How to generate and print raw ESC/POS commands from Javascript

Product JSPrintManager Published 09/15/2020 Updated 08/01/2022 Author

Overview

In this article, you'll learn how to generate and print raw ESC/POS commands from Javascript directly to the client printer without displaying a print dialog at all. You'll be able to print ESC/POS commands to the Default client printer as well as to any other installed printer at the client machine. This solution works with any popular browser like Chrome, Firefox, IE/Edge & Safari on Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi and Mac systems!

If you don't know how to write ESC/POS commands, then you can take advantage of our JSESCPOSBuilder project to generate the ESC/POS commands by writing simple and dev-friendly Javascript code to finally print it from any Web Platform/Framework you use (ASP.NET, PHP, Django, Ruby On Rails (RoR), Express.js, AngularJS/SPA, etc.) right to the client printer through JSPrintManager solution.

The ESC/POS commands that we'll use in this article will print out a simple label that will look like this:

A sample label printed from Javascript and created by using ESC/POS commands


Follow up these steps

  • JSPrintManager Client App

    Be sure you install in your dev machine JSPrintManager (JSPM) (Available for Windows, Linux, Raspberry Pi & Mac)

    IMPORTANT: This small app must be installed on each client!

  • HTML & Script References

    • Download JSPrintManager.js
    • Download cptable.js & cputils.js
    • Copy all of these *.js files to the same folder where the next index.html page sample will be located in.
    • By using your favorite Web Development IDE or Text Editor, create a new HTML file naming it index.html
      Copy/paste the following code inside that html file:

      
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Advanced ESC/POS Printing from Javascript</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
</head>
<body>

    <div style="text-align:center">
        <h1>Advanced ESC/POS Printing from Javascript</h1>
        <hr />
        <label class="checkbox">
            <input type="checkbox" id="useDefaultPrinter" /> <strong>Print to Default printer</strong>
        </label>
        <p>or...</p>
        <div id="installedPrinters">
            <label for="printerName">Select an installed Printer:</label>
            <select name="printerName" id="printerName"></select>
        </div>
        <br /><br />
        <button type="button" onclick="doPrinting();">Print Now...</button>
    </div>

    <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/bluebird/3.3.5/bluebird.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.2.1.slim.min.js"></script>

    <!--IMPORTANT: BE SURE YOU HONOR THIS JS LOAD ORDER-->
    <script src="scripts/cptable.js"></script>
    <script src="scripts/cputils.js"></script>
    
    <script src="scripts/JSESCPOSBuilder.js"></script>
    <script src="scripts/JSPrintManager.js"></script>
    
    
    

    <script>

        var clientPrinters = null;
        var _this = this;

        //WebSocket settings
        JSPM.JSPrintManager.auto_reconnect = true;
        JSPM.JSPrintManager.start();
        JSPM.JSPrintManager.WS.onStatusChanged = function () {
            if (jspmWSStatus()) {
                //get client installed printers
                JSPM.JSPrintManager.getPrinters().then(function (printersList) {
                    clientPrinters = printersList;
                    var options = '';
                    for (var i = 0; i < clientPrinters.length; i++) {
                        options += '<option>' + clientPrinters[i] + '</option>';
                    }
                    $('#printerName').html(options);
                });
            }
        };

        //Check JSPM WebSocket status
        function jspmWSStatus() {
            if (JSPM.JSPrintManager.websocket_status == JSPM.WSStatus.Open)
                return true;
            else if (JSPM.JSPrintManager.websocket_status == JSPM.WSStatus.Closed) {
                console.warn('JSPrintManager (JSPM) is not installed or not running! Download JSPM Client App from https://neodynamic.com/downloads/jspm');
                return false;
            }
            else if (JSPM.JSPrintManager.websocket_status == JSPM.WSStatus.Blocked) {
                alert('JSPM has blocked this website!');
                return false;
            }
        }

        //Do printing...
        function doPrinting() {
            if (jspmWSStatus()) {

