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Cloud 9 Payments

Kitchen printers and labels

Clover sends each line of an order to a printer or a Kitchen Display based on the labels on the item. Categories are for the register screen; labels are for the kitchen. Get the labels right and every ticket lands at the right station.

How routing works

  1. Each kitchen printer or display is registered in Setup → Printers (or Kitchen Display) and assigned one or more labels.
  2. Each item carries the labels of every station that makes it. A burger with fries can carry Grill and Fry; both stations get a ticket.
  3. The receipt printer at the counter prints the customer copy regardless of labels.
  4. Items with no label print nowhere in the kitchen. The converter's setup guide lists any it left unlabelled.

A standard station set

  • Grill: burgers, steaks, sandwiches, breakfast.
  • Fry: apps, fries, wings, sides.
  • Sauté: pasta, entrées cooked to order.
  • Pizza: the oven.
  • Cold: salads, cold sandwiches, desserts plated cold.
  • Dessert: pastry station where one exists.
  • Bar: every drink, including soft drinks the bar pours.
  • Expo: an optional full-ticket printer at the pass that sees everything.

Small kitchens collapse these to Kitchen and Bar. Start there and split stations when tickets get crowded.

Setting it up

  1. Add each printer in the dashboard and give it a plain name: "Grill printer", "Bar KDS".
  2. Create the labels (Inventory → Labels) or import them with your menu; the converter writes them onto every item.
  3. Assign labels to printers: open each printer and tick the labels it should receive.
  4. On a register, ring one item per station and confirm each ticket prints where expected, then void the order.

Common problems

  • Ticket prints at the counter, not the kitchen: the item has no label, or the kitchen printer has no labels assigned.
  • Everything prints everywhere: a printer has every label ticked. Usually the Expo printer, on purpose; anywhere else, untick.
  • Modifiers missing on the ticket: modifiers always print with their item; if they are missing the item itself did not route. Check the label.
  • Printer offline: power and network first; a printer on Wi-Fi that drops is the usual cause, and a wired connection fixes it.