Printers Documentation

Complete guide to configuring printers with Flip POS. Flip POS supports two printer integration methods: Epson Server Direct Print and Star Micronics CloudPRNT. Multiple printers can be configured to support different stations in your kitchen or bar.

Overview

How Each Integration Works

Epson Server Direct Print: The Flip POS server pushes print jobs directly to the printer over your local network using Epson's Server Direct Print protocol. The printer must have an IP address reachable from the internet (or you must configure your router accordingly).

Star Micronics CloudPRNT: The printer polls the Flip POS server on a regular interval — no inbound network access to the printer is required. The printer reaches out to Flip POS over the internet, checks if there is a job waiting, and pulls it down to print. This makes Star CloudPRNT printers easy to set up on any standard internet connection without any router or firewall configuration.

Supported Printer Models

Epson — Server Direct Print

Star Micronics — CloudPRNT

The following models have CloudPRNT built in:

The following models support CloudPRNT via the IFBD-HI01X add-on interface board (sold separately by Star Micronics):

Note: The printer must be connected via Ethernet (wired LAN) or WiFi. USB-only printers cannot use CloudPRNT.

Flip POS Printer Setup

All printers — regardless of brand — are first added in the Flip POS admin. This generates the credentials and URL you will use to configure the printer hardware.

  1. Go to Settings → Printers in the Flip POS admin
  2. Click "Add Printer"
  3. Enter a Printer Name (e.g., "Kitchen Printer", "Bar Printer")
  4. Select a Service Location — the Shopify POS location this printer belongs to
  5. Select the Printer Type:
    • Epson — for Epson OmniLink/TM-i series printers using Server Direct Print
    • Star Micronics (CloudPRNT) — for Star TSP100, mC-Print, and TSP650/700/800 series printers
  6. Click "Create Printer"
  7. After creation, the printer's detail card will display:
    • URL — the server URL to enter into your printer's settings
    • Printer ID — used as the username for authentication
    • Password — a 6-digit password for authentication
  8. Keep this information on screen — you will need it when configuring the printer hardware in the steps below

Epson Printer Configuration

Configure your Epson printer to connect to Flip POS using Server Direct Print.

  1. Power on your Epson printer. It will print a startup receipt showing its LAN IP address. Enter that IP address into your web browser (e.g., http://192.168.1.172) to open the printer's settings page.
  2. Click Advanced Settings
  3. Click Administrator Login
  4. Enter the printer's serial number as the password
  5. Click TM-i Settings
  6. Click Server Direct Print
  7. Enable Server Direct Print
  8. Enter the connection details from your Flip POS printer card:
    • Server 1 - URL → paste the URL from Flip POS
    • ID → enter the Printer ID from Flip POS
    • Password → enter the Password from Flip POS
  9. Click Apply then Restart
  10. Click OK to confirm the restart
Epson Server Direct Print Settings

Star Micronics CloudPRNT Configuration

Star Micronics printers use CloudPRNT — a pull-based protocol where the printer regularly polls the Flip POS server for waiting print jobs. This means no port forwarding or firewall changes are needed on your restaurant's network. The printer reaches out to the internet on its own.

How CloudPRNT Works

Once configured, the Star printer sends a request to the Flip POS server every few seconds. If a print job is waiting (for example, an order was just sent to the kitchen), the printer pulls the job down and prints it automatically. If there is nothing to print, it simply waits and checks again on the next interval.

Step 1 — Find the Printer's IP Address

You need the printer's IP address to access its settings page.

Step 2 — Open the Printer's Settings Page

  1. On a computer or phone connected to the same WiFi or network as the printer, open a web browser
  2. Enter the printer's IP address in the address bar (e.g., http://192.168.1.100)
  3. The Star printer settings page will load
  4. Log in with the default credentials:
    • Username: root
    • Password: public

