The following guide will walk you through the necessary steps to successfully install and configure your printer. If you are new to thermal printing, please review the ‘How does thermal printing work?‘ section of the feature page and read our three part whitepaper!
Thermal Printer Installation
1. Install your printer using the CD included with your printer, or download drivers at https://www.datamax-oneil.com/do/com/en-us/home/service-support/technical-resources
2. Follow the Add Printers wizard for proper printer installation
3. Print a test page
- Right click on Datamax printer and select Printer Properties
- Click on the General Tab
- Click on Print Test Page
4. If your printer successfully prints a test page, it has been installed properly.
5. Right click on your printer, and select Set as Default Printer
Printer Settings
1. Right click on your Datamax printer and select Printer Preferences
2. Select the Page Setup tab
- Under the Stock Name pull down menu, select the USER profile. By default this profile will be set to 3.25” x 5.50”
- Click Edit
- Under Label Size set the width to: 2.00" Ensure that a blank space is left before the word in
- Under Exposed Liner Width set the left and right to: 0.00
3. Click OK
4. Select the Page Setup tab
- Click advanced options
- Select the Printing Position tab
- Under Position Adjustment, change the horizontal offset to: 0.14 in, and vertical offset to: 0.05
6. Click OK
7. Select the Stock tab
- Under Media Handling, set the Post-Print Action to Cut and the Occurrence to after every page
8. Click OK
Settings for Chrome
- Launch Chrome
- Open the Print Settings (For Mac click ⌘ + P, For PC click Control + P)
- Change the Layout to LandScape
- Click "More Settings"
- Change the Margins from "Default" to "None"
- Ensure that Headers and Footers are not checked
- Check to see that the Paper Size is set to the correct ticket stock dimensions
(Skip down to Box Office Ticket Printing Instructions if using Chrome)
Internet Explorer Settings
1. Launch Internet Explorer
2. Click on File and select Page Setup
3. Under Paper Options, set Page Size to USER, and the page orientation should be set to Landscape
4. Margin settings should be set as follows:
- Left: 0
- Right: 0
- Top: 0.098
- Bottom: 0
5. Under Headers and Footers
- Set all Header options to Empty
- Set all Footer options to Empty
- Click OK
IMPORTANT NOTE: Internet Explorer does not allow you to set the Datamax printer's top margins to 0, and they will default to 0.98. You will have to manually set these margins to 0 by editing the registry.
Edit The Registry
1. Run registry editor command: regedit
- Click on the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder
- Click on the Software folder
- Click on the Microsoft folder
2. Under the Internet Explorer folder, click on the PageSetup sub-folder
- Double click on the margin_top registry entry and set the value to 0
IMPORTANT NOTE: Any modification made to the browser's Page Setup section will result in having to reset the margin_top to 0 in the registry. Tickets will not properly print if the registry settings are not set back to 0.
Box Office Ticket Printing Instructions
Printing Tickets from Customer Orders
If you created multiple shipping options for your event, the customer can choose which ticket option they prefer when checking out.
- Log in to ThunderTix
- Navigate to the desired event
- Open the Will Call Report
- Review the Shipping Option column and click the blue ticket graphic beneath the Print column. A new window will open with the tickets to print.
- From your browser, click on the File tab
- Select the Print option. (Shortcut: hold down the CTRL key and press P)
- The Practical Automation printer should be set as your default printer, and will automatically be highlighted as the printer you will send the tickets to. It is important to ensure that no other printers are accidentally selected during this process.
- Click the Print button
Printing On-Demand Tickets
Box office managers and staff members can process orders for customers either by phone or in person. At the final stage or the order process when payment is approved, staff can print tickets immediately to set aside for Will Call or give directly to the customer.
- Process an order.
- On the final screen when the order is Approved, click the link, “Print to Thermal Printer”
A new window will open with the tickets to print.
- From your browser, click on the File tab
- Select the Print option. (Shortcut: hold down the CTRL key and press P)
- The Datamax O'neil printer should be set as your default printer, and will automatically be highlighted as the printer you will send the tickets to. It is important to ensure that no other printers are accidentally selected during this process.
- Click the Print button
ThunderTix offers thermal ticket printing integration for standard ticket stock. Thermal ticket printing is a professional grade solution for rapid printing when it matters most — on the night of the show! With the thermal printing upgrade, your box office staff can print tickets “on demand” after each order is completed with the click of a button.