How to set the ticket's paper width and number of copies

What these two settings change on the ticket

Paper width and number of copies are two printing settings for each kitchen. They're on the Dashboard, under Kitchens, behind the Set up button in the Printing block — the same window where you turn on Print orders and copy the address and token for the print app. The width says whether that station's roll is 58 mm or 80 mm; the copies setting says how many copies of the same ticket print each time the waiter sends an order.

The actual printing is done by the print app, running on a computer at the restaurant and connected to the thermal printer. qmen.us runs in the browser and just hands over the finished ticket: table, order number, order name when there is one, waiter, prep station, time and the lines with quantity, item name, add-ons and note. The print app turns that into paper, using 48 columns on the 80 mm roll and 32 on the 58 mm one, and repeating the print as many times as you asked.

Why it pays to get the paper width right from the start

• The wrong paper gets in the way of reading at the station. On a 58 mm roll a line has 32 columns: long item names, add-ons and notes wrap more. Setting the right width is what makes the ticket come out with the header aligned and the divider line in one piece.
• More than one copy keeps paper from wandering around the restaurant. With 2 copies, the same order sits at the station and at the pass at the same time, without anyone copying it by hand or taking the paper away to check.
• Each prep station has its own printer and its own setting. The Grill can print at 80 mm with 1 copy and the Bar at 58 mm with 2, because the setting lives inside the kitchen, not the whole restaurant.
• The setting still applies if the internet goes down. The print app keeps a copy of the kitchens with each one's width and copies, so it keeps printing in the same format until the connection comes back.
• It's free and changes nothing else. Changing this creates no fee or commission per order — qmen.us isn't a marketplace and doesn't process money — and it doesn't touch the display password or that station's token either.

How to set width and copies in 6 steps

There are six steps, from the station's card on the Dashboard to the ticket printing at the right size.

1. Open Kitchens on the Dashboard

   On the restaurant's Dashboard, go to Kitchens. Each prep station is a card. Scroll down to the Printing block: when it's off, it says Prints orders on a thermal printer; when it's on, it shows a summary like On · 80 mm · 3 copies. Tap Set up, on the right side of the block.

2. Turn on Print orders

   The Kitchen printing window opens. The first switch is Print orders, which turns on automatic printing for that station. With it on, every time the waiter sends an order to this kitchen, a ticket goes into the queue. Further down, in the Details for the print app block, are the address and token the print app uses to pull that queue.

3. Choose the paper width: 80 or 58 mm

   The Paper width field has two options: 80 mm and 58 mm. The default is 80 mm. This choice changes how much text fits on a line: the print app builds the ticket with 48 columns on the 80 mm roll and 32 columns on the 58 mm one. Setting 80 mm on a narrow roll makes lines wrap badly; setting 58 mm on a wide roll wastes half the paper.

   Tip: If in doubt, send a test order to the station and look at the dashed line separating the header from the items: if it runs across the paper from edge to edge, the width is right.

4. Say how many copies you want per ticket

   Next to the width is the Copies field, from 1 to 5, starting at 1. With 2 or more, the print app prints the same ticket again, right after, with a cut between them — it's not a second part of the order, it's the same paper repeated. One copy is normal; two are for when you want paper at the station and at the pass at the same time.

5. Save and check the card

   Tap Save. The notice Printing updated appears and the station's card already shows the new summary, with the width and, when there's more than one, the number of copies. No need to restart the print app: it reads the settings with every ticket it pulls, so the next one already prints the new way.

6. Repeat for each kitchen that prints

   Width and copies belong to each Kitchen, not the whole restaurant. If the Grill has an 80 mm printer at the counter and the Bar has a 58 mm card-machine-style one, set them up one at a time, on each station's card. A station without Print orders turned on stays on the wall display only, as always.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Tab

The open bill of a table, where items add up until it's closed.

Copy

Each copy of the same ticket. With 3 copies, the same slip prints three times in a row, with a cut between each one.

Paper width

The paper roll the printer uses, 80 mm or 58 mm. It sets how many characters fit on each line of the ticket.

Print app

The program that keeps running on a device inside the restaurant, fetches the prep station's tickets from qmen.us and sends them to the thermal printer.

Additional items

A mark at the top of the ticket when the waiter sends more items to a prep station that had already received that order.

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