Setting up your label printer

One sticky label per order, printed the moment the order comes in and ready to go straight on the bag. The printer talks to us over your internet connection by itself — no computer in the kitchen, nothing to keep switched on. It takes about twenty minutes from opening the box, and you only do it once.

Which printer?

Pekkish works with two Star label printers. Both print the same label on the same kind of roll, connect the same way and set up almost the same way; the difference is how sturdy they are and how well the label sticks.

Star TSP143IV-SK — the cheaper one. It suits dry paper bags and boxes, and a label that only has to last until lunch.
Star mC-Label3 — dearer and sturdier. Use it with Star's permanent linerless labels, which stick much more firmly. Worth it if labels need to stay put through a busy kitchen, on chilled or wrapped food, or for a delivery round.

Both use linerless labels: one continuous sticky strip with no backing paper, cut to the length of each order, so there's no backing to throw away. Use linerless on the mC-Label3 too, even though it can take labels on a backing paper: that's how it comes set up, and it's what Pekkish is set up for.

Wi-fi or a cable? The TSP143IV-SK comes in two versions: the ordinary one connects by network cable only, and the X4 version has wi-fi built in. The mC-Label3 connects by cable, or by wi-fi with Star's add-on wi-fi adapter, the MCW10. A cable is the steadier connection in a busy kitchen, but if there's no router socket near where the printer will live, wi-fi saves a cable run — decide before you buy.

Not sure which printer? Decide by what the label has to stick to, because you'll only want to buy one. Dry paper bags and boxes, eaten within the hour: the TSP143IV-SK does the job. Anything chilled, wrapped, damp, greasy or out on a delivery round: go straight to the mC-Label3 — it costs more up front, but less than buying the cheaper one and then replacing it. If you're still torn, tell the supplier what you sell and how it's packed.

Where to buy. We recommend POS Hardware, who supply both printers and their labels — their website has current prices, and they can advise on which suits your kitchen. Tell them you're setting it up for Pekkish.

Other Star models, and other makes, won't work: the printer has to support Star's CloudPRNT, which is how it collects orders from us.

What you need

A Star TSP143IV-SK or mC-Label3 — see Which printer? above. You don't need to tell us which: the printer tells us itself when it connects.
A way onto your network — either a network cable to your router, or wi-fi: built into the TSP143IV-SK X4, or the MCW10 adapter on an mC-Label3 (see Which printer?). For wi-fi you also need your wi-fi's name and password, and the free Star Quick Setup Utility app on a phone or tablet.
A roll of 80 mm labels to suit your printer: linerless for both printers, and Star's permanent linerless for the mC-Label3. Always a continuous roll, never separate labels or labels on a backing paper — we cut each label to the length of its order.
A computer, tablet or phone on the same network as the printer, for a one-off visit to the printer's own settings page.
The Pro plan. Label printing is a Pro feature.

What's on the label

Your shop's name at the top; then the order number, whether it's for collection or delivery, and the day; the customer's name; PAID or TO PAY £x.xx so whoever hands the bag over knows; the delivery address if there is one; any note the customer left; and the items, grouped the way your menu is, with their options — 2 × BLT on white. It goes on the outside of the bag and doubles as a packing list you and the customer can check against.

On a continuous roll the label is as long as the order needs. A long order simply prints a long label; we never cut one short.

The quick way: set it up from your phone

The Pekkish app can find the printer on your wifi and set it up for you, so you can skip the printer's settings page altogether. You need version 1.0.4 or later of the iPhone app, or 0.1.8 or later on Android; if you're not sure which you have, update the app from the App Store or Play Store first.

Do steps 1 to 4 below: add the printer in Pekkish, get it onto your network, switch it on and load the labels, and use the Star app if you're on wi-fi.
On a phone connected to your shop's wifi (not a guest network), open the Pekkish app, go to Printing › Setup › Manage label printers, open the printer and tap Set up from your phone. Say Allow when the phone asks to find devices on your network.
Pick your printer from the list. A TSP143IV-SK will ask you to choose a password for it first: it won't let anything change its settings until it has one. On an mC-Label3 a password is your choice. Either way, write it down: you'll need it to change the printer later, and we don't keep it.
The app sets the printer up, waits for it to restart and get in touch, then prints a test label. When it asks whether a label came out, you're done.

If the app can't find the printer, or you'd rather do it by hand, carry on with steps 5 to 9 below.

