Print Formats: letter styles
The 18 letter styles a print format can use — six On every device, twelve More styles inside the apps, four with Chinese of their own — for the whole paper or one part, why a styled paper is printed as a picture, and what an older POS does.
On this page
A receipt printer has its own plain letters. A letter style gives a paper another look: bookish serif letters for a cafe, soft round letters for a bubble tea shop, a brush hand for the outlet's name. Every print format has one for the whole paper, and any part of it can have its own.
There are 18: six On every device and twelve More styles.
Before you start
- Only an Administrator or a Manager sees Print Formats.
- A letter style is set in a format: open one with Copy or Edit in Print Formats.
Choose a letter style
- In the format's window, click Letter style, beside Base size. The list opens.
- Each style is drawn in its own letters, with a sample, under On every device and More styles.
- Click one. The whole sample paper changes to it.
- For one part only: click the part on the sample, then Letter style in the bar above it.
- Click Save.
18 styles, for the whole paper; a part can have its own (click it on the sample). When a letter style is chosen, the POS prints the paper as a picture, so the style comes out on a roll printer too. A picture prints a little slower than text. A POS that is not updated yet prints it in the printer's own letters.
1On every deviceDrawn from the fonts each device has: they differ a little from one to another.
More stylesFont files inside the apps: the same on every POS and here. English and, where shown, Chinese.
- Letter style: the paper's style, its name drawn in its own letters. The line under it: 18 styles, for the whole paper; a part can have its own (click it on the sample)., then what happens on a roll printer (below).
- On every device: Drawn from the fonts each device has: they differ a little from one to another.
- More styles: Font files inside the apps: the same on every POS and here. English and, where shown, Chinese.
- The sample: Milk Tea 珍珠奶茶 123, in the style's letters, so you see its English and its Chinese.
The 18 styles
On every device: drawn from fonts every device already has, so nothing is downloaded. They look a little different on each device.
| Style | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Standard | The plain letters every device has. |
| Narrow | Slim letters. |
| Serif | Bookish letters with small feet. |
| Typewriter | Even-width letters, like a typewriter. |
| Heavy | Thick black letters, for headings. |
| Handwriting | Casual, like a note written by hand. |
More styles: font files that are part of the Windows POS, the Android POS and the back office, so a style looks the same on all three.
| Style | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Cute | Soft round letters, Chinese in a bubbly hand. Good for drinks and desserts. |
| Brush | Quick handwriting, Chinese in brush calligraphy. |
| Elegant | Fine serif letters, Chinese in a graceful classic hand. Good for a cafe or fine dining. |
| Bold display | Tall strong headline letters, Chinese in bold poster strokes. |
| Modern | Clean geometric letters. |
| Slab | Sturdy letters with square feet. |
| Tall headline | Tall narrow capitals (small letters print as capitals): a long name fits in a big size. |
| Script | Flowing joined-up script, like a shop sign. |
| Playful | Chunky rounded letters. |
| Clean typewriter | A crisp typewriter face. |
| Friendly | Rounded, easy to read. |
| Marker | Thick felt-marker capitals. |
Chinese in a letter style
- Cute, Brush, Elegant and Bold display carry a Chinese font of the same mood. Their Chinese comes out in that style.
- Every other style takes its Chinese from the device's own Chinese letters.
- A size does not change with the style: a character still takes the same room on the line, so a long name wraps where it did.
The whole paper, or one part
- The paper's letter style is set beside Base size, and every part follows it.
- A part's own: choose the part on the sample; its bar has Letter style: as the paper. Choose another style there, or as the paper to follow the paper again.
- On a kitchen label design, each box has its own Letter style: as the format. See Kitchen labels.
- A part's own style counts as a change on the list's Changes column, and so does a paper's style other than Standard.
Why a styled paper prints as a picture
A receipt printer printing text has only its own letters: no style can be chosen there. So when a format uses a letter style other than Standard, for the paper or for a part that prints, the POS draws the whole paper and prints it as a picture, and the style comes out on a roll printer too. The editor says it in one sentence, beside the paper's style, in a part's bar, and above the sample:
When a letter style is chosen, the POS prints the paper as a picture, so the style comes out on a roll printer too. A picture prints a little slower than text. A POS that is not updated yet prints it in the printer's own letters.
- A label printer always prints its labels as pictures, so a style always comes out on a label.
- A POS printer set to Chinese as a picture draws every line of a paper as a picture anyway.
- A POS app too old to know one of the More styles prints a paper in that style in the standard letters, and a part in that style in the paper's style. The rest of the format prints as designed.