OpenPrintHub

A high-performance, cross-platform silent printing service written in Go. An open-source alternative to JSPrintManager, designed for SaaS developers to overcome browser printing limitations.

Features

• Silent Printing: Print PDF documents without user interaction
• Cross-Platform: Supports Windows, macOS, and Linux
• RESTful API: Easy integration with any web application
• WebSocket: Real-time print job status updates
• Admin Dashboard: Built-in web interface for printer management
• Lightweight: Single binary, < 20MB memory footprint

Dashboard

The built-in admin dashboard provides real-time monitoring of your print service, including printer status, job queue, and API quick reference.

Quick Start

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/medpath1024/OpenPrintHub.git
cd OpenPrintHub

# Build
make build

# Run
./build/oph

Usage

Once running, OpenPrintHub listens on two ports:

• API Server: http://localhost:16800 - For application integration
• Admin Dashboard: http://localhost:16801 - Web interface for printer management

For macOS release packages (.pkg), OpenPrintHub is installed as a launchd service and auto-starts after installation.

See API Reference below for API documentation.

API Reference

List Printers

GET /v1/printers

Response:

[
  {
    "id": "printer_1",
    "name": "Brother QL-820NWB",
    "status": "Ready",
    "is_default": true
  }
]

Submit Print Job

POST /v1/print
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "printer": "Brother QL-820NWB",
  "type": "pdf",
  "data": "JVBERi0xLjQK...",
  "name": "invoice-001.pdf",
  "settings": {
    "copies": 1,
    "orientation": "portrait",
    "paper_size": "A4",
    "duplex": "none"
  }
}

Response:

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "queued"
}

Submit Batch Print Jobs

POST /v1/print/batch
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "printer": "Brother QL-820NWB",
  "jobs": [
    {"type": "pdf", "data": "JVBERi0xLjQK...", "name": "doc1.pdf"},
    {"type": "image", "data": "/9j/4AAQSkZJRg...", "name": "label.png"}
  ]
}

Response:

{
  "batch_id": "batch-1234567890",
  "total": 2,
  "queued": 2,
  "failed": 0,
  "jobs": [
    {"job_id": "...", "status": "queued"},
    {"job_id": "...", "status": "queued"}
  ]
}

Get Job Status

GET /v1/jobs/:id

Cancel Job

POST /v1/jobs/:id/cancel

Response:

{
  "job_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "status": "cancelled",
  "message": "Cancelled by user"
}

WebSocket Status Updates

const ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:16800/v1/ws');
ws.onmessage = (event) => {
  const status = JSON.parse(event.data);
  console.log('Job status:', status);
};

Configuration

Flag	Default	Description
-port	16800	API server port
-web-port	port+1	Web admin dashboard port (default: 16801)
-cors	*	Allowed CORS origins (comma-separated)
-version	-	Show version and exit

Supported Print Types

Type	Description
pdf	PDF document (Base64 encoded)
raw	Raw printer commands (ESC/POS, ZPL, TSPL)
image	Image file (Base64 encoded)

Print Settings

Setting	Type	Description
copies	int	Number of copies (default: 1)
orientation	string	portrait or landscape
paper_size	string	Paper size: A4, Letter, etc.
color_mode	string	color, grayscale, or mono
duplex	string	none, long-edge, or short-edge
fit_to_page	bool	Scale content to fit page
dpi	int	Image DPI (default: 300, image type only)
scale_mode	string	fit, fill, stretch, none (image type only)

Platform Support

Platform	Print Method	Status
macOS	CUPS/lp command	✅ Supported
Windows	winspool API	✅ Supported
Linux	CUPS/lp command	✅ Supported

Development

# Run tests
make test

# Build for all platforms
make build-all

# Run in development mode
make dev

License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.

Acknowledgments

OpenPrintHub is designed as an open-source alternative to commercial solutions like JSPrintManager, providing modern web developers with a free, lightweight option for silent printing capabilities.