Sometimes a retailer may not want a physical printer attached to a till but still want to send email receipts. If prism is configured to look at Windows Printer settings, the following will enable a virtual printer that if printed to, will trigger the prism window.
Start -> Control Panel -> Device and Printers -> Add a printer
Click 'The printer I want isn't listed'
Click Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings
Click 'Create a new port' and select the type of port as 'Local Port'.
Click 'Next' then enter the port name as 'Virtual Port' or something similar
Click 'OK' and then select the printer type as 'Generic / Text Only'
Click Next then choose a name for the printer:
Select 'Do not share this printer'
You may be given the option to make it the default printer. If this is required for your ePOS software then click 'Set as the default printer' otherwise just click Finish.
To ensure that the printer is set up correctly, you can try "Print a test page" or just print a receipt to it. The receipt should be visible if you open the print queue of the printer (you may need to tick "Keep printed documents" in printer properties). If there are any errors printing, double check the following:
- That the only destination port is a Local Port (under Printer Properties -> Ports tab)
- That the print driver is set to Generic / Text Only or similar (under Printer Properties -> Advanced tab)
- That your POS software is configured to use the virtual printer you have created