TMF Logo Uploader - Uploading a Logo to your EPOS Printer

Experience level required: Intermediate – Advanced.

If you have Epson TM88-TIII, TM88-TIV or TM88-TV Thermal Printers as part of your EPOS setup, you can upload a graphic (such as a company logo) to be printed at the top of each receipt. An individually created graphic lends an air of professionalism to your till receipts and can give consistency and continuity with your other documents (you can use your house font to style the address as well, if you want). And, given a little judicious juggling and resizing to keep the thing to reasonable dimensions, it doesn’t have to use any more paper than the standard printout.

The graphic is loaded directly into the flash RAM of the printer itself, so you can have different logos in the Bar and Restaurant areas, and the option to display the address header is definable on a station by station basis in Banquet, so you could have a logo on Restaurant bills but not on Bar bills, etc.

To follow the instructions in this factsheet, you should be familiar with using Windows Explorer, and have a basic knowledge of Microsoft’s bundled Accessories such as Wordpad and Paint.

Creating a Logo

To begin at the beginning, you need to have a logo to upload to your printer.

You may create the logo in any application that you are familiar with, but the finished product must be saved as a monochrome (black and white) bitmap of between 400 and 500 pixels in width.

One of the simplest ways to create such a bitmap is by using Microsoft Paint and Wordpad. These little utilities come bundled with Windows (so they will be available on pretty much every PC), require very little in the way of system resources to run, and produce perfectly adequate results with little or no previous experience.

Loading your image

Select the image that you wish to use in your logo by browsing to it in Windows Explorer. Right-click it and select the option to Open With… .
Select Paint. The image will open in Microsoft Paint. You may stretch or shrink the image by clicking on Image and selecting Stretch/Skew… (CtrlW), aiming for a final image width of around 400 pixels (though, to save paper, you may want to make this narrower if your image is in portrait format). The 80mm till roll used with the printers is about 500 pixels wide, so you should not exceed this limit. Remember that this must be saved as a Monochrome Bitmap. The example to the right shows our logo, together with the image attributes (click Image and select Attributes). We’ve left space at the bottom of the logo to insert the address block later.

Adding Address Details

You could choose to print just the image at the top of the bill, keeping the "Header on Bills" option ticked in Banquet Setup, so that the rest of the address is printed in the printer font (simpler); or else you could incorporate the address details into the logo, allowing you to select a font of your choice – perhaps the same one that you use for your menus or brochures (classier).

If you choose the latter option, you can use one of the following methods to add these details to the bottom of your image:

Method 1: Using Wordpad

Open a copy of Wordpad (Start > Programs > Accessories > Wordpad).
Type your address details as you want them to appear on the bill slip. These could include your address, telephone/fax number, website/email address, etc. As you will be turning off the automatic Print Header option in Banquet, you might want to add your VAT details if you want these to print on the bill – although you could add this at the foot of the bill as part of the customisable bill text in Banquet Back Office from version 6.10 and above (in Setup > Site Setup). You might want to run some of the lines of the address block together to reduce vertical space and thereby save till roll.
Use Wordpad to format the font and align the text (centred probably looks best). A point size of between 16 and 20pt text is probably about right, and you should avoid ornate or flowery fonts if possible, as these do not reproduce well when shrunk down and reduced to plain black and white. Make sure that there is a margin of white space around the address block, and that the cursor is not flashing next to the text (press <Enter> a couple of times), before moving onto the next step.
When you are happy with the layout of your address block, press the <PrtSc> (Print Screen) key to capture an image of the screen onto the clipboard.
Next, open a second copy of Microsoft Paint (Start > Programs > Accessories > Paint). In the menu bar, click Edit and select Paste to copy the screen capture of Wordpad into Paint. Use the Select tool to select the address block, and press <Ctrl><C> or click Edit and select Copy.
Now return to the first instance of Paint (containing the original image) and press <Ctrl><V> (or click Edit and select Paste) to copy the address details into this image. The address block will be pasted into the top left-hand corner of the original image; use the mouse to drag it to the desired position. If there is not enough space at the bottom of the logo for the address details, you may increase the vertical height of the image by clicking on Image in the menu bar, selecting Attributes, and increasing the value in the Height box to the required size. You can also size the image with the mouse by clicking on one of the black dots on the bottom edge of the image – the cursor will change to a double-headed arrow and you can drag the edge up or down as required.

Method 2: Using a Text Box in Paint

Alternatively, you could simply insert a Text Box in Paint and type the details in there. This will usually give you a better print quality than pasting in a screenshot, though you cannot centre text in a Text Box in Paint, so you will probably have to fiddle around cutting and pasting with individual lines in order to get them aligned how you would like them.

Whichever method you choose to use, try to avoid leaving too much blank space at the bottom of the logo, as this will result in a large gap between the logo and the items on the bill when it is printed – a space equivalent to one line of text is about right.

Saving the Logo File

When you are happy with the completed logo, save it into a location on the network where it can be accessed easily from the tills, e.g. \\SERVER\Avon Data Systems\Banquet\ – not only will the file be easy to locate, but it will also be backed up as part of the standard backup procedure.

