How To Print Off An Order Thru WordPress Woocommerce

Printing WooCommerce Orders: A Beginner’s Guide

So, you’ve made your first WooCommerce sale! Congratulations! Now comes the satisfying part: fulfilling the order and getting that product into your customer’s hands. But before you pack and ship, you likely need to print out the order details. This guide walks you through the process of printing WooCommerce orders directly from your WordPress dashboard, even if you’re a complete newbie. We’ll cover the basic method and explore options for more streamlined printing.

Why Print Orders Anyway?

In today’s digital world, why bother printing anything? Good question! Here are a few reasons printing orders can be super helpful:

Packing Slips: A printed order serves as a packing slip. Imagine Sarah ordered a shirt, a mug, and a book from your online store. Having a printed order with those items listed ensures you pack the correct items and quantities in Sarah’s box. Think of it as a checklist for your fulfillment process. Mistakes are costly!
Invoice/Receipt: You can use the printed order as an invoice or receipt to include in the package. This is especially important for business customers or anyone who needs a physical record of their purchase. It gives them confidence and professionalism from your store.
Shipping Label Information: While you’ll typically use a dedicated shipping label plugin (we’ll touch on that later), the printed order Learn more about How To Import Products In Woocommerce WordPress can contain crucial shipping details like the address and contact information, serving as a backup reference.
Physical Record-Keeping: Some businesses prefer to keep physical records for accounting or organizational purposes. A printed copy allows for quick reference and easy filing.

The Simple, Built-In Printing Method

WooCommerce doesn’t have a fancy “Print” button for every order out of the box, but there’s a straightforward way to print the order details using your browser’s built-in functionality. Here’s how:

1. Log into your WordPress Dashboard: Access your WordPress admin area by going to yourwebsite.com/wp-admin (replace “yourwebsite.com” with your actual domain).

2. Navigate to WooCommerce Orders: In the left-hand menu, click on WooCommerce and then select Orders.

3. Open the Order: Find the order you want to print from the list. Click on the order number (e.g., #1234) to open the order details page.

4. Review Order Details: Take a moment to review all the information displayed, including the customer’s shipping address, billing address, ordered items, and payment details. Make sure everything is accurate.

5. Use Your Browser’s Print Function: Now, use your browser’s print function. This is usually accessed in one of the following ways:

Keyboard Shortcut: Press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac).
Browser Menu: Look for a “File” menu in your browser, and then select “Print.” Alternatively, some browsers have a three-dot menu (…) in the top-right corner where you’ll find the “Print” option.

6. Print Preview and Settings: A print preview window will appear. Here, you can adjust the settings to optimize the printout.

Destination: Make sure the correct printer is selected.
Pages: You usually want to print “All” pages.
Layout: “Portrait” is usually best for order details.
Margins: “Default” or “None” often works well, but experiment to see what looks best for you. If you’re printing on letterhead, you might need specific margins.
More Settings: Click “More Settings” to reveal advanced options, such as printing background graphics (which might include your website’s logo).

7. Print! Click the “Print” button to send the order details to your printer.

Important Considerations:

Print Quality: The quality of the printed order will depend on your printer.
Information Included: This method prints *everything* displayed on the order details page in WooCommerce. You can’t selectively choose what to print using this basic method.
Formatting: The formatting may not be ideal. It will print whatever is visible on the screen.

Level Up: WooCommerce Printing Plugins

While the basic method works, it can be cumbersome and may not provide the professional look you desire. That’s where WooCommerce printing plugins come in! These plugins offer more control over what you print and how it’s formatted.

Here are a few popular options:

WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips: Explore this article on How To Set Woocommerce Orders To Autocomplete This is a very popular free plugin that automatically generates and attaches PDF invoices to order confirmation emails. It also allows you to easily download and print invoices and packing slips from the order page.
Print Invoice & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce: Another excellent free option for creating and printing invoices, packing slips, and delivery notes. It’s highly customizable.
WooCommerce Print Order (Premium): For more advanced features, like bulk printing, custom templates, and direct integration with shipping services, you might consider a premium plugin like WooCommerce Print Order.

Example: Using WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips

Let’s look at an example using the free “WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips” plugin:

1. Install and Activate the Plugin: Go to Plugins -> Add New in your WordPress dashboard. Search for “WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips” and install and activate it.

2. Configure the Plugin: After activation, go to WooCommerce -> PDF Invoices. Here, you can customize various settings:

Basic Settings: Enable or disable the automatic generation of invoices.
Templates: Choose a pre-designed template for your invoices and packing slips.
Numbering: Configure the numbering system for your invoices.
Company Details: Enter your company information (logo, address, etc.).

3. Print from the Order Page: Now, when you go to WooCommerce -> Orders and open an order, you’ll see new options:

Download Invoice: Download the invoice as a PDF file.
Download Packing Slip: Download the packing slip as a PDF file.

You can then open the PDF file and print it using Adobe Reader or any other PDF viewer.

Why is this better than the browser print method?

Professional Look: The PDF invoices and packing slips are professionally designed and formatted.
Customization: You can customize the templates to match your brand.
Efficiency: The plugin automates the invoice generation process.
Specific Information: Packing slips focus on what needs to be packed, avoiding extraneous information.

Printing Shipping Labels

While printing order details is essential, you’ll also need to print shipping labels. While you *could* manually enter the address information from the printed order into a shipping carrier’s website, this is time-consuming and prone to errors.

Best Practice: Use a WooCommerce Shipping Label Plugin

Plugins like:

WooCommerce Shipping: A free plugin that integrates with WooCommerce and various shipping carriers.
Shippo: A popular shipping platform that offers a WooCommerce integration.

Check out this post: How To Quickly Add Bulk Upc To Woocommerce Products

ShipStation: Another widely used shipping solution for e-commerce businesses.

These plugins allow you to:

Calculate Shipping Rates: Get real-time shipping rates from different carriers.
Generate Shipping Labels: Create and print shipping labels directly from your WooCommerce dashboard.
Track Shipments: Automatically track shipments and notify customers.

Real-World Example:

Let’s say you’re using the WooCommerce Shipping plugin. After you process an order, the plugin will allow you to select a shipping carrier, choose a service (e.g., USPS Priority Mail), and purchase and print a shipping label directly from the order details page. The label will include the customer’s address, tracking number, and postage. You just stick it on the package and you’re good to go!

Conclusion

Printing WooCommerce orders doesn’t have to be a headache. Starting with the built-in browser print function is fine for a quick and dirty solution. However, investing a little time in setting up a dedicated printing plugin (like WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips) and a shipping label plugin will significantly improve your order fulfillment process, making it more efficient, professional, and less prone to errors. Good luck and happy selling!