Member Avatar for John_192

I have an Epson receipt printer (Model number: TM-T88V), but I cannot use it. I do not have a POS (point of sale) software that will let me do what I need to do, nor do I have the knowledge I need to understand the developers guide manual that comes with the printer.
Seen here: (https://files.support.epson.com/pdf/pos/bulk/epos-print_xml_um_en_revk.pdf)

I want to make a receipt that looks identical to a competitor company, but with my own information; e.g. different items, prices, and logo.
I have the same exact printer as them, and they use the printers default font. This font however is built into the printer and cannot be removed as a font file type to be used in other places such as illustrator or photoshop.; which would allow me to make receipts that way.

So I'm stuck on the software/development/programming path for making this receipt and I have no idea how to do this.

In short I want to be able to either;

A. Use a notepad editor to manually change the items listed in an XML document and send them to the printer (idk how to send it to the printer—so I'd be paying for this information as well).
or...
B. Have some sort of program that lets me do this with a big shiny print button.

I cannot code.

Can I do what I'm trying to do without learning a code? Is it possible to do this with a simple markup language like HTML/CSS or XML with this specific printer?
I just want to communicate to my printer with text, and print what I communicate. That's it.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 909 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rproffitt

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and concrete options based on this thread: tried uniCenta (spacing problems) and later hired someone; noted the driver/Word route. Below are practical, low-friction ways to get reliable receipts from a TM-T88V, why spacing usually goes wrong, and which approach fits no-code vs. light-code needs.

No-code / WYSIWYG (best if you do not want to program)

  • Treat the printer like a normal Windows printer: design the layout in Word, LibreOffice, or Illustrator using a custom page size that matches the receipt width, set margins to zero, and use tables or fixed tab stops to align columns.
  • Use mail-merge (Word/LibreOffice) or a CSV-driven print job to replace item lines without coding.
  • For logos and exact designer output, export the artwork as a 1-bit (dithered) PNG and print it as an image so the printer renders it exactly; thermal printers print graphics differently than screen displays, so dither and test.

Low-code / template + raw printing (most flexible)

  • Generate a simple template with placeholders (CSV or JSON) and use a tiny script or a small GUI app to replace placeholders and send to the printer. This is what a freelancer typically builds and is inexpensive compared with full POS software.
  • If you want direct control, the TM-T88V accepts printer commands (ESC/POS or Epson ePOS XML). A networked printer can accept raw data; if you go this route, check paper width, character encoding (code page), and whether you are using the printer's built-in text mode or raster graphics. Wrong width/encoding is the usual cause of the spacing problems you saw in uniCenta.

Troubleshooting tips and cautions

  • Print a one-line ruler and a full ASCII test to verify how many characters fit and whether characters are proportional or fixed-width.
  • If you must match a competitor exactly, printing the whole receipt as a raster image is the simplest way to guarantee identical appearance (but it may be slower and use more data).
  • Do not reproduce proprietary logos or receipts in a way that could mislead customers or violate trademarks.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for rproffitt

To accomplish this without learning a (to?) code you would change this to a FOR HIRE type posting and tell how much you will pay for this work.

I take it you already tried finding a printer driver that you could print from Word or such which is a no-code solution.

Member Avatar for John_192

The closest I got was using a free open-source POS software, called uniCenta, and modifying the XML to always print what I want whenever I do an order. But the spacing is off.

No other solution came close besides manually doing it in Illustrator. But again, the font is not the default font for the printer; which is unavailable.

I gave up and hired a freelancer. The people were offering between $300-400 for the project I had in mind. And I accepted a higher-quality freelancer for $400 who's making the software using a mock-up I made in illustrator.

Member Avatar for rproffitt

That's what I expected to happen when folk want no-code solutions. I did see a Windows printer driver at https://epson.com/Support/Point-of-Sale/Receipt-Printers/Epson-TM-T88V/s/SPT_C31CA85011 so my idea of no-code solution would be Word, Illustator or such and print from there.

Maybe you wanted to print from all those languages you tagged your discussion with but that is code and you wrote no-code.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.