Open Printer
www.crowdsupply.com
Finally, an open hardware printer you can actually understand, repair, and upgrade

I stumbled across this link in the comment of another post, and thought it was super promising!

Someone mentioned something about in the US, this would be illegal due to DRM laws - not sure about the specifics of this, but regardless an open source printer seems like something we’ve needed for ages, as printers are something that always seem like way more of a headache then they need to be. It seems like such a simple technology that has existed for quite some time, but they are always such a pain to deal with. (Maybe it’s just my bad luck with printers?)

  • Galactose@sopuli.xyz
    14·
    10 hours ago

    The only thing we are missing is a scanner. Now if only we had a FOSH-Scanner (FOSH = Free & Open-Source Hardware)

  • ☂️-@lemmy.ml
    261·
    18 hours ago

    pretty stupid that we need shit like this in the first place, but thank foss this exists.

  • GaumBeist@lemmy.ml
    654·
    22 hours ago

    >inkjet

    LED printers have been around for fucking ever, and the average person doesn’t need the graphic fidelity that only an overpriced pigment soup, which goes bad in a month, can supply.

    Oh, and literally every part of a toner-based printer is easier to replace/repair… so why would a printer designed around repairability and upgradability use ink???

    Edit’ And I almost forgot: toner is cheaper per page than ink! Whyyy???

    • einfach_orangensaft@sh.itjust.works
      39·
      22 hours ago

      because it makes it way more easy to build such a “open source” printer, the print head with all its mems chips structures is already on the ink cardrige, meaning hardware wise this thing is just a 2 stepper motors, one for x and y axis.

      laser/led printers would be in fact the superior printer, but it would also be way more complex hardware wise.

      • NathanUp@lemmy.mlEnglish
        15·
        22 hours ago

        This. Based on my (elementary) understanding of laser printers, you have to have a laser zap a transfer belt to charge it so that it will elecromagnetically attract the toner, then precisely lay down a fine layer of toner onto the belt, then lay the microplastics + iron filings from the belt onto the page, repeat this four times, then roll the page through a tiny oven to bake on the thin, shiny layer of plastic. It’s very complicated, and have you seen the price of new fuser units or transfer belts?

    • geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml
      6·
      20 hours ago

      They’re taking an HP printer head and customizing only the motors and controls. This is a lot easier but also a lot more reliant on HP

    • Redkey@programming.dev
      2·
      20 hours ago

      Thanks to the proliferation of portable devices, a lot of people no longer need a printer for “regular” printing at all in 2026, and some of the more interesting printing substrates either don’t accept toner well or won’t survive the heat of a laser printer’s toner setting stage.

      Also, while the technology is theoretically simpler, it may be harder for an individual to source or make the physical components like rotating drums and high-res LED arrays.

        • SalmiakDragon@feddit.nuEnglish
          3·
          10 hours ago

          Not only that; I’ve read that ink-jet printers need regular use to keep blockages from forming. Anecdotally, our printer seems to need printer head cleaning whenever I actually use it.

          By the way, your comment has a formatting issue.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
      3·
      22 hours ago

      toner is cheaper per page than ink! Whyyy???

      I think a toner re-fill is a little harder to get/make/do.

      • UnfinishedProjects@piefed.zipOPEnglish
        9·
        21 hours ago

        I think it might largely depends on your 1. Career/job/ or even hobby requirements 2. Where you live (government agencies requiring paper documents, signatures, etc)

      • anon_8675309@lemmy.world
        9·
        21 hours ago
        1. I like a printed copy of recipes (I put them in page liners so they’re reusable and cleanable). Books on the counter suck.
        2. kids have projects to do.
        3. not everyone does e signatures so you have to print it sign it then scan it.

        There’s more. I’m just bored.

      • Korhaka@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        18 hours ago

        If printers didn’t suck I may consider using them by choice. Does also depend on cost per page, which I suppose varies by what you print.

      • Farvana@lemmygrad.ml
        1·
        21 hours ago

        I print recipes (don’t want to worry about spilling on devices), worksheets for my daughter, and gov’t/bank documents that require physical signatures. Occasionally I’ll make a print and play game as well.

        I don’t like the obsolescence cycle of tablets.

  • barryamelton@lemmy.world
    123·
    18 hours ago

    CC BY-NC-SA

    Not open printer. Not open source. You will only be able to get replacements from them, worse than some other printer companies…

    • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      64·
      11 hours ago

      Not sure why you’re spouting complete bullshit and where your basing those statements on.

      It pretty clearly states you’ll be able to 3D print parts yourself. It’s also using a Raspberry Pi inside, which I’m fairly sure you can buy wherever you want, so saying you can only get parts from them is complete bullshit.

      Are you a shill for printer companies or something?

      • barryamelton@lemmy.world
        5·
        6 hours ago

        NC - non commercial. Nobody is alowed to sell you the printer nor replacements. Yea you can print it yourself, for that 1% that has a printer.

        • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          12·
          1 hour ago

          Maybe actually learn to read what this applies too, the website is very clear on this.

          Their own parts are open source, the rest are readily available components.

          • barryamelton@lemmy.world
            2·
            1 hour ago

            The BY-NC-SA 4.0 is not an open source license. This printer is not open source. Stop calling it. Even if they themselves call it that way, or “open”.

  • glitching@lemmy.ml
    120·
    9 hours ago

    there is so. much. shit. already about, we don’t need another one, like this thing and fairphone and framework and whatever. we’re drowning in already produced things, nerfed by their manufacturers into bricks that can and should be repurposed by opensource solutions.

    but that’s not where you can make money, so they’re instead latching onto trends, like “open” and “repairable”, both of which are nothingburgers.

    a infinitely small percentile of users actually need the newest & best, the rest of us are fine with decade+ old hardware that can serve us a decade more.

    • UnfinishedProjects@piefed.zipOPEnglish
      2·
      5 hours ago

      I understand why you’re getting downvoted, but at the same time - I completely understand the sentiment. In a perfect world, you’re right, we should be able to reuse what we have and our society is utterly obsessed with consumerism. But being realistic and practical - that’s not going to happen for many reasons, at least not in our lifetime.

      But I think that creating something that will last, is repairable, and open source is a step in the right direction and is better than the current alternatives. I’m not saying we shouldn’t continue to advocate and push for the ideals of what you are saying - but we shouldn’t push away progress in the right direction as we fight for those ideals. It doesn’t have to be “one or the other” it can be a multipronged approach that advocates for the ideal scenario while accepting small incremental progress as well.

      I’m not saying this specific product is or is not the solution (it might be a terrible product or the people behind the product might have terrible intentions, idk. . . But the idea of products build to last, be repairable, and open for improvement, etc etc is a good step forward in my mind. Ehh, my 2 cents.

    • Cease@mander.xyz
      11·
      9 hours ago

      not exactly sure what your point is here? Having an open source repairable printer is great

      • glitching@lemmy.ml
        210·
        9 hours ago

        having ANOTHER printer getting manufactured and sold when all the printers we’re ever gonna need are already produced and out there in the world is a thing that’s sorely not needed.

        • 4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de
          9·
          8 hours ago

          A lot of printers are built to break. Ideally that would be illegal but it isn’t. I haven’t had a printer for years and whenever I look into it I just hate what I can get and continue without one. Having kids I would love to print coloring sheets sometimes so I would love to eventually buy a printer. And then I’d love to use that for decades, so this here does look promising

        • Cease@mander.xyz
          8·
          9 hours ago

          I don’t really think that the world is free from ever needing a new printer, what kind of take is that? This project promises 3d buildable components that run on a pi? Exactly how does that contribute to global e-waste if that’s your point? PLA plastic biodegrades, pis can be re-used for other stuff, and inkjet cartridges can be refilled. What possible issue could you find with a project that’s open to the public and you can construct yourself??

          • glitching@lemmy.ml
            110·
            8 hours ago

            I really don’t know how to make this simple concept any clearer - there is NO need to make ANY more printers, of ANY kind, be they bio-compostable or not, running on angel tears and rainbows or whatever.

            I dumpster dive and over the past six months I got five ancient printers (10-20 year old) that got thrown out, laser, inkjet and multifunction ones. all of them perfectly usable, work fine, easily serviceable (never done that prior to getting them), refillable with the cheapest options available. I struggle to see any application for which those things aren’t good for.

            • Cease@mander.xyz
              13·
              8 hours ago

              Oh ok, because in the country + area that YOU live in there’s a wealth of printers you can apparently find in dumpsters, and because YOU have both the physical ability and time avaliable to go diving in dumpsters, THE ENTIRE WORLD does not need a new printer??

              I need some of whatever you are smoking

    • onoira [they/them]@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      61·
      9 hours ago

      … actually one does need later hardware for a phone that will work on 5G networks.

      if i’m understanding you right, you’re saying we should be reusing old, functional hardware instead of producing brand-new shit (which just turns old stuff into ewaste). i agree. if countries repealed anticircumvention, i imagine there would be an industry for upcycling electronics.

  • David_Eight@lemmy.world
    18·
    24 hours ago

    I’ve been seeing this thing for months and there’s been no updates. Is there any word on release date/price, I really how this isn’t vaporware.

    • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      Ah you beat me to it!

      Yep.

      This is the real reason that an open source printer would get a ton of pushback… it would make it so that law enforcement agencies can’t use the detailed, near invisible, functional serial numbers that snitch on all their users.

    • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      18·
      24 hours ago

      Sounds like it comes with a refillable cartridge, but you can also use off the shelf HP cartridges.

      And since there’s no DRM, 3rd party cartridges will work too.