When to use printing filters
Use prep station print filters to control which tickets print at which printer — by table or area, and by product or tag. This is useful if you have multiple prep stations or printers and want to route tickets to the right place automatically.
Printing filters are useful when:
You want an overview ticket plus station-specific tickets. For example, print a complete overview ticket at the pass with all products, and a filtered ticket at the cold kitchen station showing only salads and sandwiches.
One prep station needs visibility into another station's items. For example, the hot station needs to see what the cold station is working on, but the cold station doesn't need to see the hot station's items.
You want tickets to print at the printer physically closest to a table or area. For example, a venue with the same products available at multiple bars spread across a large space.
Set up a filter
Go to Printer Selection and scroll down to Printer Jobs.
Select the Prep station job.
Click the settings wheel next to it.
Configure the Table and area filter and/or Product filter as described below.
Table and area filter
The table and area filter controls which tables or areas a prep station prints tickets for.
Off — print prep tickets for all tables.
Include — only print prep tickets for the selected tables or areas.
Exclude — print prep tickets for all tables, except the selected tables or areas.
Example (Include): a restaurant has an outside terrace bar and an inside bar. The terrace bar serves all tables in the terrace area, and the inside bar serves all tables in the inside area. Set the table and area filter to Include on each bar's prep station, and select the matching area. Only products for tables in that area print at the correct printer. This also works well if you have multiple printers behind one bar or in the kitchen and want orders routed by area.
Example (Exclude): the same restaurant has a private dining room served by a dedicated server, so it should never receive automatic bar prints. Set the table and area filter to Exclude on the bar prep station and select the private dining room. All other areas print as normal at the bar, but tickets for the private dining room are skipped.
Product filter
The product filter controls which products or tags a prep station prints.
Off — print all products on a prep ticket.
Include — only print products that match the selected products or tags.
Exclude — print all products, except those matching the selected products or tags.
Example (Include): a "dessert including coffee" item should print at both the kitchen and the bar. Assign the product (or its tag) to the printer job on both the kitchen prep station and the bar prep station, with the product filter set to Include. The item then prints on both printers whenever it's ordered.
Example (Exclude): the kitchen prep station normally prints every food item, but bar snacks like nuts or olives are handled directly at the bar and don't need to clutter the kitchen ticket. Set the product filter to Exclude on the kitchen prep station and select the "bar snacks" tag. Everything else on the food menu still prints at the kitchen, but bar snacks are left off.
Other print options
You can also choose whether a prep station prints:
Table change tickets
Sale note change tickets
Course firing tickets