed on the local computer and not shared with other computer (my client request)

49. @Lisa – You generally would use WindowsPrintConnector on Windows, which sometimes involves sharing the printer so that PHP can see it via a network connection. Check out the Windows examples for LPT and https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/tree/master/example/interface

50. I Need a eample of a QR code printed with the Epson Printer
    I hope ypu can help me with the comands that are needed.

    I thank you.

51. @Martha kajopoulos- Check out https://mike42.me/blog/2015-04-howto-qrcodes-on-receipts-with-escpos-php

52. Hi Mike, My PHP app is Online and any registered-user can print from anywhere from their own…how to get this work?

    Regards

53. Hi Mike,

    I really really appreciate with your escpos, is that possible using this script to print on Epson LQ or Epson LX ?

    Thanks

54. Hi @Mike,

    I have tried to connect printer on windows server but it is not working.

    My code is:
    $connector = new NetworkPrintConnector(“10.0.0.40”, 9100);

    $printer = new Printer($connector);
    $printer -> text(“Hello World!\n”);
    $printer -> cut();
    $printer -> close();

    but nothing is working.

    Please help to resolve this issue.

    Thanks
    SK

55. @Herliansyah Espon LQ and LX printers speak ESC/P2, which is not the same as ESC/POS. Very simple prints will work, but for anything more advanced, you probably want an ESC/P2 library instead.

56. @budy- Check out this FAQ entry. Can I print from my server on the Internet?

57. @SK- When printing fails, you can expect a PHP exception that explains what went wrong. Check out this FAQ entry for debugging tips. Why do I get this error when I try to print?

58. Hello Mike42! Thanks for your project, its very usefull
    Im having a curious bug that I have to fix it but can’t find a way
    On same settings and php file my chinese zj5890 it makes how I want it but on my epson t20II it doesnt…On the first it fits the 32 characters on per line but on the epson only 31 -.-‘
    Heres the receipts with 58mm paper https://ibb.co/ngOeoR
    Could you help me? Any ideas? Thank you very much

59. @Julio- If you are working with escpos-php, you might consider opening a question on the issue tracker[1]. The left margin looks quite large, and there may be a command that can be implemented to adjust it.

    Otherwise, you would have to make everything one character shorter, or use FONT_B, where everything is printed smaller.

    [1] https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/issues

60. Hi, just finished a small project with Amazon ALEXA and your code, hope, you like it ?

    http://www.mcseven.me/2017/11/amazon-alexa-lists-exercise-putem-on-paper/

    Cheers, Chris

61. @Chris – great work! It’s fantastic to see how escpos-php is being used outside of a sales environment.

62. Can i test Mike42 php library without printer connected to my pc?

63. @Mitul – Yes, you can develop your receipts without a printer to some extent. You need to use the FilePrintConnector to produce a file as output, which can then be converted to HTML with the esc2html utility1.

64. Help me please to install your library in my php codeignter application

65. require DIR . ‘/../autoload.php’;
    use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
    use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector;
    $connector = new WindowsPrintConnector(“Receipt Printer”);
    $printer = new Printer($connector);

    try {
    // Enter the share name for your USB printer here

    /* Print a "Hello world" receipt" */
$printer -> text("text text");
$printer -> cut();

    /* Close printer */
$printer -> close();


    } catch(Exception $e) {
    echo “Couldn’t print to this printer: ” . $e -> getMessage() . “\n”;
    }
    this code print simple text but why not print barcode

66. Hi All,
    I use this code :
    $profile = CapabilityProfile::load(“simple”);
    $connector = new WindowsPrintConnector(“smb://172.17.4.11/printertiket”);
    $printer = new Printer($connector);
    on Windows 7 as a Xampp server. And its work.

    But, when i use Windows Server 2016 as Xampp Server, it have an error : “copy(\172.17.4.61\printerphp): failed to open stream: Invalid argument”

    Any solution for this?
    Thank you before..

67. Mike can you please tell me how to print image with thermal printer in c#…. i did not get any help that is useful for me. I am not able to print arabic char thats why i converted them to image but the image cannot print through mhy printer

68. @Muhammad – I haven’t blogged about image handling in ESC/POS before, so I’ll point you to a code example. This C project will print PNG images to an ESC/POS printer, you should be able to test it locally then port it to C#. https://github.com/twg/png2escpos

69. Hi mike, i wanna ask is the escpos-php compatible with this printer zijiang ZJ-5802 ? i plan to purchase if it’s compatible

70. @Kelvin – escpos-php has no commercial support, so don’t take this as advice, but as an ESC/POS printer, it will work, and if you are willing to help write a profile for it in the printer database, then its full range of encoding and image support should be accessible.