                // Gen sample label featuring logo/image, barcode, QRCode, text, etc by using JSESCPOSBuilder.js

                var escpos = Neodynamic.JSESCPOSBuilder;
                var doc = new escpos.Document();
                escpos.ESCPOSImage.load('data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAP8AAABFCAIAAAAKO6eOAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAAAd5SURBVHhe7Z1RgqM4DETnXDkQ58lpcpkcZteGAmxLJcvB0+ll9b56SFnIchmMQ0//CYIgCIIgCIIgCIL/Df8EwX2ByxlQBcEdgcsZUAXBHYHLGVAFwR2ByxlQBcEdgcsZUAXBHYHLGVBN5/1cHtsZHs83jgXBD7NZkALVbF4L4mfC/8GXgAMZUE3m/cSFfyXcH3wJOJAB1XSKi3+YP/gWsCADqpm836/X67kc6/7l+UwH3jEFgh9nsyAFquskzy+Pcr2jkqbCK6ZB8FPAdgyoXGR/r42ShwsLv9OFvmv7msdS3Qv2uLFICuay2YoClYdqH2d55UPJ+IO+L8hTYA1Sxgj/BxOBqxhQORD7OPWBz8gzoJpVmFZBMAOYigGVh9qlnEdaGFVLofXfzpkS1/5gInAVAyoX5/e3Oudqnuz3dx+MU4RNGQQzgK8YUA2gLXjEVk4pai/nx8NzRfg+mA/MxYDKjb78kdds69sucg+5uugxn0O0yWU12JMhyz0j1/EWNWr7S9eG9+uZl57NbTcfWPJVa7zqa8AcEaFO1qDP4V3t6RnuIBIDKidkZBP14JKVz4rhObdDVEz3K6Gd+jE3X/X+VPe796L37bce7oAJV8zpGTagNQMqF9z7K4/HOecrZ51D13tyuHSNM92s+M/sTiknQiVXksJQrya5X19fWvRm6HDATsj5GUrQkAGVAzGyy0umf+RXjKF2DKT5IqNu4nFs94vApvmbQvv8P8P75FyDMTqloHB72dUyIJnPz1AFrRhQ9WnT3XvVzODtBlCLc8biFpcObv1ggYfpFbQO3FG3Ve77nwQc7s5193/s1Ix2pl5lbZSI0zNkoAkDqi5NvqU5lNocr7itpEcXqSi60MQeGumC3hhVhh4Sr+gjduj0jz/oixpoIA7rWb0vZyy4xbn0rsmI3oDzM6SgAQOqHk3CrTeGnoby3aFuPsf+sqjLUgUus65P2e42yB5mdBesSv2jjzqihvJH0jPRAxAb1loqkgXStWnAK+n0DA2gZ0DVoUlCswbrVIunrX+sS2Sllmd96Ixbn/DxfLbJq2mSPqZ7G36q+KwX+jncsfQMaXPdXaW8r6jIcmxUkp3K6RlaQM6AqkNrFrVbSXUmeuxQpdtCkT5vCsEKU9ko7n81x/aiicNiSHyJGnjHR6CewRtN9YpVzp65ep8PMz1DE6gZUCnsu5NpNZaWdKu4In+rcSiahU+TW9PcarmSirHPJPk9GkWWKbWtT40qN0ohS/DxUN3Z4s9aoMb3xhtvrLY4e9/5eJzpGZpAzYBKoM84J6IzV6K5S626v6ndFkweExW2zqoOR4nXqypqdGdEvc5mY7XJ2XtXNt2CnPHmZ2gCNQMqgZ6lDyWzbn0MvF6SKeeWzdF8qE5mzVbkZ1fX7I43X4Ia2xnzA6PYTXQbtNl0R/dMYXqGNlAzoBJUp5RbIjZirPQi+nD2UzvJmkdzWH8WGHS/0SOnTznT3W83VpucvXdlc9X9lzI0gZoBlYJ73Z9/GFz37xukf3/dn6jP3n75oGkS/eqqQ+4cFAs1rrcK4407LVy9VEUlRYPpGZpAzYCqQ20sNsTT9ny8Y13D3G8ODhISEpboiRq136zLlcEev06qDYrT9T5fsQq8UmQwPUMTqBlQ9aj7pybbLcGGo61VCwNZJpRIr9/KfiqRfD8Htb8fpl6ixvW6n4wCbd631rj5lBZlWaZnaAE5A6oeTQ7tII9817veFurmTUG8XWuQddoD6RXM7AoxJP9V9xNz6QtIUpdaS0Wsp0qDqizTMzSAngFVlyaNsjtKhr/kPZ8jkl5wS/DL3N+jOC8xTBqFv/KeTxHyTYPWZZmfIQUNGFD1aVPeM0gPxziy8qve8TxD6QN4DsqN3K8VYgCt/JcCZtqyTM+QgSYMqDy0w+J9v//IVo6rfL//gn0s96vlLs4lUuvnobr0Qvo7atwezXk/dRdP/6OsQLqmi7DzM1RBKwZULjoZO3+3y4wxMq9bZHpFNC334uObuT8xbq9O7vwNZoN6MVMzPUMFNGRA5YSPTJ1Y3THrs4rx3pXIwOVckqmbn/ZT+eXuz7gNq12dNXJAp2Ufx563xfQMG9CaAZUbfWzEA3vpRDEy5Ld72xij2O4XmVdp3dP9G/lhNN9zW99uLyLzazOFBcwR8W4zlE6mZ3iAQAyoBtCu3eIGZ7lfn+9XvR8EEpiLAZULcs0+ODfy6xmy27//n5ynJ4dVGQRTgK8YUHlw35LT7aqaJuu/TdefTFg6BMEOXMWAyoG4nmtLoFHy7aKeVbECCuYBUzGg8lC5dDNpelr5fAbsmwLVLIprfzARuIoBlYvjcbXefuqu5iXNU/LxGBzeD6ay2YoC1XXWVxm6k0BsDgXBXwS2Y0A1kfyyU/E3Gx/J8PE3G4PvsFqQA9V0ioeEWM4E3wIWZEA1GX2/Pwh+GDiQAdVsqv2hcH/wJeBABlTTOb8XDu8HX2OzIAWqILgjcDkDqiC4I3A5A6oguCNwOQOqILgjcDkDqiC4I3A5A6oguCNweRAEQRAEQRAEQRDcnT9//gXTok1btWRH9wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==')
                .then(logo => {

