receipt printer is a low-cost, long-life, variant of a thermal printer. It comes as a single compact module with an integrated cutter for easy integration into your terminal or kiosk. Receipt printer generally has very high memory and work at high speed.

It is an important point-of-sale device for the retail and hospitality industry.

A receipt is a typed/written acknowledgement that a specified article or sum of money has been received. We have come across different kinds of receipts in modern times. For every product we purchase and every service we subscribe we get a receipt. Hence receipt printers outnumber the document printers used for printing reports, books, newspapers, etc.

Receipt is a proof of a transaction for the purpose of exchanging or returning merchandise. Some retailers provide special "gift receipts" specifically for this purpose. Unlike a standard purchase receipt, the gift receipt omits certain information, most notably the price that was paid for an item. The receipt usually has a barcode at the bottom so that the retailer can call up the transaction information from a database of previous purchases, thus authenticating a return.

The thermal receipt printer is able to print receipts in multiple colors and its paper rolling procedure is very simple and easy to use. Thermal receipt printers are designed to give the best performance in hectic schedules. They are 'plug and play' devices compatible with a variety of software applications.
Types of Receipt Printers:

With your pos equipment, you'll need a receipt printer to issue receipts and slips for customer signatures. Whether your receipt printer is built in to the terminal or a stand-alone unit, you'll need to choose between the two main types of receipt printers: dot matrix receipt printers and thermal receipt printers. Consider price, speed, and reliability
The receipt printer line covers various models to cater to the diverse demand for receipts of the market. The receipt printers can be divided into two: thermal receipt printers and impact receipt printers.

* Dot matrix receipt printers: Dot matrix receipt printers, also known as impact printers, use pins and an ink ribbon to print on regular paper. Fairly inexpensive, dot matrix receipt printers tend to have slower print speeds, typically printing one to four lines per second.

* Thermal receipt printers: Thermal receipt printers use heat and special heat-sensitive paper to generate receipts. Thermal receipt printers cost slightly more than dot matrix receipt printers, but offer faster performance (with speeds of 10 to 15 lines per second), less noise, and are generally more reliable because they have fewer moving parts. Over several years of use, the higher cost of thermal paper about equals the cost of buying both paper and ribbons for dot matrix printers.

* Impact Receipt Printer: The impact receipt printer is a high-speed serial dot matrix printer. The receipt printer is housed in ABS plastic, a proven housing in toll applications. It includes a printing mechanism, a cutter assembly, an interface / controller circuit card, power supply, and drive mechanism. The printer uses a 3" roll resulting in less time changing paper and more time processing transactions. Printer setup is stored in an on-board eeprom and can be configured for operation off line. The unit is designed to operate between 0' c and 50' c in 90% relative humidity.

* Inkjet receipt printers: Fairly rare inkjet receipt printers give you the ability to print in multiple colors. However, they have neither the speed of thermal printers nor the low costs of dot matrix printers.

Most thermal receipt printers have inbuilt buffer memory to store logos, graphics and other necessary items. They come with associated tools for sketching the logos, pictures etc. For security purposes, they store a second copy of all the transactions for future reference. Newer generation of receipt printers come with inbuilt power backup features.

Changing paper can be a hassle when you have customers waiting; many receipt printers now have drop-in paper loading, which can simplify and speed up the process.