Labeling your products is crucial for any business, and the inFlow Portable Printer makes it effortless! Print barcodes to organize your inventory on the go, free from the limitations of a single printer location. Enhance your operations with convenience today!

What’s included?

In the package, you’ll receive:

• Portable Printer
• Label spool
• USB-C charging cable
• AC charger
• Sample printing labels 3” x 1” (76mm x 25mm) labels

Compatible labels

The portable printer supports label sizes of 3″ x 1″ (76 mm x 25 mm), ensuring high-quality printing for your needs. Feel free to explore even taller labels for your products. 

Printer setup

1. To open the paper cover, press the [Cover Open] button. 
2. Assemble the spool (as seen in the image below)
3. Add the labels to the spool. The labels should unroll from the bottom. 
4. Place the spool in the printer.
5. Once the paper is in place, close the cover. Then, press and hold the [Feed] button until the printer begins to feed the paper. When the feeding stops, tear off any excess paper.

Now you’re ready to install the printer driver to start printing labels!

Before installing the Portable Printer driver

Take a moment to review the list below to confirm you’re all set to set up label printing with inFlow.

Which computer should you use? 

When deciding which computer to install the portable printer driver on, make sure that the computer meets the following criteria: 

• Operating systems: Windows or macOS.
• A computer with a reliable internet connection.

System requirements

• Windows 10 and higher.
• macOS 14+, Intel or Apple Silicon.

Installing the printer driver (Windows)

To start, you’ll need to download and install a driver on a Windows computer to set up the printer:

1. Download the inFlow Portable Printer driver file.
2. Once downloaded, double-click on inFlow Printer Setup.exe.
3. If prompted Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device select Yes.
4. Continue the setup process:
   • Plug in the printer when prompted and ensure it is powered on. For best results, use a USB-C to USB-A cable.
   • Select your connection type: Choose a wired or wireless connection for your printer.
   • Your printer will print your internet connection details during this stage.
   • Optionally, click Test printout to view a sample printed label.

5. When done, click Close.
6. Disconnect the printer from your computer if you selected the wireless option.
7. To print labels in inFlow, be sure to also install and run the inFlow Print Helper (IPH), which enables printing labels using inFlow’s Label Designer.

Congratulations! Now you can print labels from any computer or mobile device when the IPH is running!

inFlow Print Helper download files

Select the appropriate inFlow Print Helper installation file for your operating system to print labels using inFlow’s Label Designer.

• Windows IPH
• Mac IPH

Installing the printer driver (Mac)

1. Download the inFlow Portable Printer driver file.
2. Once downloaded, double-click the inFlow Portable Printer Installer file.
3. You may get a warning that the inFlow Portable Printer Installer was downloaded from the internet. Click the Open button to continue.
4. Continue the setup process:
   • Plug in the printer when prompted and ensure it is powered on. For best results, use a USB-C to USB-A cable.
   • Select your connection type: Choose a wired or wireless connection for your printer.
   • You’ll be prompted for additional administrator access to continue the installation. Enter your macOS password to proceed.
   • When the setup is complete, the printer will print a test label. You can print additional test labels by selecting Print Test Page.

5. When done, click Finish.
6. Disconnect the printer from your computer if you selected the wireless option.
7. To print labels in inFlow, be sure to also install and run the inFlow Print Helper (IPH), which enables printing labels using inFlow’s Label Designer.

Congratulations! Now you can print labels from any computer or mobile device when the IPH is running!

inFlow Print Helper download files

Select the appropriate inFlow Print Helper installation file for your operating system to print labels using inFlow’s Label Designer.

• Windows IPH
• Mac IPH

Connecting multiple Portable Printers

Do you need to use more than one printer? You can connect multiple printers to the same computer or network by following these steps:

1. To add each new printer, rerun the inFlow Portable Printer driver.
2. During installation, assign a unique name to each printer, such as “Warehouse Printer 1” or “Receiving Station Printer.” This makes it easier to select the correct printer when printing labels.

Once everything is set up, all printers will be listed in your inFlow print options, allowing you to direct labels to the appropriate printer based on your workflow.

Consider this setup if you have multiple workstations or need to print various types of labels from different locations.

Printing labels from inFlow

Now you’re ready to print the labels made from inFlow’s Label Designer from anywhere, without being tied to a specific printer location. Print labels as you go, using any computer, Smart Scanner, or mobile device.

You can easily print labels from various areas in inFlow! Ensure that the InFlow Print Helper (IPH) is installed and running, and you’re all set!

Refer to the lists below to determine which inFlow areas you can print labels from per device.

inFlow for Web (Windows or Mac)

• inFlow Designer
• Product records
• Purchase orders
• Sales orders
• Manufacture orders 

inFlow for Windows

• Product records
• Current Stock
• Manufacture orders 
• Purchase orders

inFlow for Mobile

• Purchase orders
• Product records

inFlow Print Helper download files

Select the appropriate inFlow Print Helper installation file for your operating system to print labels using inFlow’s Label Designer.

• Windows IPH
• Mac IPH

Quick Guide document

The printer comes with a Quick Guide. If you’d like to take another look, simply check out the image and download the link below.

Appearance 

Install the print paper

1. Press the [Cover Open Button] to open the paper compartment cover. (as shown in Figure 1)
2. Place the print paper into the paper cabin, with the printing side facing down. (as shown in Figure 2)
3. Close the cover and tear off the excess paper. (as shown in Figure 3)

Performance specifications

Basic functions introduction

Boot/Power-on

1. Press and hold the Power button for at least two seconds; the power indicator will brighten, and the printer will play the boot-up tone. 
2. Next, release the [Power Button]. The printer will enter the Ready mode, and the battery indicator light will show the battery power.

