Need invoice printer advice...

  • Thread starter Thread starter jbarts
  • Start date Start date
J

jbarts

My friend wants to print 3 page invoices and he asked me to help him
set this up.

I've done some research and it seems this can be done both with dot
matrix and laser printers.

What is more reliable? Dot or laser? I'm guessing a dot matrix printer
would be cheaper, seems like any dot matrix print can do be used.

What I'm really confused about is the software, what programs can be
used to print 3 page receipts/invoices? Do I have to use custom
software? How does the software tie into your printer and line
everything up?


Thanks


Please post reply here.
 
I'll throw in my 2 cents.
Dot matrix cant be be for cost of ownership and reliability. The down
side to them is invoice printing or draft printing is about the only
thing you can do with them any more. If you go with a laser it could
be used for nearly all needs.

Other things to consider is amount of printing, cost of tractor feed
paper, pre-printed forms, cost of toner.

I'm not sure exactly what you are thinking on software. One original
and two copies? If thats the case most laser drivers can be configured
in the advanced settings to do this.

good luck
 
I'll throw in my 2 cents.
Dot matrix cant be be for cost of ownership and reliability. The down
side to them is invoice printing or draft printing is about the only
thing you can do with them any more. If you go with a laser it could
be used for nearly all needs.

Other things to consider is amount of printing, cost of tractor feed
paper, pre-printed forms, cost of toner.

I'm not sure exactly what you are thinking on software. One original
and two copies? If thats the case most laser drivers can be configured
in the advanced settings to do this.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply.

My friend would like to do a 3 copy receipt. My question about the
software is what programs can be used to print to the invoices and
line everything up right on the pre-printed forms?

A good example of what he wants to do is like a special order from
Home Depot, there are three copies, white, yellow, and pink.

I'm guessing that there is a very expensive program out there to do it
 
If you use a dot matrix printer (or impact printer, a they are also
referred to) they can use carbonless paper that is made up of 3 color
sheets, so the printing is done just on the top sheet, and the impact of
the printer goes through to the other sheets because they are chemically
coated so that anywhere the printer hits a dark chemical is formed, like
carbon paper without the carbon paper.

Typically, with these systems, the forms are pre-printed professionally
on tractor feed paper. The three layers are than put together, also by
the printer, and the sheets are tacked together either with a dab of
glue or a machine that embosses the sheets together like an invisible
staple.

The tractor feed mechanism on dot matrix printers is relatively
accurate, so once the printer has the forms lined up, they tend to stay
that way for quite a few sheets. Most forms have a printed little box
on an edge that a small period is printed into. That way you can see if
the alignment is moving off, and if it begins to go too far, you just
move the paper slightly to realign it.

The software for aligning the printed material with the pre-printed page
doesn't have to be anything special. The pre-printed forms are usually
designed using a standard spacing that dot matrix printers can create.
Dot matrix printers have a lot of coded commands to set them into
various fonts, letter spacing and line spacing, and a simple DOS program
can be written to integrate the command codes for the printer. But I'm
fairly sure there is plenty of freeware or shareware out there that can
do this. Most of it was written dog years ago, but dot matrix printers
haven't changed all that much over the years.

With lasers you have to print each page individually. If the pages need
to be color coded you can either use a multi-tray machine or, I suppose
you could have three paper colors collated, but if something went wrong
like two pages stuck together or a paper jam, you'd have to adjust the
pile to start at the right color again.

Art
 
Back
Top