Setting it up, from the box to a printed label

1. Add the printer in Pekkish first

In your shop admin, click Printing, open the Setup tab, and under How orders reach you choose Labels, then Save. A Label printing section appears — click Manage label printers, then Add label printer. Give it a name you'll recognise. If you have more than one kitchen, pick which one it sits in: orders print at the kitchen they were ordered from, and a printer with no kitchen set prints nothing.

Click Printing in the menu — enlarge — 1. Click Printing in the menu

Click Printing in the menu, highlighted on the whole screen — 1. Click Printing in the menu

Open the Setup tab — enlarge — 2. Open the Setup tab

Open the Setup tab, highlighted on the whole screen — 2. Open the Setup tab

Choose Labels, then Save — enlarge — 3. Choose Labels, then Save

Choose Labels, then Save, highlighted on the whole screen — 3. Choose Labels, then Save

Click Manage label printers — enlarge — 4. Click Manage label printers

Click Manage label printers, highlighted on the whole screen — 4. Click Manage label printers

Click Add label printer — enlarge — 5. Click Add label printer

Click Add label printer, highlighted on the whole screen — 5. Click Add label printer

You land on the printer's page, which shows a long web address under CloudPRNT URL. That address is what tells the printer where to collect its jobs from, and you'll paste it into the printer in step 7. Keep this page open, or come back to it.

The printer's CloudPRNT URL — enlarge — The printer's CloudPRNT URL

The printer's CloudPRNT URL, highlighted on the whole screen — The printer's CloudPRNT URL

Treat that address like a password. Anyone who has it can collect your shop's print jobs, so don't paste it into a screenshot, a group chat or a support message. If you ever think it has leaked, remove the printer and add it again — that gives it a new address.

Leave Also email me every order ticked while you set up. Until the printer is paired, orders won't produce a label, and the email is what catches them.

2. Get it onto your network

By cable: the printer, its power adapter and a network cable are all in the box. Plug the cable into your router first, then connect the power.

By wi-fi: on a TSP143IV-SK X4 there's nothing to plug in but the power. On an mC-Label3, connect the MCW10 adapter to the printer with both cables that come with it (the network cable and the USB cable) before you connect the power, and keep them from getting trapped behind the printer. Either way, the printer joins your wi-fi in step 4, once the labels are in.

3. Switch it on and load the labels

Hold Power for about two seconds to switch on, then open the cover, drop the roll in and close it. Don't pull the paper through by hand. There's nothing to line up: the labels are one continuous strip, and we cut each one to the length of its order.

4. Wi-fi only: the Star app

On a cable? Skip to step 5. Otherwise install the free Star Quick Setup Utility on a phone or tablet, and let it use Bluetooth and your location when it asks — that's how it finds the printer.

Wi-fi: in the app, choose Start Guide (Initial Settings) › Use Wireless LAN, then pick your printer (on an mC-Label3, choose MCW10). Type your wi-fi's name and password exactly — capitals matter in both — and keep the phone close to the printer while it connects. Use your own wi-fi, not a guest network: the device you use in step 6 has to be on the same network as the printer. The printer prints a Wireless Network Diagnosis page: Successful and an address like 192.168.1.50 means it's on. Keep that page — it's the address you need in step 6, so you can skip step 5.

5. Make it print its own address

Connected by wi-fi? You already have the address from the diagnosis page in step 4 — go on to step 6.

mC-Label3: hold Power for about two seconds to switch off. Then hold the Multi-Function button, switch it back on, and let go once it starts printing.

TSP143IV-SK: switch it off, then hold the FEED button while you switch it back on, and let go once it starts printing.

It prints a test page; the address you want is under Current IP Parameters Status — four numbers with dots between them, like 192.168.1.50. Nothing printed at all? Go back to step 3. Printed, but no address? The cable or the socket isn't giving it one — check the cable is clicked in at both ends, or look the printer up in your router's list of connected devices instead.

6. Open that address in a web browser

On a computer, tablet or phone on the same network, type http:// and then the address from the test page — for example http://192.168.1.50. It has to be http://, not https://, which doesn't display properly. Sign in with the user name root and the password public.

It may ask you to choose a new password. If you set one, write it down. It is the only way back into the printer.

7. Point it at us

In that settings page go to CloudPRNT. Set the service to ENABLE, paste the address from step 1 into Server URL, and set Polling time to 10 seconds. Leave the user name and password boxes empty — the address includes the credentials. Then press Submit.

