How to build a printer(nishantjosh.dev)
132 pointsby cat-whisperer4 hours ago10 comments
  • ValdikSS18 minutes ago
    >penguin would shrink the result to fit its screen. >I declared A5 and Letter paper, media type stationery, and an output bin called face-up.

    You can (and should!) define exact dimensions of your screen in `media-size-supported`. It will probably be a non-standard IPP name, that's why you should define that in `media-supported` as `om_NNNmmxYYYmm` or `oe_NNNinxYYYin`

    That way you don't need to scale the incoming data, the PC will format it exactly to the dimensions of the screen.

    Both PWG Raster and Apple Raster support 1-bit-per-pixel mode (instead of 8-bit-per-pixel you use), that's why the input could be 8 times less in size. Use `print-color-mode-{supported,default}=bi-level` instead of `monochrome` for that. And also tune `urf-supported`'s `W` option, use `W1` for this case.

    The screen/dithering could be ass in 1-bit mode, see https://github.com/OpenPrinting/libcupsfilters/pull/160 where I added more dithering options (Linux-only though, Apple seems to abandon their CUPS).

  • ks2048an hour ago
    Good job, but I’m left wanting to know how to build a printer.
  • jarboot2 hours ago
    This is amazing!!! It just makes sense. And its just how you would want to use a e reader.
    • cat-whisperer2 hours ago
      if it looks like a paper, it should act like a paper
      • nomel2 hours ago
        You can even fold it, once!
  • greazyan hour ago
    I don't understand the purpose. What am I missing?

    The author "prints" to the eink display. Why not load say the pdf directly?

    • cat-whispereran hour ago
      > I was thinking of this, but rendering PDF takes a lot out of a 400KB RAM'd device. It also needs a ton of things to actually work which the ROM can't hold.

      > Kindles have a ton of RAM, this one didn't.

    • stdatomican hour ago
      From the 4th line in the article:

      > But getting stuff onto it was tedious. I had to join its hotspot and open a little upload website in my browser. Yuck.

      Anyway, very creative, I like the idea a lot.

  • joshmarinaccian hour ago
    I love the concept, but I wonder why he wasn’t printing to PDF. Can this device not render PDFs?
    • cat-whispereran hour ago
      I was thinking of this, but rendering PDF takes a lot out of a 400KB RAM'd device. It also needs a ton of things to actually work which the ROM can't hold.

      Kindles have a ton of RAM, this one didn't.

    • bluGillan hour ago
      Probably not. It doesn't appear to have enough ram. I'm not sure the CPU is up to that either.
  • NDlurkeran hour ago
    Very cool. I'll be updating to this fork
    • cat-whispereran hour ago
      Thanks. It's rough around the edges, so PRs are open, and there's a recipe in the repo if you want to build your own apps.
  • sho_hn2 hours ago
    This is a fantastic idea!
  • andyfilms12 hours ago
    We finally have PADDs from Star Trek!
  • stavros2 hours ago
    I've been seeing the Xteink a lot lately. Should I get an X3 or an X4? I don't really know why I want it, but I have an eInk addiction, so I just need it.
    • a2dam2 hours ago
      I've owned all of them and the answer is the X4 Pro IMO. It has a backlight, which is the only thing I really missed on the others.
    • cat-whisperer2 hours ago
      It's funny that X3 is a successor of X4. Only downside is that X4 has a USB-C port and X3 doesn't
      • stavrosan hour ago
        What about the back light? Are they otherwise identical?
        • cat-whispereran hour ago
          X3 isn't backlit, but the battery lasts 7 days. So, it's pretty good for me
    • hamaluik34 minutes ago
      I bought an x4 a month or so ago, zero regrets. It sounds hyperbolic but it’s finally been the thing to actually decouple me from my phone. Whenever I’m out and about, bored, I just slide it out and pick up where I left off reading last. It’s a nicer reading experience on my kobo but the portability and.. frankly charm just can’t be beat.
  • Brian_K_White3 hours ago
    Outstanding! This is so...correct.