Show HN: Printercow – Turn any thermal printer into an API endpoint

I've always been fascinated by thermal printers – there's something magical about seeing text and images materialize on paper in seconds. But I found that working with them programmatically was always a pain. You either had to deal with ancient printer protocols or use clunky vendor-specific SDKs. So I built Printercow (https://printercow.com) – it turns any thermal printer into an HTTP endpoint with just one command.

Technical details: - Supports any ESC/POS compatible printer (Epson, Star Micronics, etc.) - Handles paper widths from 58mm to 120mm - Automatic image dithering and scaling - Built-in failover protection for high-volume scenarios

Don't have a printer yet but want to try it out? I've got you covered! When you sign-up you get 300 free prints and you can watch your creations come to life on my printer via Twitch live stream (https://twitch.tv/printercow). Perfect for testing your integration before committing to hardware.

I'm particularly excited about the AI integration possibilities. Instead of yet another chat interface, you can have AI generate content that exists in the physical world – artwork, poems, todo lists, custom receipts, etc.

Would love to hear your thoughts, feature requests, or creative use cases you can think of! Also happy to answer any technical questions about the implementation.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778771

Points: 45

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https://www.printercow.com/