Choose and set up your dot-matrix printer (Epson pin printer)

Setting up your dot-matrix printer properly takes five minutes and guarantees reliable printing, day after day. Here is the recommended configuration — and the few settings that make all the difference.

Good to know before you start

The Windows “test page” (Printer properties → Print a test page) is not representative of SynkriaOps printing: it takes a different, graphical path. To check your configuration, use the diagnostic command shown on the Troubleshoot a printing problem page.

Which printers are suitable

The agent sends ESC/P, the universal language of dot-matrix printers. So the following are suitable:

Family	Examples	Note
Epson 9-pin	LX-350, LX-300, FX-890	The counter classic. Our recommended reference.
Epson 24-pin	LQ-590, LQ-2090	Better character quality, same principle.
ESC/P compatible	OKI Microline, Bixolon, most dot-matrix printers	Check the printer supports ESC/P emulation.

Our recommendation

For a point of sale in Central Africa, the Epson LX-350 is an excellent choice: widely available, rugged, and its consumables (ribbons, 241 mm multi-part paper) are easy to find locally.

Key step: the right Windows driver

The choice of driver is decisive for dot-matrix printing. When you plug in an Epson, Windows often installs a modern graphical driver (for example “Epson ESC/P 9-pin V4”). That driver is designed to print office documents and is not suited to sending raw data to a pin printer.

Our recommendation: print through a dedicated print queue using the Windows “Generic / Text Only” driver, on the same port as your physical printer. That is the driver meant for raw printing, the one point-of-sale software uses.

1. Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → Add a device.

2. At the bottom, click “The printer that I want isn’t listed”.

3. Choose “Add a local printer or network printer with manual settings”.

4. Use an existing port → select the same port as the current printer (for example USB001).

5. Manufacturer: Generic → Printer: Generic / Text Only.

6. Give it a clear, unambiguous name, for example EPSON LX-350 RAW.

Install the printer locally, not as a network share

Always choose a local port — USB (USB001) or TCP/IP (the printer’s IP address). This is the normal case for a counter dot-matrix printer plugged in over USB, and there is nothing special to do.

On the other hand, avoid adding the printer via another PC’s share (a name starting with \\, like \\POS-PC\EPSON): a printer added this way belongs to your Windows session, and the print agent, which runs at the machine level, cannot reach it. If your printer is physically connected to another computer, install it here by its IP address (TCP/IP port) rather than by its share.

Mind the exact name

The agent prints to the printer whose exact name you provide. Always copy the name as it appears in the synkriaops-print printers command: a single capital letter or space of difference is enough to prevent printing.

Avoiding the blank page

By default the “Generic / Text Only” driver applies a Letter format with a margin that can eject a blank page. One setting is enough to avoid it:

1. Windows → Printers → right-click EPSON LX-350 RAW → Printer properties.

2. Device Settings tab.

3. Find “Cont. Feed - No Break” and change it from Letter to “Not Available”.

4. Apply → OK.

Set the printer emulation

A dot-matrix printer can work in two languages: ESC/P (Epson) or IBM. SynkriaOps uses ESC/P. Make sure your printer is set to ESC/P — otherwise the text may print crooked or not at all.

This setting is made on the printer (in its default settings; on the Epson LX-350, you reach it by holding certain buttons at power-on — see the manual). Aim for: Software / Emulation = ESC/P.

Force RAW processing

One last setting to guarantee raw printing:

1. Right-click the printer → Printer properties → Advanced tab.

2. “Print Processor…” button.

3. Select WinPrint with the data type RAW.

The paper and the page length

Dot-matrix invoices print on continuous multi-part paper (listing paper, often 241 mm wide). Each sheet has a precise height — 140 mm by default in SynkriaOps.

SynkriaOps handles the page length automatically: for each invoice, the app tells the printer the exact sheet height, so it stops in the right place without ejecting a blank page.

If your sheets have a different height, adjust the “Paper height (mm)” field in Settings → Invoicing → Templates.

Accents (é, à, ç, è)

For French accents to render correctly, set the printer’s character table to PC850 / Multilingual (in its settings menu, or via its switches depending on the model). If the text prints but the accents are replaced with symbols, this is the setting to fix.

Your reference configuration

Item	Recommended setting
Windows driver	Generic / Text Only
Queue name	Clear and unique, e.g. EPSON LX-350 RAW
Cont. Feed - No Break	Not Available
Printer emulation	ESC/P
Print processor	WinPrint / RAW
Character table	PC850 / Multilingual
Paper height (template)	Actual sheet height (default 140 mm)

Once this configuration is in place, a quick test confirms everything works — see the next page.

Further reading

• Troubleshoot a printing problem →
• Install the print agent →