Shutdown

1. With the printer powered on, press and hold the power button for at least two seconds.
2. The printer will play the shutdown tone, and the power indicator will turn off.
3. Release the power button.

Paper feed

Continuous paper:

1. In the powered-on state, press the [Feed Button].
2. The printer will start to feed paper.
3. Release the [Feed Button] to stop the paper feed.

Black mark and gap paper:

1. In the powered-on state, press the [Feed Button] for more than 1 second, the printer starts to feed the paper and stops at the position of the black mark/gap.
2. If continuous paper is installed in the printer, which will automatically stop after feeding 26cm, the printer will prompt an error. This error can be cleared by opening and closing the paper compartment cover again.

Self-test

• When powered off, press and hold down [Feed Key].
• Then, press the [Power Button] until the printer is powered on; it will then play the boot/power-on tone.
• Release the [Power Button] and [Feed Key], and the printer configuration will print.

Indicator

Battery charging indicator

• Green light: Charging completed.
• Red light: Battery charging.
• Green and red Light: Charging Error. Please check the battery and ensure the battery temperature is normal.
• Green light flashing: Low battery.

Power error indicator

• Green light: In ready mode.
• Red light on: Out of paper
• Red light flashing: Printer error.
• Detection checks from S310 specifications.

Troubleshooting

Labels are printing between the label gaps

If the label prints in the gaps, refer to the suggestions below to resolve this issue.

• Double-check that the label size you’re printing matches the physical size of the label paper. The default label size for this printer is 3″ x 1″ (72 mm x 25mm) labels.
• Press and hold the feed button to set the starting point for the next label to print.

Labels are cut off on the left or right side

If your labels are getting cut off while printing, take a moment to check the printing settings on the computer where the inFlow Portable Printer driver is installed.

1. On your computer, search for Printer & scanners.
2. Select Printer preferences, then Label settings.
3. In the Offset section, adjust the measurements, then print a test label. Adjust the offset setting until the labels print correctly.

I’m unable to reconnect to the Wi-Fi network I was previously using

When installing the printer driver for wireless use, you entered your network details. If you no longer have access to that network, you can reinstall the printer driver to connect to a new network. Follow the steps below for guidance.

1. On your computer, search for Printers & scanners > Remove printer.
2. On the Printers & scanners screen, select Print Server Properties > Driver tab > Find printer > Remove driver and driver package. (If unable to, restart your computer, then repeat this step.)
3. Reinstall the printer driver with your current Wi-Fi connection.

Can I use the same printer on multiple Wi-Fi networks?

Yes, you can use the same printer with multiple wireless networks by reinstalling the printer driver. This will establish a connection between the printer and the desired Wi-Fi network you’re using.

Do the printer and computer have to be on the same Wi-Fi?

Yes, they both need to be on the same network.

If a printer is connected to Wi-Fi, does it still require a computer to be turned on and connected to the inFlow Printer Helper (IPH)?

Yes, the computer with IPH connects inFlow’s label printing features to the printer, whether connected via Wi-Fi or USB.

The post Labeling made easy: go anywhere with the inFlow Portable Printer! appeared first on inFlow Inventory.

Is the barcode scanner working properly outside of inFlow?

To test that your scanner is working fine, it should be able to scan a barcode in another program besides inFlow. Open Notepad on your computer (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad , or just type in “Notepad” to search for the program), then scan a barcode.

If the numbers/characters appear, then the scanner is working fine and you can move on to the next step. If nothing appears, there’s something wrong with your scanner (as it can’t read and output a barcode) and you should consult the manual that came with your scanner to troubleshoot.

Is the scanned barcode identical to the stored barcode?

Try scanning a barcode into notepad. Compare this result to the barcode of the same item in inFlow. Are they the same?

If they’re not, it’s possible that this resulted from importing barcodes into inFlow. It could be that the barcodes imported were missing some leading zeroes or were rounded by Excel before importing. For example, say a barcode scanned into Notepad is 001145679, but when you manually look up the product to check its imported stored barcode, it’s showing 1145679 instead (missing leading 0s).

To avoid this, we recommend either scanning the barcode directly into the field, or if you must import them, try formatting the barcode column to “text“. You can do this by right-clicking on the column > Format Cells. Another way to get around this also is to have barcodes with “-” separators, but that depends on your barcode generating software.

Is the barcode scanner programmed to press Enter for you automatically?

If you checked step 2 above and your barcodes are matching, another thing that could be affecting this is if your barcode scanner isn’t programmed to automatically send an “ENTER” signal after the barcode. This “ENTER” signal basically presses the “ENTER” key for you and allows the program to complete the search or selection.

To test this, try scanning your barcode into a sales order item field, then manually press the ENTER key yourself. If the cursor moves to the next line and the correct product information appears on the line, then this is the issue. Each scanner has different instructions on how to set this up so you will need to look in the barcode scanner manual. Look for anything that says “Add an ENTER key”, or “Carriage Return” or “Line Feed” .

Above is a screenshot for the Motorola LI 4278 instructions. If you use this specific scanner model, you can download the guide and follow the instructions there to add the ENTER key.

The post Troubleshooting problems with barcodes and barcode scanning appeared first on inFlow Inventory.