CloudPRNT: ENABLE, the Server URL, Polling time 10, then Submit — enlarge — CloudPRNT: ENABLE, the Server URL, Polling time 10, then Submit

CloudPRNT: ENABLE, the Server URL, Polling time 10, then Submit, highlighted on the whole screen — CloudPRNT: ENABLE, the Server URL, Polling time 10, then Submit

8. Save and restart the printer

In the menu: Save › Save + Restart device › Execute. Nothing you just typed takes effect until you do this. The printer restarts and prints a summary of its settings — keep it, it's the quickest way to check the address went in correctly.

9. Test it

Go back to the printer's page in Pekkish. Within about 30 seconds the status at the top should say Healthy. Then press Test print, and a label should come out within about ten seconds. It prints your most recent order, so it's a real label rather than a sample.

The status says Healthy — enlarge — 1. The status says Healthy

The status says Healthy, highlighted on the whole screen — 1. The status says Healthy

Press Test print — enlarge — 2. Press Test print

Press Test print, highlighted on the whole screen — 2. Press Test print

If it did, you're finished — every order from now on prints itself. Place one as a customer to see it happen.

What the status means

Pending pairing — the printer has never got in touch. Orders won't produce a label until it does; they'll still be emailed.
Healthy — it's checking in with us, and says when it last did. This is where it should sit all day.
Stale — it was checking in and stopped, more than two minutes ago. That's the network, not the printer: power, cable, router. It picks up where it left off the moment it's back, and anything that arrived in between prints then.
Error — the printer reported a fault on the last job, almost always the roll running out. It keeps checking in and orders keep queueing, so fix the roll and the next label clears it, or press Clear error.

Keeping an eye on it

Every label we've sent is listed under Recent label jobs on the label printers page, and every print of any kind is on the Print jobs tab under Printing. A label that says queued hasn't been collected yet; completed means the printer told us it came out. If a label is lost or damaged, open the order and send it to the label printer again from there, or press Reprint on its row in Print jobs.

It's the label that marks an order as having reached the kitchen. So if the printer goes quiet, you'll see it: orders stop being marked as printed, and the Print jobs tab warns you.

More than one kitchen

Each label printer belongs to one of your locations, and prints that location's orders, and only those — a second kitchen never gets a copy. When you add a printer, choose its Location; or open the location under Settings → Locations and use Add a label printer here at the foot of the page, which chooses it for you. That same Printers here section shows which printers each location has. Name each printer after its kitchen, because that's what you'll recognise in a list. Two printers in the same location both print every order there.

Common issues

The self-test won't print — the cover, the roll or the power. Nothing else matters until this works. On the mC-Label3 it's the Multi-Function button, not a FEED button (step 5).
The self-test prints but shows no address — the printer isn't getting one from your router. Check the cable at both ends and that the socket is live, or find the printer in your router's list of connected devices.
The wi-fi diagnosis doesn't say Successful — nearly always the wi-fi name or password, and capitals count in both. Run Use Wireless LAN in the Star app again. On an mC-Label3, check both of the MCW10's cables are pushed in. If it still won't join, start again from the beginning of the app's guide.
The settings page won't load — the device you're using has to be on the same network as the printer, and guest wi-fi usually isn't. Check it's http://, not https://.
It won't let me change any setting — you're still on the factory password. Finish the change-password screen first (step 6).
The status stays on Pending pairing — the address never reached the printer. Check the summary it printed after restarting: is the Server URL there, exactly? If not, repeat steps 7 and 8 — and make sure you pressed Save + Restart device, not just Submit.
Test print says queued and nothing comes out — the printer never collected it, which means the address is wrong. If it says completed and there's still no paper, that's the cover or the roll. Check it's a linerless roll: labels on a backing paper won't print.
Labels print, but orders never show as printed — How orders reach you isn't set to Labels, or the change wasn't saved. Only your chosen route marks an order as printed.
It worked and then went quiet — Stale means the printer lost its connection: check it's on and the cable's in (or, on wi-fi, that the wi-fi is up and reaches that corner of the kitchen), and check the router. It reconnects itself, and anything that queued in the meantime prints when it does.
I've moved it, or changed router — the printer will get a new address on your network, so repeat from step 5 to find it. On wi-fi with a new router or a new wi-fi password, join it again first with Use Wireless LAN in the Star app (step 4), which prints the new address. The Pekkish address in step 7 doesn't change; there's no need to add the printer again.
I've lost the printer's password — that's the password you set in step 6, and we never see it. Star's manual covers resetting the printer to factory settings; you'll then need to do steps 6 to 8 again.

Do I still get the emails?

Yes, as long as Also email me every order is ticked on the Setup tab. Keep it on — if the roll runs out mid-service, the order is still in the inbox and nobody has to go hunting for it.

Stuck on something? Contact support.