Remember that your image must be saved as a monochrome bitmap (.BMP). Although the TMF Logo Upload software can open 16- colour bitmaps, your thermal printer can only print in black and white (monochrome), so you should save your logo in this format to get an accurate idea of how the final print-out will look. A 16-colour, grey-scale bitmap might look nicer, but will be rendered in just plain black and white when it prints out at the top of the bill.

If converting an image to simple black and white makes it difficult to read, you could try using a third party utility (e.g. Photoshop, Irfanview, FastStone) to increase the contrast and/or adjust the brightness of the original before converting it. You might also try using one of these utilities to convert the file; use a “dither” option to improve the results of the conversion (the figure below uses dithering to achieve the greyscale effect on the cogs).

Finally, once the file has been saved as a monochrome bitmap, it is always worth opening it again in Paint and using the Zoom feature (Image > Zoom > Large Size, or <Ctrl><PgDn>) to view the image in close detail – a few moments spent fine-tuning it, using the “Pencil” tool to touch up the image or text, pixel by pixel, will result in a far clearer printed image.

The figure to the right uses the Avon Data logo with our address details printed underneath using Trebuchet MS 18pt. The various shades of grey are produced by “dithering” the image (changing the block colour to small black dots of varying density, in much the same way as a newspaper image is produced) using Irfanview. Note that, although the image looks as though it contains shades of gray, it is in fact still a monochrome bitmap.

Note: the image has been resized to fit this document.

If you are using the text box approach for inputting address details, you will find the following fonts easiest to work with, as they require the bare minimum of tweaking to look right on the final receipt:

Arial 16/18pt

Calibri 18pt

Century Gothic 18pt

Tahoma 16pt

Trebuchet 18pt

Verdana 16/18pt

Downloading the Logo Uploader Program Installation File

If Banquet was set up for you by Avon Data, the chances are that the TMF software will have been installed as part of the initial configuration. Try searching for TMFLogo.exe; if it’s there, you may skip this section.

If not, you may download the latest installation file for the Logo Uploader software, together with a fully comprehensive manual, directly from the Epson website:

https://download.epson-biz.com/modules/pos/index.php?p age=single_soft&cid=2346&scat=44&pcat=3

Alternatively, you can contact the Avon Data Systems helpdesk for a copy of the software and assistance with downloading it.

If you are installing the software yourself, it is probably a good idea to copy or unzip the installation file onto the server where it is easily accessible from all terminals (e.g. \\SERVER\Avon Data Systems\Banquet).

Installing the TMF Logo Software Program

You may install the software either on each till individually, or to a central location on the Server. If all your tills are running on the same Operating System (e.g. Windows 7 Professional), then it is probably simplest to install the software to a central location (e.g. \\SERVER\Avon Data Systems\Banquet\TMFLogo). To do this, follow the steps below:

Browse to where you saved the downloaded TMFLOGO Installer file. Double-click it to start the installation. A message box (pictured right) will be displayed. Click Next to continue.
2. The Software License Agreement will be displayed. Click I Agree to continue.
3. The Installation Folder dialog box will be displayed. By default, the Install Folder is set to C:\Program Files (x86)\EPSON\TMFLOGO\Ver260. Click Change to select an alternative location.
4. In this case, the software is being installed onto the server, so we have browsed to the C:\Avon Data Systems\Banquet folder and then typed in the name of the folder we would like to install into (TMFLogo). Click OK and then Next.
5. The Port Selection screen will load. If it’s not already ticked, select Serial Port and click Next.
6. Finally, click Install to install the program.

Uploading the Logo to the Printer

As mentioned earlier, logos are uploaded to each printer independently; this means that you can choose different logos for different locations, or choose to have a logo in the Restaurant but not in the bar, etc.

It does, however, also mean that you have to repeat the procedure for every station where you want a logo to print – but don’t worry, the procedure is fairly straightforward, and can be done from each touch screen in turn, and without the need to plug a keyboard in or restart the tills.

To upload the logo to the printer:

