@addble/node-printer

No recompilation required when upgrading Node.js versions, thanks to N-API! 🎉

Native bind printers on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux from Node.js, Electron, and node-webkit. Supports following architectures:

• Windows - ia32, x64, arm64
• Mac - x64 & arm64 (Apple Silicon)
• Linux - ia32, x64, arm7l, arm64

Supports Node.js versions from 8.0.0 onwards, including the latest versions, thanks to the transition to N-API.

Prebuild and CI integration courtesy of @ekoeryanto in his FORK

If you have a problem, please find or create a new GitHub issue.

Supported Features

• No dependencies on NAN or V8;
• Native method wrappers for Windows and POSIX (which uses CUPS 1.4/MAC OS X 10.6) APIs;
• Compatible with Node.js versions that support N-API, ensuring long-term stability and compatibility;
• Compatible with Electron versions that support N-API, reducing the need for frequent recompilation;
• getPrinters() to enumerate all installed printers with current jobs and statuses;
• getPrinter(printerName) to get info for a specific printer;
• getDefaultPrinterName() returns the default printer name;
• printDirect(options) to send raw data to a printer. Returns a Promise.
• printFile(options) to print a file (POSIX only, e.g., macOS, Linux). Returns a Promise.
• getSupportedPrintFormats() to get supported data formats like 'RAW' and 'TEXT'.

Pre-compiled Binaries

This package ships with pre-compiled binaries for a wide range of Node.js and Electron versions on Windows, macOS, and Linux for various architectures.

While N-API provides forward compatibility (meaning a binary built for an older version may work on a newer one), we provide pre-builds for these major versions to ensure a smooth installation experience without requiring a local compiler toolchain:

• Node.js: 16, 18, 20, 22
• Electron: 15, 19, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

If you are using a version not covered by our pre-compiled binaries, the installer will attempt to build the addon from source. This requires a proper C/C++ compiler toolchain to be installed on your system.

How to install:

npm install @addble/node-printer

---

Below is the original README

---

Reason:

I was involved in a project where I needed to print from Node.js. This is the reason why I created this project and I want to share my code with others.

Features:

• No dependencies on NAN or V8;
• Native method wrappers for Windows and POSIX (which uses CUPS 1.4/MAC OS X 10.6) APIs;
• Compatible with Node.js versions that support N-API, ensuring long-term stability and compatibility;
• Compatible with Electron versions that support N-API, reducing the need for frequent recompilation;
• getPrinters() to enumerate all installed printers with current jobs and statuses;
• getPrinter(printerName) to get a specific/default printer info with current jobs and statuses;
• getPrinterDriverOptions(printerName) (POSIX only) to get a specific/default printer driver options such as supported paper size and other info;
• getSelectedPaperSize(printerName) (POSIX only) to get a specific/default printer default paper size from its driver options;
• printDirect(options) to send a job to a specific/default printer, now supports CUPS options passed in the form of a JS object (see cancelJob.js example). To print a PDF from Windows, it is possible by using node-pdfium module to convert a PDF format into EMF and then send it to the printer as EMF;
• printFile(options) (POSIX only) to print a file;
• getSupportedPrintFormats() to get all possible print formats for the printDirect method, which depends on the OS. RAW and TEXT are supported on all OSes;
• getJob(printerName, jobId) to get specific job info including job status;
• setJob(printerName, jobId, command) to send a command to a job (e.g., 'CANCEL' to cancel the job);
• getSupportedJobCommands() to get supported job commands for setJob(), depending on the OS. The 'CANCEL' command is supported on all OSes.

How to use:

See examples

Author(s):

• Ion Lupascu, ionlupascu@gmail.com

Contributors:

• Thiago Lugli, @thiagoelg
• Eko Eryanto, @ekoeryanto
• Sudheer Gupta, @susheer

Project History:

This project was originally written by Ion Lupascu using NAN and V8. It has been rewritten by @susheer to use N-API exclusively, removing dependencies on NAN and V8 to ensure better stability and compatibility with future Node.js and Electron versions.

Node.js Version Support:

This project supports Node.js versions from 8.0.0 onwards. N-API ensures that native addons do not require recompilation when upgrading Node.js versions. For more details, refer to the Node.js N-API documentation¹(https://nodejs.org/api/n-api.html).

Feel free to download, test, and propose new features.

License:

The MIT License (MIT)

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Keywords:

• node-printer
• nodejs-printer
• printer
• electron-printer
• node-addon-api
• POSIX printer
• Windows printer
• CUPS printer
• print job
• printer driver
• Mac OS printer
• Raspberry PI printer

---