What This Article Covers
• What printer routing is, and why you'd use it
• The four Prints settings, and which to choose
• Where each job prints, and how to change it
• Sharing the work across identical printers
• Why a job fails instead of printing on a different printer
• Common routing setups, and how Snappic checks them when you start an event
• Troubleshooting common routing issues
Before You Start
Routing is set per printer: open the printer's settings and tap Prints, under Routing. There is no separate routing screen.
If you only run one printer & a single paper size, leave it on Any job type and you can ignore the rest of this article.
A job never prints on a printer whose Prints setting doesn't accept it. If a template can't print anywhere, guests aren't offered printing for it — and Snappic warns you when you start the event.
The Prints setting controls which templates a printer accepts. It doesn't change the print size — set that separately, and make sure it matches the media loaded.
Start the event before doors open: if your routing has left anything unprintable, a Printer Check warning appears so you can fix it first.
What Is Printer Routing?
When you run more than one printer at an event, Snappic needs to know which printer each template should print on. Routing is how you tell it.
The classic case is running strips and 4x6 side by side: one printer loaded with 2x6 strip media, another with 4x6, and each only accepting the templates it can actually print. But routing also lets you dedicate a printer to a sponsor's branded template, or run two identical printers that share the workload at a busy event.
You set routing with each printer's Prints setting — a rule about which jobs that printer accepts.
The Four Prints Settings
Prints setting | What the printer accepts | Use it when |
Any job type | Any template in the event. | You run a single printer, or you want a catch-all printer that picks up anything your dedicated printers don't take. |
Strips only | Strip templates only, such as 2x6. | This printer is set up for strips, with its own cut settings. |
Standard prints only | Non-strip templates, such as 4x6 prints. | This printer is loaded with standard media and should never receive a strip job. |
Specific templates | Only the templates you select. | You need one template — a specific paper size, a sponsor design, a premium finish, a separate activation — on its own printer. |
Where Each Job Prints
A printer that names a job's template under Specific Templates always takes that job. Otherwise the job prints on a printer whose Prints setting matches its type — Strips only for strips, Standard prints only for everything else. A printer set to Any job type picks up whatever your dedicated printers don't take — a catch-all never steals jobs from them.
Example: you run three printers — one accepting only a sponsor's template, one set to Strips only, and one set to Any job type. Jobs from the sponsor template print on the sponsor printer, all other strip jobs print on the strips printer, and everything else prints on the Any job type printer.
Setting What a Printer Accepts
Open the Snappic app and go to your event.
Tap Configure Printers, then tap the printer you want to change.
Under Routing, tap Prints.
Choose Any job type, Strips only, or Standard prints only — or tick the exact templates this printer should accept under Specific Templates.
Specific Templates isn't offered while the printer is set to Use for all events — template selections belong to a single event. Turn that off first if you want to route by template.
Screenshot needed: the Prints editor on the printer settings screen, and the template picker with several templates selected.
Give restricted printers names that say what they do — DNP – Strips (matte) is far easier to work with mid-event than DNP DS620A (2).
Printer Pooling
If two or more printers accept the same job — for example two printers with the same Prints routing setting — Snappic spreads the work across them automatically. There's nothing extra to set up, and it's worth doing at busy events where one printer can't keep up.
To build a pool, give two printers the same Prints setting — and match their print size, settings, and media so their output is identical.
Pooled printers should be genuinely interchangeable. If one has different margins, a different finish, or different media, guests will get visibly different prints depending on which printer happened to be next.
Why Jobs Fail Instead of Printing Elsewhere
A job never moves to a printer whose Prints setting doesn't accept it — a failed strip job you can retry is better than strips printed on the wrong media.
If the printer that should take a job isn't available, the job fails and waits in the print queue. Fix the printer (or its Prints setting), then retry the job. If no printer accepts a template at all, guests simply aren't offered printing for it — and the Printer Check warning tells you at event start.
See Using the Print Queue for how to find and retry failed jobs.
Common Setups
One printer, set up to print everything
Leave it on Any job type. Nothing else to do.
Strips and 4x6 side by side
Two printers: set one to Strips only with strip media loaded, the other to Standard prints only with 4x6 media. This is the most common multi-printer setup.
One physical printer, two configurations
You can add the same physical printer to your Printers list more than once with different settings — for example one entry for strips and one for 6x8. Useful when a single printer's media supports both. See Managing Multiple Printers.
A busy event with two identical printers
Give both the same Prints setting, size and media. They'll pool automatically and share the load, getting prints out faster for less waiting time for your guests.
A sponsor template on its own printer
On that printer, select only the sponsor's template under Specific Templates. Leave your other printers as they are — the sponsor template prints there and nowhere else.
Checking Your Routing Before an Event
When you start an event, Snappic checks that every template with printing enabled can print on one of your printers, and that every configured printer can be found and is ready. If everything passes, the event starts normally — there's nothing to dismiss.
If something is wrong, a Printer Check warning appears — for example "No configured printer can print these templates: 3 stills, 2 GIFs." It also lists printers that couldn't be found or that report a problem. Tap Review Printers to fix the setup, or Continue Anyway to start regardless.
Fix it before doors open — a routing mistake is much cheaper to correct now than when a guest is waiting.
Troubleshooting
Why did my job fail when I have another printer that could have printed it?
Cause: The other printer's Prints setting doesn't accept that template, and jobs never move to a printer whose setting doesn't accept them.
Fix: Change the Prints setting on the printer that should be handling it — or tick the template under its Specific Templates — then retry the job from the print queue.
Why is Printer Check telling me templates can't be printed?
Cause: No printer's Prints setting accepts those templates.
Fix: Check each printer's Prints setting. If a printer uses Specific Templates, confirm every template you expected is actually ticked.
Why are all my prints going to one printer when I have two?
Cause: The two printers aren't set to accept the same jobs, so one printer claims them all and the other never sees them.
Fix: Give both printers the same Prints setting, print size and media if you want them to share the load.
Why is my catch-all printer receiving jobs meant for my dedicated printer?
Cause: The dedicated printer's Prints setting doesn't actually cover those templates, so they're falling through to the Any job type printer.
Fix: Check the dedicated printer's Prints setting. If it uses Specific Templates, confirm every template you expected is actually ticked.
Why do prints look different depending on which printer they came out of?
Cause: Pooled printers each keep their own settings. If their margins, finish, quality or sharpening differ, their output will differ.
Fix: Match the settings on both printers, then run a Test Print on each to confirm they agree.
Why did a strip job print on a single frame, or the wrong size?
Cause: The routing was right, but the printer's print size doesn't match the media loaded.
Fix: Open the printer's settings and set the print size to match the media. Sizes that don't work with the loaded media are marked as not available.
Related Articles
Managing Multiple Printers — build and manage a printer list, and add the same printer more than once.
Using the Print Queue — find and retry jobs that failed because of routing.
Setting Up Direct USB Printing — connect an iPad straight to a DNP printer over USB-C.
Print Sizes and 2-up 4x6 — the sizes each model supports, and matching size to media.
Print Settings Explained — margins, cut control, finish, quality and sharpening.
Need Help?
Visit the Snappic Help Center or chat directly from your dashboard for live support.