1. Close Banquet and either double-click My Computer or go to Start > Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer and browse to the location where the TMF Logo Uploader program (TMFLogo.exe, icon pictured right) has been installed. Double-click it (with your fingertip or some smaller, soft-tipped implement if you need greater accuracy) to run it.
2. The first screen to load will be the Setup screen. Select the appropriate printer from the drop down list under the Device Name heading. Sites that have had Banquet installed by Avon Data Systems will most likely use TM-T88III, as shown in the screen shot to the right, TM-T88IV, or TM-T88V printers. (TM-T88V printers use the TM-T88IV driver). Check the Port Settings and click the Comm. Test button to confirm that these are correct. The most likely settings are as shown (9600, 8, NONE, 1, DTR/DSR) – though note that the COM Port may vary. If all the settings are correct, you will receive a confirmation message; if not you will receive a “Communication error” message.
If you need to check the Port Settings, you can look these up in the Banquet Setup program: click Setup > Station Setup > Edit, select the relevant station and then click Local in the Printers section to display the printer settings for that station. You can also find out the actual printer settings by performing a self-test on the printer. To do this, turn the printer off. Then, holding the Feed button down, turn the printer on again. The resulting printout lists the printer settings, although you will still need to check the COM port number. Turn the printer off and on again to reset it. If you are unable to communicate with the printer, check the following: Check that Banquet is not still running (if it is, then the printer’s COM port will be locked open). Check that the On Screen Keyboard is not open; In some version of Windows, this holds COM1 open. Try a different COM port.
3. Next, click the Bitmap Selection tab. Click Open file... and browse to your saved bitmap, e.g. F:\Banquet\System\Logo.bmp. Double-click it to load it. If you load more than one file by mistake, highlight the unwanted file and click Remove to remove the file from the list.
4. Next, click the Preview tab. Click the file name to preview the file. The height of the image can obviously be whatever you want it to be, but the width should be between a third and a half of the width of the display window if the logo is to present neatly on the Bill Header. Click the Double Height&Width button to get a clearer view of your logo – it should fit within the view window. Checking this button will not affect the size of the logo which is uploaded to your printer.
5. When you are happy with the preview, click the Logo Upload tab. Click Device to send the logo to the Printer. You will receive a prompt: “All Logo files are written in the NV bit image area of the device. Continue it?”. Click Yes to upload your file. You may have to wait a few moments (usually about 45 seconds, and during which time the progress indicator will appear not to move) for the logo to upload. When it is completed you will hear the printer make a click, and the red error LED on the printer’s control panel will flash once. The program will prompt you with a message telling you that the logo has been uploaded.
6. Click the Logo Printout tab. Click Print to print a test print. The printer can store up to 255 logos, so once the printer has printed the first logo, you can safely hit cancel if you don't want to wait whilst it hunts for any other uploaded files.

For more details on any aspect of the program, press F1 anywhere in the program to access a help screen giving extra information relating to the various settings on that particular tab.

Configuring Banquet to Print the Logo

All that remains to be done is to copy the updated print driver file into your \Banquet\System folder, and then select this print driver in Banquet Setup for each station in turn. You may also want to turn off the printing of the Bill Header.

To do this:

Open the Banquet Setup program. Click Setup and select Station Setup > Edit. Click the station to be edited.
If you want to prevent the program from printing your address details underneath your logo (i.e. because you have already included them as part of the logo) then ensure that the Header on Bill box is unticked.
Click the Local printer button to load the Local Printer settings screen. Select the TM-T88III print driver from the drop down list under the Printer Driver heading. Check the other port settings are correct; the figure to the right illustrates the default settings for most installations.

Fine Tuning the Bill Header Layout

Finally, load up Banquet EPOS on the terminal and try a couple of test prints using the Pre Bill option (the first attempt test print may contain random characters, and will probably print too far to the left).

If the alignment isn't quite right, you can edit the TM-T88III.DRV file. To do this:

Use Windows Explorer to browse to your \Banquet\System folder and locate the TM-T88III.DRV file. Open this file in Notepad (if it does not default to Notepad, right-click it, select Open With, click Choose Program and select Notepad).

The file will open in Notepad and you will see something like the following:

10 :Line Feed Character27,33,51 :Double Height On27,33,1 :Double Height Off :Condensed On :Condensed Off :Red Printing :Black Printing27,109 :Cutter or Paper Release :Form Feed :Transactions Per Page27,64 :Printer Reset9 :Advance Paper X Lines :Set Paper Margins "Top Left" :Prompt For Paper27,112,0,50,200 :Open Cash Draw28,112,1,0 :Print Bit Image30 :Bit Image Margin

The image offset is dictated by the figure on the last line, annotated “Bit Image Margin”. To move the image to the right, increase this value; to move it to the left, decrease it.

Note that this is a global change, and so will affect all printers on the system which use this print driver.

If you are using different logos for different stations and need different offset margins because the logos are of different sizes, then there are two work-arounds:

Copy the TM-T88III.DRV file and rename the copy (e.g. TM-T88IIIa.DRV). Edit the offset in this file and pick up this file for use by the relevant station in Banquet Setup.

An even simpler solution is to make all the bitmaps the same width and use the Select tool in Paint to drag the finished logo to the middle of the bitmap; as a really useful rule of thumb, a finished bitmap that is 460 pixels wide, with the logo positioned horizontally central in this space, will print out in the middle of the receipt if the offset in the TM-T88III.DRV file is left at the default value of 30.

Deleting the Logo

As mentioned earlier, the logo is stored in the NVRAM (Non-Volatile Random Access Memory) of the printer itself so, ideally, there should be a facility in the TMF Logo Uploader software to reset the NVRAM. There isn’t, and I have been unable to find any utility which will do this.

The best advice that Epson can give regarding removing a logo is to run the TMF Logo Uploader and upload a blank bitmap of 1 pixel by 1 pixel size.