Printer Assignment

Monitor printer availability, assign equipment to orders, log maintenance events, and manage your print shop's production capacity.

Prerequisites

• An active Operator or Owner account in DTFPro
• Logged into the admin panel
• Printers registered by the print shop owner under Equipment

Viewing Available Printers

1. Access the Printer List

Printers can be checked in two ways:

• Equipment menu — access the Equipment menu to see the full list of printers with detailed status
• Print Queue — when creating a print job or assigning a printer to an order, the list of available printers appears automatically

The list shows each printer with:

• Name — machine identifier (e.g., "Roland BN-20", "Epson SC-F6300")
• Type — printing technology (DTF, Sublimation, UV, etc.)
• Status — available, in production, or under maintenance
• Assigned jobs — number of pending jobs on that printer

2. Understanding Printer Statuses

Status	Meaning	Can receive new jobs?
Available	Ready to use	Yes
In Production	Currently printing	Yes (enters the queue)
Under Maintenance	Out of service	No

Printers with Under Maintenance status do not appear in the selection lists when creating print jobs.

Assigning a Printer to an Order

3. Assign When Advancing to In Production

When an order advances to In Production, you can assign a printer directly:

1. In the Print Queue, find the order in the Paid column
2. Click the → In Production button or drag the card to the In Production column
3. A window may prompt you to select the responsible printer
4. Choose the printer from the list of available ones and confirm

4. Assign via Order Details

To assign or change the printer for an order already in production:

1. Open the order details (from the Orders list or Print Queue)
2. Find the Printer field in the production section
3. Click the field to open the list of available printers
4. Select the desired printer
5. The assignment is saved automatically

5. Criteria for Choosing a Printer

When selecting a printer, consider:

Criterion	Description
Service type	DTF, sublimation, UV — each machine has its specialty
Maximum width	The artwork must fit within the machine's print width
Current load	Number of jobs already assigned to that machine
Availability	Printers under maintenance are not in the list

6. Changing the Assigned Printer

If you need to switch the printer for an order (e.g., the machine went under maintenance):

1. Open the order details
2. Click the currently assigned printer
3. Select the new printer from the list
4. The change is saved immediately

Managing Printer Availability

7. Toggle Availability (Enable/Disable)

To quickly mark a printer as available or unavailable:

1. Access Equipment in the menu
2. Find the printer in the list
3. Click the toggle button (Enable / Disable) next to the printer
4. The status updates immediately

Use this when a machine needs a temporary pause (e.g., head cleaning, roll change) without opening a formal maintenance record.

8. Logging a Maintenance Event

For more serious situations (repair, part replacement, technical service), log a maintenance note:

1. Access Equipment in the menu
2. Click the printer that needs maintenance
3. Click Add Maintenance Note
4. Fill in:
   • Description — what was done or the issue found (e.g., "Print head replacement", "Color calibration")
   • Date — when the maintenance occurred
5. Save the note

The note is stored in the printer's history for future reference — useful for tracking maintenance frequency and planning spare parts.

Tip

When logging maintenance, also toggle the availability to Unavailable if the machine will be out of service. This prevents new jobs from being assigned to it while it is being repaired.

Tips

• Distribute jobs across printers to avoid overloading a single machine and to balance wear
• Reassign jobs when a printer goes under maintenance — open each affected order and switch to another available machine
• The job ticket includes the assigned printer — print it to physically track the work on the production line
• Monitor each printer's load by checking the number of assigned jobs before adding new work

Common Issues

"No printers appear in the list when creating a job"

Verify that there are printers registered with Available status. Printer registration is done by the print shop owner under Equipment. Ask the owner to register or reactivate the printers.

"The right printer is not available"

It may have Under Maintenance status. Ask the owner to update the status once the equipment is operational, or use another available printer in the meantime.

"I assigned the wrong printer to an order"

You can change the printer at any time while the order is in production. Open the order details and select another available printer.

"I want to see the maintenance history of a printer"

Access Equipment, click the desired printer, and scroll to the Maintenance History section. All logged notes appear with date and description.

"How do I know how many jobs are on each printer?"

In the Equipment list or using the Print Queue filter, you can see how many orders are assigned to each machine. Use the printer filter in the Print Queue to view only the jobs for that machine.