windows_printer 0.2.1

A Flutter plugin for managing and interacting with printers on Windows platforms.

Windows Printer

A comprehensive Flutter plugin for managing and interacting with printers on Windows platforms, with specialized support for both regular printers and thermal/receipt printers.

Features

• Universal Printer Support: Works with regular office printers and thermal/receipt printers
• Printer Management: Get available printers, set default printer, view properties
• Thermal Printer Support: Built-in ESC/POS command generation for receipt printers
• Multiple Print Modes: Raw data, PDF documents, and rich text with formatting
• Advanced Configuration: Paper size details, printer properties, and settings dialog

Requirements

• Windows platform
• Flutter 3.0.0 or higher
• Windows 10 or higher (recommended)

Installation

Add this to your package's pubspec.yaml file:

dependencies:
  windows_printer: ^0.2.0

Quick Start

Import the package:

import 'package:windows_printer/windows_printer.dart';

Basic Example:

// Get available printers
List<String> printers = await WindowsPrinter.getAvailablePrinters();

// Print to default printer
if (printers.isNotEmpty) {
  // Print a PDF file
  final file = File('document.pdf');
  final bytes = await file.readAsBytes();
  await WindowsPrinter.printPdf(data: bytes);
}

Thermal/Receipt Printer Usage

Built-in ESC/POS Receipt Builder:

import 'package:windows_printer/windows_printer.dart';

Future<void> printReceipt() async {
  // Create receipt using built-in builder
  final receipt = WPReceiptBuilder(wpPaperSize: WPPaperSize.mm80)
    .header('COFFEE SHOP')
    .subtitle('123 Main Street')
    .separator()
    .item('Coffee', '\$3.50')
    .item('Muffin', '\$2.75')
    .separator()
    .total('\$6.25')
    .footer('Thank you!')
    .drawer() // Open cash drawer
    .build();

  // Print to thermal printer
  await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
    printerName: 'Your Thermal Printer',
    data: Uint8List.fromList(receipt),
    useRawDatatype: true, // Essential for thermal printers
  );
}

Advanced ESC/POS Generator:

Future<void> printAdvancedReceipt() async {
  final generator = WPESCPOSGenerator(paperSize: WPPaperSize.mm58);
  
  // Add content with custom styling
  generator.text('RECEIPT', style: const WPTextStyle(
    bold: true, 
    align: WPTextAlign.center, 
    size: WPTextSize.doubleHeightWidth
  ));
  
  generator.separator();
  generator.text('Coffee        \$3.50');
  generator.separator();
  
  // Add barcode
  generator.barcode(WPBarcodeType.code128, '123456789012');
  
  // Add image
  generator.image(imageData, width, height);
  
  // Add QR code
  generator.qrCode('https://example.com/receipt');
  
  // Hardware controls
  generator.openDrawer();
  generator.beep();
  generator.cut();
  
  // Print the generated bytes
  await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
    data: Uint8List.fromList(generator.getBytes()),
    useRawDatatype: true,
  );
}

Important Notes for Thermal Printers:

Always use useRawDatatype: true for thermal printers:

// Correct - Direct printer control:
await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
  data: escPosData,
  useRawDatatype: true,  // RAW mode - data sent directly to printer
);

// Problematic - Windows processes the data:
await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
  data: escPosData,
  useRawDatatype: false, // TEXT mode - Windows handles formatting
);

Why RAW mode matters:

• RAW Mode (true): Data is sent directly to the printer without Windows processing. The printer interprets ESC/POS commands directly, giving you full programmatic control.
• TEXT Mode (false): Windows processes the data as a text document, which can result in formatting issues and blank pages for thermal printers.

Emoji Limitations: Thermal printers use ASCII/Extended ASCII character sets, not Unicode. Emojis will not display correctly - use ASCII alternatives instead.

