Table of Contents

Setup acadon PrintNode Integration

Download & Install PrintNode Client

To use the PrintNode service you need to install a client service on a computer which is connected to the printers you want to control. You can download the client program here. After the program has been installed, log in the program with your account credentials.

Should I run the PrintNode Client as a desktop application or a Windows service?

The PrintNode client can be installed as desktop application or as a windows service. In most cases the desktop application will be fine, but that must be decided case-by-case. To make the decision easier, PrintNode has provided some more information in the FAQ:

Running the PrintNode Client as a Windows Service comes with the following benefits:

  • Only one instance of the PrintNode Client runs regardless of how many active user sessions there are on a given machine (this helps avoid certain issues such as duplicate prints).
  • The end user does not have access to the desktop app interface, which makes them less likely to break something.
  • It is possible to manage the PrintNode Client remotely through the PrintNode Client's web API.

Running the PrintNode Client as a Windows Service has the following drawbacks:

  • The PrintNode Client runs as the LocalSystem account, so it doesn't use the default printer settings of regular users.
  • The end user does not have access to the desktop app interface, which makes it more difficult to provide support if something goes wrong.

We usually recommend installing the PrintNode Client as a desktop application. For multi-tenant machines we recommend installing and running the PrintNode Client as a Windows Service, to avoid duplicate prints.

Create API Key

To connect business central with the PrintNode service you have to create an api key in the PrintNode Dashboard. Just follow this link to create one PrintNode api key. Enter any description in the field and press the create button. Then copy the generated api key, shown below, for later use.

Create new api key

Setup BC

Just follow the assisted setup "acadon PrintNode Integration" to setup the app or do it manually by opening the "PrintNode Setup" page in the web client. After enabling the "Enable PrintNode Integration" field you can enter the created api key in the "Api Key" field from the step before.

Setup PrintNode Printers

Open the "PrintNode Printers" page to configure the printers. By pressing the action "Update Printer List", the list will be updated with all printers, which are connected to the printnode client program. You can also just click the action to update the "State" field of the printers to see if all shown printers are currently connected or have some issues.

Also you can define custom settings for each printer, for example to configure the paper tray or paper size, etc.

Use PrintNode Printers in the Printer Selection

The configured "PrintNode Printers" can now be used in the "Printer Selection" page of business central. There they can be configured to be used as default printer or for specific users or reports. For technical reasons the printers are displayed in the printer selection in the format "Printer Name_Printer Id".