← Back to articles

How to Build a Printer

2026-09-08 | original

read original get Waveshare 7.5" E-Ink Display HAT for Raspberry Pi → more articles

Why This Matters

A hobbyist turned a programmable e-ink reader into an AirPrint-style network printer by implementing the Internet Printing Protocol and Bonjour discovery on the device itself. It's a neat demonstration that 'driverless printing' standards are open enough for small devices to join, and a reminder that programmable consumer hardware invites uses its makers never planned.

Key Takeaways

The Xteink X3's programmable CrossPoint firmware let the author add custom features, but file transfer via hotspot upload was clunky enough to motivate a printing workflow.
IPP over HTTP plus Bonjour advertising is all a device needs to appear as a native printer to macOS, with the Mac rasterizing documents into Apple/PWG raster first.
Driverless discovery on macOS required the _universal mDNS subtype, reachable only via ESP-IDF's API since the Arduino wrapper didn't expose it.

Worth a Look

Waveshare 7.5" E-Ink Display HAT for Raspberry Pi — If this hacker's programmable e-ink printer project made you want to tinker, Waveshare's e-paper HAT is the classic starting point: a crisp monochrome panel that pairs with a Raspberry Pi and plenty of open-source driver code. It's the kind of hardware that invites custom firmware, boot animations, and odd protocols like IPP.

See Waveshare 7.5" E-Ink Display HAT for Raspberry Pi on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.

I was planning to build an e-ink display when I came across the Xteink X3 online. Somewhere in the fine print, it said the thing was fully programmable.

I was sold.

When it arrived, I liked how flat it was. It felt solid in my hand. I started adding things to the CrossPoint firmware: a different boot animation, dice I could roll by shaking the reader, a LinkedIn QR code for SF networking events.

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

Yuck.

While looking for a nicer way to send things to it, a thought struck me. If it looks like paper, it should act like paper.

I should be able to print on it.

What makes a printer a printer?

I wanted to open something on my MacBook, press Print, and pick the Xteink. That meant finding out what my computer expected to find at the other end.

I ended up in the Internet Printing Protocol, or IPP. It lets a computer ask a printer what it supports, submit a document, and ask what happened to the job. The messages travel over HTTP. An operation such as Get-Printer-Attributes asks about capabilities; Print-Job sends the work.

... continue reading

Explore topics: xteink x3 internet printing protocol e-ink display crosspoint firmware pwg raster