                    // logo image loaded, create ESC/POS commands

                    var escposCommands = doc
                        .image(logo, escpos.BitmapDensity.D24)
                        .font(escpos.FontFamily.A)
                        .align(escpos.TextAlignment.Center)
                        .style([escpos.FontStyle.Bold])
                        .size(1, 1)
                        .text("This is a BIG text")
                        .font(escpos.FontFamily.B)
                        .size(0, 0)
                        .text("Normal-small text")
                        .linearBarcode('1234567', escpos.Barcode1DType.EAN8, new escpos.Barcode1DOptions(2, 100, true, escpos.BarcodeTextPosition.Below, escpos.BarcodeFont.A))
                        .qrCode('https://mycompany.com', new escpos.BarcodeQROptions(escpos.QRLevel.L, 6))
                        .pdf417('PDF417 data to be encoded here', new escpos.BarcodePDF417Options(3, 3, 0, 0.1, false))
                        .feed(5)
                        .cut()
                        .generateUInt8Array();


                    // create ClientPrintJob
                    var cpj = new JSPM.ClientPrintJob();

                    // Set Printer info
                    var myPrinter = new JSPM.InstalledPrinter($('#printerName').val());
                    cpj.clientPrinter = myPrinter;

                    // Set the ESC/POS commands
                    cpj.binaryPrinterCommands = escposCommands;

                    // Send print job to printer!
                    cpj.sendToClient();

                });
            }
        }
    </script>
</body>
</html>

  • That's it! Run your website and test it.
Try JSPrintManager Online Demo!


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