# Receipt Layout & Kitchen Tickets

Once your printer is connected — see [Receipt Printer Setup](/receipt-printer-setup) — you control what actually prints. Everything here is under **Settings → Printer**, and needs Manager access or above.

## Two different documents

A **customer receipt** and a **kitchen ticket** are not the same document at different sizes. They're for different readers:

- The **customer receipt** is a record of a transaction — prices, totals, payment.
- The **kitchen ticket** is instructions — what to make, for whom, by when. Prices are noise.

ForkLine keeps these separate, so you can make kitchen tickets huge and readable across a hot line without printing giant customer receipts.

## Kitchen copies

**Kitchen copies per order** (0–5) sets how many automatic kitchen copies print for each order.

- **0** — no kitchen paper at all. Correct if your kitchen works purely from the [kitchen display](/kitchen-display).
- **1** — the usual setup.
- **2+** — for kitchens where the line and the pass each need one.

This counts the *kitchen's* copies only. The customer's own copy, dine-in bills, and staff reprints are separate and always single.

## Formatting

Adjust how receipts look:

- **Font size** — a plain multiple from 1 to 6. The ceiling is the printer's, not a ForkLine limit.
- **Alignment** — left, center, or right, and you can set the header, item lines, and detail lines independently. A centered header over left-aligned items is the usual arrangement.
- **Bold header** and **bold item names** — the two that matter most for legibility.

Item names can be bold while their modifiers and notes underneath stay normal, which is what makes a ticket scannable.

## Kitchen receipt layout

Turn on **kitchen receipt layout** to give kitchen tickets their own settings, independent of customer receipts. Until you do, kitchen copies print exactly like the customer's receipt — so nothing changes until you opt in.

With it on, **each field** has its own controls: whether it prints at all, and its size, boldness, and alignment.

Available fields include: store name, address, order number, order type, placed-at time, printed-at time, payment status, customer name, customer phone, items, item details, subtotal, tax, and total.

**Three fields are kitchen-specific** and default **on** for kitchen tickets and **off** for customer receipts:

- **Order type** — `TYPE: PHONE ORDER - PICKUP`, which is where the order came from crossed with where the food goes. A cook needs to know a phone order is waiting for a callback in a way they don't for a walk-in.
- **Placed at** — when the order came in.
- **Printed at** — when this piece of paper was produced. On a reprint, that's the reprint time, which is the number the pass actually wants.

**Item prices** can be dropped from the item line without removing the item — usually right for a kitchen ticket.

**Served by** prints the cashier's name from [register accounts](/register-accounts). It's off by default in both layouts, and prints nothing when an order has no cashier — an online order has no one to name, and `Served by:` over a blank line is worse than no line.

### Reordering fields

The print order is drag-and-drop. Drag a field to move it; the handle also takes arrow keys, so it's settable without a mouse.

Modifiers always print directly under their item — they have nowhere else to sensibly go.

## Previewing

The settings card shows a live preview built by the same code that produces real paper, so it can't drift from what prints.

For a physical check, use **test print**. Two variants:

- **Receipt** — a setup slip confirming the printer works and echoing your settings.
- **Kitchen** — a realistic sample ticket through your actual kitchen layout, so you can compare before trimming fields.

The kitchen test looks like a real ticket on purpose — with a banner top and bottom and an order number reading `TEST` so nobody cooks it. Neither variant triggers print-failure alerts.

**Test on your real printer before a real order depends on it.** A layout that looks right on screen can be too wide or too small on paper.

## Reprinting

From [Managing Orders](/orders), open an order and choose **Reprint**. Pick the customer receipt, the kitchen copy, or both, and a quantity.

## Practical advice

**Make kitchen tickets bigger than feels necessary.** They're read at arm's length, quickly, sometimes through steam.

**Print the order type** if you take phone orders. Confusing a phone order for a walk-in means food sitting under a heat lamp.

**Turn off prices on kitchen tickets.** Nobody cooking needs them, and removing them leaves room for what matters.

**If you print two copies, check both come out.** See [Receipt Printer Setup](/receipt-printer-setup) → *Troubleshooting*.

## Where to go next

- [Receipt Printer Setup](/receipt-printer-setup) — connecting the hardware
- [Cash Drawer](/cash-drawer)
- [Kitchen Display](/kitchen-display) — the paperless alternative