Using External ESC/POS Package:

You can also use the popular esc_pos_utils package:

import 'package:esc_pos_utils/esc_pos_utils.dart';

Future<void> printWithEscPosUtils() async {
  final profile = await CapabilityProfile.load();
  final generator = Generator(PaperSize.mm80, profile);
  List<int> bytes = [];

  bytes += generator.text('Hello World');
  bytes += generator.cut();

  await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
    data: Uint8List.fromList(bytes),
    useRawDatatype: true,
  );
}

Regular Printer Usage

Rich Text Documents:

await WindowsPrinter.printRichTextDocument(
  printerName: 'HP LaserJet',
  content: '''##INVOICE##
  
**Company Name**
123 Business Street

**Bill To:**
Customer Name

**Items:**
- **Coffee** - \$3.50
- *Special Sandwich* - \$7.25

**Total: \$10.75**

*Thank you for your business!*
  ''',
  fontName: 'Arial',
  fontSize: 12,
);

PDF Printing:

// Load PDF file
final file = File('invoice.pdf');
final pdfData = await file.readAsBytes();

await WindowsPrinter.printPdf(
  printerName: 'Office Printer',
  data: pdfData,
  copies: 2,
);

Complete API Reference

Core Methods

1. Get Available Printers

List<String> printers = await WindowsPrinter.getAvailablePrinters();

2. Get Printer Properties

Map<String, dynamic> properties = await WindowsPrinter.getPrinterProperties("Printer Name");

3. Get Paper Size Details

Map<String, dynamic> paperDetails = await WindowsPrinter.getPaperSizeDetails("Printer Name");

4. Print Raw Data

await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
  printerName: "Printer Name", // Optional, uses default if null
  data: Uint8List.fromList([...]), // ESC/POS commands or raw data
  useRawDatatype: true, // true=RAW mode, false=TEXT mode
);

5. Print Rich Text Document

await WindowsPrinter.printRichTextDocument(
  printerName: "Printer Name",
  content: "**Bold** and *italic* text with ##headers##",
  fontName: "Arial", // Optional, default: "Courier New"
  fontSize: 12, // Optional, default: 12
);

6. Print PDF Documents

await WindowsPrinter.printPdf(
  printerName: "Printer Name", // Optional, uses default if null
  data: pdfBytes,
  copies: 1, // Optional, default: 1
);

7. Set Default Printer

bool success = await WindowsPrinter.setDefaultPrinter("Printer Name");

8. Open Printer Properties Dialog

bool success = await WindowsPrinter.openPrinterProperties("Printer Name");

Printer Type Guide

Printer Type	Recommended Method	Use Case	Important Notes
Thermal/Receipt	printRawData()	Receipts, labels, POS	Must use useRawDatatype: true
Regular Office	printRichTextDocument()	Documents, reports	Windows handles formatting
Any Printer	printPdf()	Universal documents	Works with any printer type

ESC/POS Utilities

Paper Sizes

WPPaperSize.mm58  // 58mm thermal paper
WPPaperSize.mm80  // 80mm thermal paper

Text Styling

const WPTextStyle(
  bold: true,
  italic: true,
  underline: true,
  align: WPTextAlign.center,
  size: WPTextSize.doubleHeightWidth,
  invert: true,
)

Barcode Types

WPBarcodeType.upca   // 0
WPBarcodeType.upce   // 1
WPBarcodeType.ean13  // 2
WPBarcodeType.ean8   // 3
WPBarcodeType.code39 // 4
WPBarcodeType.itf    // 5
WPBarcodeType.codabar// 6
WPBarcodeType.code93 // 72
WPBarcodeType.code128// 73

Image Printing

generator.image(imageData, width, height);

Common Issues & Solutions

Thermal Printer Issues

// Correct for thermal printers:
await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(
  data: escPosData,
  useRawDatatype: true, // ESSENTIAL - sends data directly to printer
);

// Causes formatting issues:
await WindowsPrinter.printRawData(useRawDatatype: false);

Examples

Check the /example folder for complete working examples:

• Basic printer operations
• Thermal receipt printing
• Regular document printing
• ESC/POS usage

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.