Timely prints invoices to PDF format by default. However, you can connect a thermal receipt printer to Timely and print your invoices as sales receipts instead.
Important information
Receipt printing is only available by running Google Chrome web browser on your MacOS laptop or desktop computer.
At the moment, we can only provide support (and instructions) for the following printers*:
- The Star TSP100, (LAN/USB)
- The Star TSP113 (LAN/USB)
- The Star TSP143 (LAN/USB)
- The mPOP Receipt Printer and Cash Drawer.
*While we can't guarantee all receipt printers will work with Timely, we have customers who have connected other printers successfully!
Before you start
In order to continue with the installation of your mPOP device, you will need some to ensure you have the following:
- your MacOS laptop/desktop.
- your mPOP Receipt Printer and Cash Drawer.
- a USB to USB-B cable.
- CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) web interface installed and enabled on your MacOS device.
Checking CUPS web interface
By default, this is available on most MacOS devices. You can check this is installed by opening Google Chrome and heading to localhost:631/admin.
If prompted with the below, then CUPS is installed but just needs enabling. You can head here for instruction on How to enable CUPs web interface on your Mac.
If prompted with the below, then CUPS is already installed and enabled and you can proceed to the next step of Adding the mPOP printer.
If you're prompted with neither of the above, then you may need to install CUPS on your Mac. To do so, you can download and install this driver.
Once installed you can follow the instructions in How to enable CUPs web interface, as above, to enable.
Adding the mPOP printer to your Mac
The next step is installing the printer on your MacOS. This step should be a simple plug and play.
- Connect your mPOP Receipt Printer and Cash Drawer to the power, but leave the printer turned off for now.
- Plug in one end of the USB to your Mac, and corresponding USB-B end into your mPOP's USB-B port (below). This is important and the only way the connection can be made.
- Open System Preferences > Printers & Scanners on your Mac.
- Turn on your mPOP drawer and the printer should be installed/added automatically.
- Your mPOP printer is installed, and you can proceed to setting up the cash drawer.
Set up cash drawer settings
By default the cash drawer will be disabled, however, you have the option to enable this to be prompted to open with every printed receipt – i.e. the printing of a receipt prompts the cash drawer to open.
To set up the cash drawer to open when a receipt is printed you can follow these steps.
- Ensure your printer is turned on and connected via USB.
- Open the CUPS web interface on in Google Chrome by heading to localhost:631/admin.
- Click on Printers in the top menu and click on your installed mPOP.
- Select "Set Default Options" from the Administration dropdown menu.
- Head to Cash Drawer Control from the printer navigation menu, select "Open Drawer 1" from the first dropdown menu and hit the "Set Default Options" button to save those changes.
You may be asked for a username and password when saving here. This is the username and password you use to login to your Mac at startup.
- To check those amendments have saved correctly, select "Print Test Page" from the Maintenance dropdown. Your cash drawer should open, and a test page should print.
- Setup complete.
Thermal receipt printing
The only final step to quickly check is that you have changed your invoice printing settings in Timely, from the default PDF, to Thermal receipt. Steps on how to make this setting change can be found in the following help guide – How to set up a receipt printer in Timely.