PrinterWebServer

A Flask-based print server application that automates the retrieval of images from a Nextcloud instance, applies custom visual overlays, and manages printing tasks via a modern web interface.

Features

• Nextcloud Integration: Automatically fetches new images and metadata from a specified Nextcloud folder via NextcloudFetcherThread.
• Web Dashboard: A responsive interface to monitor the current print job, manage the print queue, and view unlisted jobs.
• Overlay Editor: A built-in visual editor (editor.html) to create, save, and apply JSON-based overlays (text, images, dynamic positioning) to print jobs.
• Queue Management:
  • Auto-Print: Toggle "Print on Receive" to automatically process incoming files.
  • Manual Control: Pause/Resume the printer and manually trigger prints from the unlisted buffer.
• Cross-Platform Printing: Supports printing on Windows (via win32print) and Linux (via cups) handled in printing.py.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• A Nextcloud instance
• Linux: CUPS installed (libcups2-dev)
• Windows: A configured default printer

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd PrinterWebServer

2. Install Dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Note: On Windows, this requires pywin32. On Linux, this requires pycups.

3. Configuration Create a file named config.yml in the root directory. Based on Config.py, it requires the following structure:

   nc_username: "your_username"
   nc_password: "your_password"
   nc_images_folder: "/Photos/PrintQueue"
   nc_metadata_folder: "/Photos/Metadata"
   nc_check_time: 5  # Interval in seconds to check for new files

Usage

1. Start the Server Run the main entry point:

   python main.py

   This starts the Flask web server and the background threads for the printer manager and Nextcloud fetcher.

2. Access the Web Interface Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost:5000

3. Overlay Editor Navigate to /editor or click the "Overlay Editor" button in the header to create custom print layouts.

Project Structure

• main.py: Application entry point. Initializes the Flask app and PrintManager.
• src/: Backend logic.
  • PrintManager.py: Central controller for queues and threads.
  • PrintJob.py: Handles image processing and overlay application.
  • image/Overlay.py: Logic for rendering text and image nodes onto the base image.
• website/: Flask web application.
  • static/: CSS, JavaScript, and assets.
  • templates/: HTML templates (index.html, editor.html).