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Omnilinker decides where each print job goes when the job is created, and records why. This page explains that decision, the settings that make shipping labels print by themselves, and what a station does when its printer stops. Changing these settings needs the Manage printers permission; see Permissions.

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Where a job prints

Omnilinker uses the first rule that applies. The rule is shown on the job as Why there; see Open a job. Rules 2 to 4 skip a station that has been removed. Rule 1 does not: printing to a station you may not use, or to a printer that cannot print the document, is refused. The one exception is Print when it arrives: when the station chosen then can no longer print the label, it goes the usual way instead and the job’s history says “The station asked for could not print it; sent the usual way”. A job redirected because its printer stopped shows Redirected because the printer stopped; see When a printer stops.

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Which printer at the station

At the chosen station, the job goes to the printer that prints its kind of document, as set under What prints here; see Printers.
  • If no printer at the station has that kind and the station has exactly one real printer, that printer prints it.
  • Otherwise the job waits On hold: “No printer at this station prints this kind of document yet. Choose one in the station’s printer settings.” It prints by itself once you give a printer that kind.
  • The printer’s Format must be one the document has. A label from a carrier that sends only PDF cannot go to a printer set to ZPL: the job waits On hold with “This printer can’t print this document.” Set that printer to PDF, or print the job somewhere else.

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Shipping labels that print by themselves

When you create a shipment through a courier, Omnilinker stores on the shipment the station your computer prints to. When the carrier sends the label, Omnilinker decides whether to print it straight away:
1

Someone asked to print it when it arrives

If someone clicked Print when it arrives on the shipment, the label prints where they asked, as their job, and nothing else prints it. See Print a label that has not arrived yet.
2

Otherwise, the station decides

The station the shipment was created at is asked, through its Print labels automatically setting:
  • Always: the label prints.
  • Never: the label does not print by itself.
  • As the location decides (the default): the station’s location decides with its own Print labels automatically setting, which is on unless someone turns it off. A station with no location prints labels automatically.
3

The label prints

The label goes to the station the shipment was created at, or, if that station has been removed since, to its location’s default station. With neither, it waits as Unassigned. The job’s Requested column shows Automatic.
A shipment created with no station chosen, for example with No station in the top bar, does not print by itself; print its label by hand. Nothing prints by itself when printing is switched off for your organization. Each version of a label prints automatically at most once, even if the carrier’s label is processed again. Printing a label by hand always prints another copy. The shipment details say “Labels at … print automatically” when your station prints labels by itself. Change opens Devices > Stations.

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Set automatic printing

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For a station

Open Devices > Stations, click the station’s gear, and choose under Print labels automatically:
  • As the location decides. The hint says what that means right now, for example “As Warehouse A decides (now: automatically)” or “As the location decides (no location: automatically)”.
  • Always
  • Never
“When a shipment made at … gets its label, print it here without asking.” Click Save changes. You also answer this question when you add a station.

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For a location

Open Devices > Stations > Locations, edit the location, and set:
  • Print labels automatically: “Stations here print a shipment’s label as soon as it’s ready. A station can override this.” On for a new location.
  • Default station: “Labels made here with no station print at this one.” It is used when the station a shipment was created at has been removed. Choose None for no default.
Click Save location. On the Stations page, each location and station shows whether its labels print automatically, and the default station carries “The default station for this location: labels without a station print here.”

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When a printer stops

When a printer runs out of paper, has its cover open or is unplugged, its jobs wait On hold and print by themselves when it is ready again. The Station app tells the people at the desk; see When a printer stops. To keep labels flowing instead, send them to another station. Open the station’s settings and choose under When a printer stops:
  • Hold the labels until it’s back (the default).
  • Send them to another station.
Each job is sent on only once: if the other station’s printer has stopped too, the job waits there. If the other station has been removed, the job waits at its own station. This applies to a stopped printer, not to a station that is offline or paused: jobs for such a station wait until it is back. See When a station is offline, paused or removed.