Reviving Old Printers with Modern Web Apps

I stumbled upon a Canon SELPHY photo printer through a trade with a friend, only to discover its incompatibility with modern operating systems like macOS and Windows. Fortunately, my Linux-based Manjaro system could handle it, allowing me to set up AirPrint for family use. This sparked an idea: could I create a solution to make these printers accessible to everyone, not just Linux users?

I embarked on a journey with Claude Code, a modern LLM, to develop a native Mac app that could run a Linux VM and manage the printer via USB. However, realizing the limitations of a Mac-only solution, I pivoted to a web app using Chrome's WebUSB, enabling cross-platform accessibility without installation hassles.

The core of the web app is v86, an x86 emulator that runs Alpine Linux with CUPS and Gutenprint. It connects to printers via WebUSB, using trigrams to match drivers and sending print commands through an emulated environment. This setup initially faced challenges, such as data flow issues, which I resolved by implementing a two-way communication bridge using USB/IP and tcpip.js.

Further enhancements included embedding JPEGs in PDFs for better print quality and converting HEIC images from Apple devices using a pipeline that preserves color profiles. I also added affiliate links and basic telemetry to track usage.

This project, printervention.app, aims to save old printers from landfill and potentially support other Gutenprint-compatible models. While I haven't open-sourced the project, I see potential for collaboration with printer consumables firms.