Ticketmax

Print markdown files to an ESC/POS thermal receipt printer over TCP, USB, or serial. Supports headings, bold, underline, tables, images, QR codes, paper cuts, and buzzer.

Print markdown files to a thermal receipt printer. Write a .md file with standard markdown and ticketmax renders it on any ESC/POS printer over TCP, USB, or serial.

Setup

Set PRINTER_ADDR to your printer's address:

bash

# TCP:
export PRINTER_ADDR=192.168.1.100:9100
# USB:
export PRINTER_ADDR=/dev/usb/lp0
# Serial:
export PRINTER_ADDR=/dev/ttyUSB0

Usage

bash

# Print a markdown file
ticketmax report.md

# Pipe from stdin
echo "# Hello World" | ticketmax -

# Check printer connectivity
ticketmax -status

# Print a test receipt
ticketmax -test

Flags

Flag	Default	Description
-addr	127.0.0.1:9100	Printer host:port or device path (env: PRINTER_ADDR)
-baud	9600	Baud rate for serial connections
-timeout	5s	Network connection timeout
-width	46	Paper width in characters (1–120)
-spacing	20	Line spacing in printer units (0–255)
-test		Print test receipt and exit
-status		Check connectivity and exit

Markdown Syntax

Markdown	Printer Output
# Heading	Bold, double-size, centered
## Heading	Bold, double-width, centered
### Heading	Bold
**bold text**	Bold line
<u>text</u>	Underlined line
---	Separator line
| A | B |	Two columns (right-aligned values)
| A | B | C |	Three columns
	Print image (PNG, JPEG, GIF)
```qr	QR code block
<!-- cut -->	Cut paper
<!-- beep -->	Buzzer (1 beep)
<!-- beep N -->	Buzzer (N beeps)

Example

To print a report, write markdown to a temp file and pipe it to ticketmax:

bash

cat <<'EOF' > /tmp/report.md
# Morning Report

## Sales

| Item | Revenue |
| --- | --- |
| Widget A | $1,234 |
| Gadget B | $567 |

---

**Low stock: Widget A (3 units)**

```qr
https://dashboard.example.com

EOF

ticketmax /tmp/report.md

text

Or pipe directly from stdin:

```bash
echo "# Alert\n\n**Server down at $(date)**\n\n<!-- beep 3 -->" | ticketmax -