    • https://github.com/receipt-print-hq/escpos-printer-db/

71. POS Printer easily access from localhost but when I tried to access from website then it’s not.
    Please help me regarding this issue.
    my code is:

    include_once(“print/autoload.php”);
    use Mike42\Escpos\Printer;
    use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector;
    use Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\FilePrintConnector;
    use Mike42\Escpos\EscposImage;

    try
    {
    $connector = new WindowsPrintConnector(“PRINTER_NAME”);
    $printer = new Printer($connector);
    $printer -> text(“Hello World”);
    $printer -> cut();
    $printer -> close();
    }
    catch (Exception $e)
    {
    echo “Couldn’t print to this printer: ” . $e -> getMessage() . “\n”;
    }

72. @Ankit – Printing is server-side, which has its limitations. It takes some extra work if your printer and server are not on the same LAN.

    It is an architectural problem- You either need to deploy your PHP server inside the network to void the problem, relay the prints through an agent (with Javascript), or connect up a secure tunnel so that your printer can be seen from the server.

    The escpos-php FAQ has some ideas you can investigate-
    https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/blob/4fff198b2a5d07f5d2fb8dc00e361935abd36447/doc/FAQ.md#can-i-print-from-my-server-on-the-internet

73. Hi,

    I have a requirement for printing the text after reversing it
    E.g.
    if the text is 1234 the printer should print 4321 i can add other options to this text like bold etc.
    just wanted to check is there any ESC command for this.

74. @chandresh – I don’t believe you can reverse a string like that using an ESC/POS command, you need to reverse it before you send it.

    Each language has their own way of doing this. Eg, str_reverse is suitable for ASCII if you are using PHP.

75. Hello Mike.
    In their examples above, they work with ESCPOS printers via bluetooth.
    Would you have some examples?

    My best regards

76. Hello, Mike.
    About getting the status of the printer, I saw this link: https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/issues/43 – which still did not have a solution. Has anything changed about that?
    My main goal is to get the status of the paper sensor.

77. Hello, Mike
    At first, I’m just to mike 42 php, and i need your advice to me for esc/pos with mike42 php for Xprinter XP-Q260NK,
    I cannot print out in Thai, Tables code pages 70:PC874, 255 (Thai). yes I’ve try to set code page 70 and 255 but it’s not works.

    Thanks,

78. Hello Mike,

    Could you please add an example of QR Code with the Hexdump ?
    I am using a SNBC BTP – R180 printer.
    Thanks,

79. @Sachin – I don’t have hexdumps on my last blog post about ESC/POS QR codes, but you can find the actual binary files in the escpos-php repo.

    • https://mike42.me/blog/2015-04-howto-qrcodes-on-receipts-with-escpos-php
    • https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php/tree/development/test/integration/resources/output

80. Hola estoy implementando ésta librería, hice todos los pasos y no me sale ningún error, simplemente no me imprime nada. Hice la impresión de prueba y si me arroja la impresión de prueba. También compartí la impresora. El problema es solo que cuando llamo localhost/probarTicket/ticket.php. Solo se queda en blanco la pagina y no imprime nada.

81. @Anthony- Your script is probably erroring out. Check that you have error logging enabled in php.ini, then check the PHP error logs. You can also try executing your scripts on the command-line.

82. Hello, I have an epson tm-u220D printer and when I use barcode in any format it only shows me the letters, can it be a printer problem?

83. You have an example where you print vertical or landscape

84. Please help me to solve the issue in php. I have Point of sale website in online server. I connect the print recipt code which is in my local server with this point of sale. but print is not working. I used the mike42/escpos-php library from github https://github.com/mike42/escpos-php.
    The following errors occoured whrn i click on print button.
    1: Warning: copy(\DESKTOP-L48VCRS\EPSON TM-U220 CAJA): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\wamp64\www\sistema\src\Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector.php on line 372
    2: Fatal error: Uncaught Exception: Failed to copy file to printer in C:\wamp64\www\sistema\src\Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector.php on line 291
    3: Exception: Failed to copy file to printer in C:\wamp64\www\sistema\src\Mike42\Escpos\PrintConnectors\WindowsPrintConnector.php on line 291
    The online website or POS url is
    http://dfathers.es
    Please any one help me to solve the issues.
    thanks

85. I got error a please help me
    Warning: require(D:\xampp\htdocs\print\example/../vendor/autoload.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in D:\xampp\htdocs\print\example\demo.php on line 11

    Fatal error: require(): Failed opening required ‘D:\xampp\htdocs\print\example/../vendor/autoload.php’ (include_path=’D:\xampp\php\PEAR’) in D:\xampp\htdocs\print\example\demo.php on line 11

86. Hei, do you guys still have the pdf for epson doc manual ? the link is dead, send it to my email, yenaskithegar@gmail.com. thanks

87. The original epson.de website is no longer online. I’ve updated the link in the blog post to point to a mirror on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.

88. Hi Mike how are you? The printer: Aclas pp9 https://www.aclas.tw/products/pp9x/ is compatible with your library?

89. Hi @Gusman – This printer claims to have ESC/POS support, so it will most likely work to some extent. With a printer that is not made by Epson, it’s common to find differences with the way it handles non-ASCII characters, as well as images.

90. Hi Mike, thank You for the support, for the moment print images is not important for me, only i need print text… Thanks agaian