Before you are ready to print postage for your shipments, you’ll want to make sure you’ve installed and set up your printer. Your Chit Chats account is optimized for printing postage labels on thermal label printers that use the Zebra programming language (ZPL). These include almost all Zebra printers and some models of Citizen and Dymo printers.

  • e.g. Zebra ZP450, Zebra LP 2844-Z, Zebra GX420D, DYMO LabelWriter 4XL, Citizen CL-S521

While we strongly recommend using a ZPL thermal printer for printing postage from the Chit Chats platform, we also have instructions for printing your labels from your non-ZPL thermal printer or standard desktop printer.

Connect your printer

If you have already configured your printer for your computer, please skip to the next section.

Before you begin the printer setup, ensure that your printer is connected to your computer and a power source. You should be prompted to install the printer driver after connecting to your computer. If not, you can do a quick search for the driver online or use this tool to find the appropriate driver.

For Mac users, add the printer via System Preferences:

  1. Navigate to System Preferences > Printers
  2. Click the ‘+’ to add the printer (provide password of an administrator account if necessary). Select the ZPL printer from the list of printers.
  3. For the driver click “Select Software” and choose the “Zebra ZPL Printer” from the available options.

You can make a test print on your printer to make sure it is properly connected by heading to your printer settings. If you experience difficulties with connecting your printer, we recommend contacting your printer’s manufacturer for technical support or checking out our troubleshooting tips.

Set up your printer with Chit Chats

When setting up to print labels from your ZPL printer, we recommend first installing Java 8 or higher on your computer. Afterwards, you must download the Chit Chats Printer App printer plug-in; however, you have the option to use QZ Tray. These printer plugins are used on the Chit Chats platform to print postage. For more information about QZ tray, check out the minimum system requirements.

Using the Chit Chats Printer App:

  1. Go to your Shipping settings. Settings (left sidebar) > Printing .

  2. Under the Printer App section on the right hand side, select 'Chit Chats Print App’ then the ‘printer setup’ link.

  3. Download and install the app applicable to your computer’s software.


    Note: If using a Mac and a verification error is received, "right click” then “open" to get around the warning. Please refer to the macOS     support page for troubleshooting if the error does not disappear.

  4. Once the app is installed, open the app and log in with your Chit Chats email and password.



  5. Select your printer and print test.



    Once the above steps are complete the app will show you available printers and the printer it is currently using.

Using QZ tray: 

  1. Download and Install the latest 2.x version of QZ Tray. 

  2. Select your ZPL printer from the list of available connected printers on chitchats.com/printer. 

Print a test label to check the connection and label alignment. Your printer should now be ready to print postage labels from the Chit Chats platform.

If the above steps do not work for you, you may need to try our our advanced instructions.