This project lets you print text messages to an MXW01 Cat Printer using a Node.js CLI and a Go BLE print worker.

• Node.js (v16+ recommended)
• Go (v1.18+ recommended)
• canvas Node.js package
• github.com/go-ble/ble Go package
• DotMatrix and DotMatrixBold TTF fonts in fonts/ directory
• MXW01 Cat Printer (or compatible)
• Linux or macOS (tested on Ubuntu)

git clone <this-repo-url>
cd <repo-directory>

npm install canvas express body-parser

• Install Go (or see below):

  sudo apt install golang-go  # or use the official Go tarball for latest version

• Build the Go print worker:

  go get github.com/go-ble/ble/linux/att@v0.0.0-20240122180141-8c5522f54333
  go get github.com/go-ble/ble/linux/hci/socket@v0.0.0-20240122180141-8c5522f54333
  go build -o catprinter catprinter.go
  chmod +x catprinter

• Place dotmatrix.ttf and dotmatrixbold.ttf in the fonts/ directory.
• These are required for the Node.js script to render text in the correct style.

Print a message to your Cat Printer:

node print.js <printer-mac-address> "Your message here"

• Example:

  node print.js 48:0F:57:12:30:9D "Hello, Cat Printer!"

• This will:
  1. Render the message as a PNG (rotated 180°, black text on white background)
  2. Call the Go print worker to send the image to your printer via BLE

Run the server

   node server.js

Open http://:3000 on your machine to print

• Make sure your printer is on and not connected to any other device.
• If you see BLE errors, try running as root or with BLE permissions:

  sudo ./catprinter debug-receipt.png <printer-mac-address>

• If the printout is blank or garbled, check the generated debug-receipt.png for correct orientation and contrast.

• You can adjust font size, line height, and intensity in the scripts.
• The Go print worker expects a 384px wide, 1-bit PNG image.

Enjoy your Cat Printer!