Step 3 — Configure CloudPRNT

  1. In the printer's web admin, navigate to the CloudPRNT section
  2. Set CloudPRNT Service to Enable
  3. In the Server URL field, paste the URL from your Flip POS printer card (it will look like https://flip-pos.fly.dev/api/cloudprnt/YOUR-PRINTER-ID)
  4. In the User Name field, enter the Printer ID from your Flip POS printer card
  5. In the Password field, enter the Password from your Flip POS printer card
  6. Set the Polling time to 5 seconds (this controls how quickly new jobs appear — lower is faster)
    • Important for TSP650II, TSP700II, TSP800II, SP700 with IFBD-HI01X board: these models default to 120 seconds — you must change this to 5–10 seconds or kitchen tickets will be severely delayed
  7. Leave HTTPS trust level set to the default (standard CA certificates) — Flip POS uses a standard SSL certificate that the printer will trust automatically
  8. Click Save
  9. Click Restart to apply the settings — the printer will be offline for about 30–60 seconds while it reboots
Tip: Every time you change any setting in the Star printer admin page, you must click Save and then Restart. Settings do not take effect until the printer has rebooted.

Step 4 — Verify the Connection

  1. After the printer restarts, go back to Settings → Printers in the Flip POS admin
  2. Find your Star printer and click "Test Connection" or send a test print
  3. If connected successfully, the printer will print a test ticket within a few seconds
  4. If it does not respond, double-check the URL, Printer ID, and Password are entered exactly as shown in Flip POS

Star Printer Network Setup

WiFi Configuration

For Star printers with built-in WiFi (such as the TSP143IIIW and mC-Print3 with WiFi):

  1. In the printer's web admin, navigate to the WLAN or Wireless LAN settings section
  2. Enter your restaurant's WiFi SSID (network name) and password
  3. Save and restart the printer
  4. After reboot, the printer will connect to your WiFi — print a self-test page to confirm the new IP address

For older Star printers without built-in WiFi, a Star Micronics WiFi dongle (connected via USB) can be configured in the same WLAN settings section.

Assigning a Static IP (Recommended)

We recommend assigning a static IP address to your Star printer so its admin page is always accessible at the same address. This does not affect CloudPRNT operation (the printer calls out to Flip POS, not the other way around), but it makes future configuration changes easier.

  1. In the printer web admin, navigate to the IP Parameters or TCP/IP section
  2. Switch the IP assignment from DHCP to Static
  3. Enter the same IP address currently shown on the self-test page (this locks in the address the printer already has)
  4. Enter the Subnet Mask and Default Gateway (also shown on the self-test page)
  5. Save and restart

Kitchen Printing

Optimize kitchen workflows with printer routing and ticket content.

Kitchen Ticket Content

Kitchen tickets printed by Flip POS include:

Printer Routing by Category

You can configure each printer to only print tickets for specific menu categories — for example, sending hot food orders to the kitchen printer and drink orders to the bar printer.

  1. Go to Settings → Printers
  2. Find the printer you want to configure and click the category routing button
  3. Uncheck "Print All Orders" if it is enabled
  4. Select the specific menu categories whose items should print on this printer
  5. Save — only orders containing items from those categories will now trigger this printer

Customer Check Printing

In addition to kitchen tickets, Flip POS can print a customer-facing check — an itemized bill showing the subtotal, tax, any auto gratuity, and the total. Both Epson Server Direct Print and Star Micronics CloudPRNT printers support customer check printing.

What Prints on a Customer Check

How to Print a Customer Check

  1. In the Table Service app, navigate to the table you want to print a check for.
  2. Click the "Actions >" link in the top right of the Table # screen.
  3. Click "Print Check". This button only appears once at least one item on the table has been sent to the kitchen.
  4. Flip POS sends check print jobs for all active checks on the table simultaneously to all configured printers for that service location.
  5. A toast notification confirms the check was sent to the printer.

Note: A printer must be configured in Flip POS Settings and associated with the correct service location for this button to work.

Check Printing with Star CloudPRNT

Star CloudPRNT printers fully support customer check printing. When a check print job is queued, the printer pulls the job on its next poll interval (typically within 5 seconds if polling time is set to 5 seconds) and prints the formatted check automatically. No additional configuration beyond standard CloudPRNT setup is required.

Automatic Printing

Flip POS automatically triggers printing when orders are sent to the kitchen. No manual action is required by staff beyond their normal workflow.

Print Triggers

If no printers are configured in Settings for the relevant service location, no printing will occur. The order will still appear on any configured Kitchen Display System.

Troubleshooting

Epson Printer Not Printing

Star Printer Not Printing

Star Printer Connected But Jobs Are Delayed

Getting Support