PrintBase Blog
Blog
Read about our latest product features, solutions, and updates.
Why Browser Printing Breaks (and What to Do Instead)
Why JavaScript can't print silently, why kiosk flags and PDF auto-print tricks keep failing in production, and the three architectures that actually work — with code for each.
Print Job Webhooks: Knowing What Actually Printed
A 200 from the print API means the job was accepted, not that paper came out. How to track print job status properly — the job lifecycle, polling vs webhooks, signature verification, failure reason codes, and the reconciliation sweep that catches what webhooks miss.
PrintBase vs PrintNode: an Honest Deep-Dive
A detailed comparison of two cloud printing APIs — architecture, pricing including computer limits and overage rates, multi-tenant support, migration effort, and the cases where PrintNode is genuinely the better choice.
Automating Shipping Label Printing: from Order to Warehouse Printer
Once order volume grows, downloading label PDFs by hand becomes the fulfillment bottleneck. A complete automation pipeline — where labels come from, routing them to warehouse printers, multi-warehouse mapping, and failure handling — with runnable Node.js code.
ESC/POS Receipt Printing: a Practical Guide from Bytes to Cloud API
How thermal receipt printers actually work — the ESC/POS commands for alignment, bold, sizing, and paper cut, runnable Node.js code to build a receipt, and three ways to deliver the bytes, including cloud RAW passthrough.
How to Print a PDF from Node.js (Without a Browser Dialog)
Three practical ways to print a PDF from a Node.js backend — lp/lpr, raw IPP, and a cloud printing API — with working code, their trade-offs, and how to get job status back reliably.
ZPL Label Printing: a Practical Guide from ^XA to Cloud API
How Zebra label printers work — ZPL basics, dots and DPI, barcodes and QR codes, previewing labels without a printer, and delivering ZPL from your backend to warehouse printers with cloud RAW passthrough.