Print from a Chromebook, Mac or Linux PC with NegoBill
On a Chromebook, silent printing needs a Bluetooth printer: Settings → Printers → Connect Bluetooth printer, tick it once in Chrome's list, answer four questions. A USB printer is added in Chrome OS Print and scan and prints through the print dialog. On a Mac or Linux PC, USB printers connect directly.
You need: Google Chrome on a Chromebook, Mac or Linux PC. For silent printing on a Chromebook: a Bluetooth 4.0 receipt printer or a Bluetooth label printer (Phomemo M110 family). A USB printer on a Chromebook prints through the Chrome OS print dialog. On a Mac or Linux: any USB, serial or Bluetooth LE receipt or label printer.
- Switch the Bluetooth printer on near the Chromebook. On a Mac or Linux PC, a USB printer works too.
- In the web app open Settings → Printers. The page reads 'Connect a printer to this Chromebook'. Press Connect Bluetooth printer (on a Mac or Linux PC, Connect printer for USB).
- Chrome shows its own small list of printers. Tick yours. This is the only time Chrome asks.
- Answer the four questions: a name, what it prints (bills, labels or both), its language (press 'Print a test in every language' and pick the readable strip if unsure), and the roll or label size.
- Press Test. From now on, Proceed → Print on the sale screen and Print labels on a product go straight to the printer with no dialog.
A Chromebook cannot run the Windows print utility, and it does not need to. Google Chrome can talk to Bluetooth LE and serial printers directly, so NegoBill sends the bill to the printer itself, in the printer’s own language. USB printers are the one exception on Chrome OS: the system keeps them for its own printing and does not let a website open them, so on a Chromebook a USB printer is set up in Chrome OS’s Print and scan and prints through the print dialog. For silent, one-touch printing on a Chromebook, choose a Bluetooth printer. On a Mac or Linux PC, USB printers connect directly too.
The setup is the same four questions as on Windows. The one difference is the first step: instead of installing a file, you press Connect and tick the printer once in Chrome’s list. After that, printing is silent and needs no dialog.
The same works in Chrome or Microsoft Edge on a Mac or a Linux PC. On Windows, keep using the NegoBill Print Utility, which also prints on plain-paper printers through their Windows driver.
Works on: the web app.
Questions people ask
I have a USB printer on my Chromebook.
Chrome OS keeps USB printers for its own printing and does not let a website open them, so NegoBill prints to it through the print dialog. Add the printer in Chrome OS Settings → Print and scan → Printers (Chrome OS finds most and offers a driver). On the sale screen, open Print ▾ and choose the paper size under 'Plain paper · print dialog' once; every Print after that opens Chrome's dialog with that printer remembered, and you press Print. For silent printing, use a Bluetooth 4.0 printer.
Does the printer stay after a restart or another login?
Yes. Chrome remembers the permission for that printer on that Chromebook. A different Chromebook sets it up once too. If site data is cleared, press Add printer and tick it again; its settings return.
Can I use a printer on the shop network by IP address?
Not from a browser. Use it from a Windows PC with the NegoBill Print Utility, or connect it to the Chromebook by USB.
What about Bluetooth receipt printers?
Most Bluetooth receipt printers use classic Bluetooth, which a browser cannot reach. On a Chromebook, install the NegoBill Android app from the Play Store; it prints to them directly. Bluetooth label printers of the Phomemo M110 family work from the browser.
And A4 bills on a laser or inkjet printer?
Those print through the normal Chrome print dialog with the printer set up in Chrome OS.