Printer

Open source toolkit for small connected printers.

Parts list
No.	Description	Qty	See
1	Enclosure, upper halfLid with paper window	1	–
2	Thermal paper roll	1
3	Thermal printer mechanismPrint head and platen	1
4	Enclosure, lower halfShell and front bezel	1	–
5	Arduino	1
6	ShieldEthernet, MicroSD reader, print button, LEDs	1
7	Printer leadThree wires	1

Fig. 1 Printer, exploded view. Scroll to take it apart; point at a number to find the part. Not to scale. “See” opens the part’s section of “Hello, Printer”.

Specification
Purpose	An open source kit for exploring the possibilities of internet-of-things-printing
Bulletins	1 service bulletin
Year	2012, first described in “Hello, Printer”
Source	github.com/exciting-io/printer
Links	Mailing list Backend server Source code Documentation
Writing	Hello, Printer Printer Questions Crimer Show Printer Publication Little Advent Calendar Publication A Little Printer Mystery
Figures	2

Parts list
No.	Description	Qty	See
1	Enclosure, upper halfLid with paper window	1	–
2	Thermal paper roll	1
3	Thermal printer mechanismPrint head and platen	1
4	Enclosure, lower halfShell and front bezel	1	–
5	Arduino	1
6	ShieldEthernet, MicroSD reader, print button, LEDs	1
7	Printer leadThree wires	1

SB 1 Update: Good Enough’s guestbook

Printer later found a second life at Good Enough, as the engine of their guestbook: visitors drew a picture on the web, and a little thermal printer printed it out, live on a YouTube stream. The printer is offline now, but every drawing it received is still in the guestbook gallery.

How does this printer work?A Good Enough Guestbook
TIL: Managing Raspberry Pi software with a bit less painGood Enough blog, 13 July 2023
A Good Enough Guestbook: every drawing it printedguestbook.goodenough.us

An open source kit for exploring the possibilities of internet-of-things printing.

**Fig. 2** The Printer: thermal printer, Arduino and breadboard, with a printout of reminders, meetings and the weather

The best background is the introductory blog post. In a nutshell, it’s a software system that makes it easy for YOU to:

build your own small internet-connected printers
produce customised content for them, and
share that content with other people who also have small internet-connected printers.

Read more about it in the introductory blog post, in the wiki or go straight to the source.

You can also get news and updates from @gfrprinter and the mailing list.

~~Send us a message or draw us a picture and it will be printed in our office.~~

Amendment These printing services, and the printer in our office, are no longer running.