While EntraLane can run 100% paperlessly using on-screen tickets and mobile QR codes, many locations (such as medical clinics, pharmacies, government offices, and retail service desks) also want to offer printed paper tickets at the Entrance Kiosk or Service Desk.
EntraLane supports any standard 80mm or 58mm thermal receipt printer through four flexible transport modes: System Driver / Browser Print, Direct USB ESC/POS (WebUSB), Direct Serial ESC/POS (WebSerial), and Network / Print Bridge URL (including Epson ePOS-Print XML).
1. Which Ticket Printers Should You Use?
When choosing a printer for a public self-service kiosk, look for two essential features: Direct Thermal Printing (no ink or toner ribbons — only thermal paper rolls) and a built-in Auto-Cutter so visitors receive a cleanly cut slip every time.
80mm Standard Format (Recommended)
Roll Width: 80mm (3 1/8 inch — ~72mm printable width)
Why Choose It: Delivers maximum legibility for oversized ticket numbers, mnemonic words, and the smartphone handover QR code. Almost all 80mm models include heavy-duty auto-cutters.
Proven Models:
Epson TM-T20III or Epson TM-m30III (USB, Ethernet/LAN, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth)
Epson TM-T88VI / TM-T88VII (High-speed enterprise workhorse for high-volume lobbies)
Star Micronics TSP143III / TSP100IV (USB, LAN, Wi-Fi)
Compact Countertop Printers:Star Micronics mC-Print2, Epson TM-m10, or POS-5890K
2. Connecting the Printer & Configuring OS Drivers
Before enabling printing inside EntraLane, configure the thermal printer once in your kiosk computer’s operating system:
Install the Official Vendor Driver
Connect the printer via USB or Ethernet and install the manufacturer’s official OS driver (e.g., Epson Advanced Printer Driver (APD) or Star FuturePRNT) rather than a generic text-only driver.
Set as the OS Default Printer
Open your operating system’s printer settings (Windows Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners) and set the thermal receipt printer as the Default Printer. (Tip: Uncheck “Let Windows manage my default printer” so Windows never switches the default back to a PDF or office printer).
Verify Paper Roll Size & Auto-Cut
Open the printer’s Printing Preferences in the OS driver:
Paper Size: Select 80 x 297 mm (80mm Receipt) or 58 x 297 mm (58mm Receipt) to match your physical roll.
Paper Cut / Document Cut: Ensure Partial Cut or Full Cut at Job/Page End is enabled.
Disable Browser Print Headers, Footers & Margins
In your kiosk browser, press Ctrl + P once to open the print preview, expand More settings, and set:
Margins:None
Headers and footers:Unchecked (prevents the browser from printing URLs or timestamps in the corners of your ticket).
3. Configuring Ticket Printers in EntraLane
EntraLane lets you configure thermal receipt printing independently for each Entrance Kiosk and Service Desk inside the Admin UI. Terminal devices keep their printer settings in memory and receive live configuration updates over SignalR — meaning zero extra network queries are made when a visitor or operator prints a ticket.
A. Entrance Kiosk Printer Settings
Open the Kiosk Configuration Dialog
Go to Devices or Visitor Flow, click ⋮ → Edit on your Entrance Kiosk, and select the Print tab.
Choose Your Print Mode (printMode)
Select one of three behaviors:
Disabled (Paperless): Never prints paper slips. Visitors view their number on screen or scan the mobile QR code.
Automatic Print (Silent Print): Immediately prints and cuts a paper ticket as soon as a visitor taps a service category button.
Optional (Visitor Chooses): Displays a prominent “Print Ticket” button on the ticket confirmation screen so only visitors who want a physical slip print one.
Select Paper Width (80mm or 58mm)
Choose 80mm (Standard) or 58mm (Compact) to match your thermal paper roll. EntraLane automatically adapts both its @page CSS layout and its binary ESC/POS column formatting (48 vs. 32 characters per line) to match the roll width.
Select Printer Connection (printConnectionType)
Choose how EntraLane communicates with your thermal printer:
System Driver / Browser Print (browser): Uses the operating system’s printer driver and browser print pipeline (pair with --kiosk-printing for silent zero-dialog output).
Direct USB ESC/POS (webusb): Sends raw binary ESC/POS commands (with CP858 character encoding, native GS ( k QR code, and GS V partial auto-cut) directly to a USB thermal printer from Chromium browsers without opening any OS print dialog. Click Pair USB Printer once on the terminal to grant browser USB permission.
Direct Serial ESC/POS (webserial): Sends raw binary ESC/POS commands over RS-232 or virtual USB-Serial COM ports in Chromium browsers. Click Pair Serial Printer once on the terminal to grant permission.
Network / Print Bridge URL (network): Sends the receipt over HTTP/HTTPS to a Printer / Bridge Endpoint URL:
Local JSON Print Bridge (e.g. http://127.0.0.1:9100/print): Sends { "dataBase64": "...", "paperWidth": "80mm" } via POST.
Epson ePOS-Print XML (URLs containing /cgi-bin/epos/ or epos): Sends an Epson SOAP/XML <epos-print> envelope directly to the printer’s network interface.
(If a direct hardware transport is temporarily unavailable, EntraLane automatically falls back to the browser print pipeline so a visitor is never left without a ticket).
Run a Test Print
Click Run Test Print inside the dialog to verify formatting, QR code legibility, and auto-cut, then click Save Changes.
B. Service Desk Printer Settings
Receptionists and counter staff can also print tickets on demand (for example, if an elderly visitor does not use a smartphone or lost their slip) or automatically when registering walk-in guests:
Open the Service Desk Dialog
In Devices or Visitor Flow, click ⋮ → Edit on a Service Desk and toggle Printer Available on.
Configure Walk-In Auto-Print & Hardware Transport
Auto-Print Walk-In Tickets (autoPrintWalkIn): When enabled, registering a walk-in visitor at the desk automatically prints a physical receipt slip.
Paper Width & Printer Connection: Choose 80mm or 58mm and select System Driver / Browser Print, Direct USB ESC/POS (WebUSB), Direct Serial ESC/POS (WebSerial), or Network / Print Bridge URL.
Run Test Print: Test the desk’s printer directly from the configuration dialog.
By default, web browsers display a print confirmation dialog whenever window.print() is triggered. On a public self-service kiosk, tickets must print instantly in the background with zero dialogs.
Enable silent printing for your platform:
Windows (Microsoft Edge / Google Chrome) & Linux (Chromium):
Launch the browser with the --kiosk-printing flag (combined with --kiosk):
Every EntraLane thermal receipt is formatted for instant legibility and includes:
Location & Waiting Area Name header.
Oversized Ticket Number (e.g., A-024) + Mnemonic Word (e.g., Silver Fox).
Selected Service Category and current number of guests ahead in line.
Mobile Handover QR Code (/t/:id#k=:claimSecret): Guests holding a paper slip can scan this QR code at any time to open their live mobile ticket on their phone.
