Comic Strips

And if you want to print photos, get it done at a lab. It'll cost more or less the same or even be cheaper, and come out much better.

I've been doing this for over a decade now. I don't use a thumbdrive though, I just email myself the thing I need to print. Go to library computer, log in to email, print right from there. Each page is 10 cents at my local branch.

Also, a lot of libraries will provide you with a "guest pass" so you can use the computers even if you don't have a library card. 10/10 highly recommended.

This came in handy for me, I dropped my phone there last time I was there on holiday, my screen shattered and I couldn't get a QR code to scan, luckily the staff at the combini helped me print it out, god knows what they thought seeing a panicked Scotsman trying to translate through Google 😄

They some other cool uses too:
Applied Science Photochemical Machining

If you need an ink jet, I can also recommend the Epson L3260 ink tank. You pay a bit more for the printer but the ink is fairly reasonable.

Yes. But I use a cheap Brother laser printer.

If I recall correctly it always screams about yellow because many printers print microscopic dots that make a code allowing law enforcement to ID the printer

It is important to point out that it isn't the brand that makes it good, it is the fact that it is laser.

I used to have a Brother "multi function center" printer/scanner/photocopier/fax that used inkjet and it was pure asshole design. Wasting expensive ink just by remaining plugged in and refusing to do anything if one cartridge was low on ink (but was actually still half full)

But if I had to single out a brand that should absolutely be avoided for printers it is HP. They do asshole DRM to a whole new level. They bricked a brand new ink cartridge because I didn't put it in properly at first.

Now I have a laser printer and the nightmare is finally over.

Mate, they sold you a printer that prints white?

This is true, and yet somehow when I buy the "XL" sized cartridges they don't feel like they lasted much longer than the "S" size that came with it.

it is if you only print rarely

Inkjet cartridges are only refillable a handful of times before components wear out if you don't screw up the refill in the first place. I used to work at an ink refill franchise, it's all trash.

A decent toner printer and a small business that will refill toner for cheap is the way to go.

Ohh God ... That's a very, very tall order.

You wouldn't think that it's that complicated. I worked in a print-on-demand house for about 5 years, The amount of black magic fuckery that goes on between streaming data into that driver and getting stuff on the page is absolutely insane.

You're standing on the backs of like 40 years of trade secrets and poorly implemented protocols at half-assed feature sets.

And then the worst part is, HP is spent the last 20 years making the printer cheaper. Most of the inkjets don't even have steppers anymore, just DC motors and a resistive feedback ribbon.

Developing a multi-platform certified signed driver would be a pretty decent hurdle as well.

Can't we just stop printing? Change things over to black and white thermal when we really need something that's pretty easy to do.

I would love to make a living lobotomizing smart devices.

The Linux version of a printer is just buy a brother color laser (or non color). I bought one for 85 bucks like 15 years ago and it still chugging along

Someone could probably do this. But it would just be a fun project, not replicable.

You'd need to write your own printer driver. There are probably some open source libraries out there to do most of the heavy lifting, but it's still a project.

The big issue is going to be the interface between the pi and the printer's "motors and wiring". Doable, but too finicky to publish a "kit" or something for someone else to replicate. It could be worth the work if it would help other people, but I don't think that's on the table.

Honestly, I think anyone with the ability to do that would probably find it easier to just build their own printer.

Yup

I think the most under appreciated aspect is that ink can dry out just from sitting around. A lot of the time and “empty” ink cartridge just evaporated off its solvents

Toner lasts forever. Perfect for occasional use