--- title: "How BizPrint works: accounts, stations, applications and printers" description: "Learn the four building blocks of BizPrint and how an order travels from your store to paper." url: https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/how-bizprint-works/ section: "Start here" last_updated: 2026-11-12 --- # How BizPrint works: accounts, stations, applications and printers Section: Start here > Learn the four building blocks of BizPrint and how an order travels from your store to paper. This page explains the four building blocks of BizPrint and how they fit together, so the setup steps make sense before you start. It is for everyone who sets up BizPrint, whether your orders come from WooCommerce, Shopify, the Print API or the [BizPrint MCP server](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-mcp-server), and whether you print with the [BizPrint desktop app](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-desktop-app) or the [BizPrint Android app](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-android-app) (for Shopify, use the desktop app). ## The four building blocks Every BizPrint setup uses the same pieces. You set up the first three once, then connect the place your orders come from. ### 1. Your account and the BizPrint dashboard You sign up for BizPrint with a [BizSwoop account](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizswoop-account). You then use the [BizPrint dashboard](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-dashboard), a website, to manage everything else: your plan, your [stations](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#station), your [applications](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#application) and your [print jobs](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#print-job). Everything you create belongs to your account. ### 2. Stations: where printing happens A station is a computer or Android device at your business that runs a BizPrint app and is connected to your [printers](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#printer). You create stations in the dashboard under **Stations**. Each station has a [**Public Key** and a **Secret Key**](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#public-key-and-secret-key), which the app uses to connect to that station. - The BizPrint desktop app runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. You can connect it with the station’s keys, or sign in with your BizSwoop account and pick the station from a list. - The BizPrint Android app runs on Android phones, tablets and Sunmi point of sale devices. You can sign in with your BizSwoop account and choose the station, or enter the station’s keys. You can have more than one station, for example one computer at the front counter and one tablet in the kitchen. A station prints only while its app is running and connected to the internet. ### 3. Printers: what is connected to each station A printer always belongs to a station. You never add printers in the dashboard. Instead: - The desktop app reports every printer installed on the computer, so you first install the printer on the computer the usual way. - In the Android app, you add each printer yourself with **Add printer**. The app searches for printers on your Wi-Fi or network, Bluetooth printers and USB printers nearby, and the built-in printer of a Sunmi device. You can also enter a printer’s address. The printers then appear in the dashboard under their station. That is also where you see the print jobs for each printer. ### 4. Applications: where orders come from An application is the connection between BizPrint and an order source. You create one in the dashboard under **Applications**, one for each store or app. Each application also has its own **Public Key** and **Secret Key**, which are different from your station keys. You enter the application keys in the order source so it can send print jobs to your account: - In the [BizPrint plugin for WooCommerce](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#bizprint-plugin-for-woocommerce), for a WooCommerce store. - In [Auto Order Printer](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#auto-order-printer), for a Shopify store. - In your own code, if you use the BizPrint Print API. - In the BizPrint MCP server, if you print from an AI assistant. > **Caution** > > Treat every **Secret Key** like a password. Never email it, post it in a chat, or share it with anyone who does not need it. Copy it straight from the dashboard. ## How an order becomes a printout Once the four pieces are in place, printing works like this: 1. An order comes in, or someone asks to print it, in your store or app. 2. The order source chooses a printer and sends a print job to BizPrint, using its application keys. 3. BizPrint passes the print job to the station that the printer belongs to. 4. The station prints the job on that printer. 5. The station reports back, and the dashboard shows the job’s [print job status](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#print-job-status), such as **done** or **failed**. An application can send print jobs to any printer on any of your stations. In WooCommerce, for example, you choose the printers in a [printer location](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#printer-location), together with the [template](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#template) and the paper size. Each printer is listed with the name of its station, so you can tell the front counter printer from the kitchen printer. ## What happens when a station is offline If a station is turned off or cannot connect when a print job arrives, the job cannot print right away. What happens next depends on the **Archive offline print jobs** setting in the dashboard. The job either waits and prints when the station comes back, or it is set aside so you can decide whether to print it again. See [Choose what happens to BizPrint print jobs when a station is offline](https://docs.getbizprint.com/manage/archive-offline-jobs/). Before you print a job again, always look at the printer first and check the job’s status in the dashboard. A job’s status alone does not tell you whether paper came out, so also wait for the station to finish anything it is still printing. If the order came from WooCommerce, also check the plugin’s [**Print Job Queue**](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/#print-job-queue) (in **Print Manager**, on the **Support** tab). If a print request could not reach BizPrint, the plugin may keep it in the **Print Job Queue** and try again later. Wait for any pending or processing jobs there to finish. Never create another job while the first one is **pending**, **connecting-to-printer** or **processing**, and never create an order again or take a payment again to get a printout. [Reprint a print job from the BizPrint dashboard](https://docs.getbizprint.com/print/reprint-a-job/) instead. ## Related pages - [What is BizPrint?](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/what-is-bizprint/) - [Choose your BizPrint setup path](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/choose-your-setup/) - [Desktop app or Android app: which BizPrint station should you use?](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/desktop-or-android/) - [BizPrint glossary](https://docs.getbizprint.com/start-here/glossary/) Need help? Contact BizPrint support at .