PrintCatalog

High-fidelity photo grid printing — directly to your printer, bypassing the browser.

PrintCatalog is a professional-grade desktop application for arranging photos in precise grid layouts (passport photos, ID cards, contact sheets) and printing them at full resolution. By using a native Win32 GDI printing pipeline, it eliminates the quality loss and layout unpredictability common with browser-based printing.

✨ Key Features

• 🎯 Precise Grid Layouts: Define dimensions in millimeters with sub-millimeter precision. Configure rows, columns, cell sizes, gaps, and page margins.
• 🖼️ Photo Catalog: Manage a library of source photos for the current session. Drag-and-drop support (via file picker) for easy loading.
• 🛠️ Per-Cell Customization:
  • Scaling: Choose between Cover (fill cell) or Contain (fit within cell).
  • Alignment: 9-point alignment grid (Top-Left to Bottom-Right).
  • Rotation: 90° increment rotations.
  • Outlines: Toggleable inward-stroke outlines (perfect for cutting guides).
• 🖨️ Native Print Engine:
  • Bypasses Browser: Sends original pixel data directly to the OS print spooler.
  • Win32 GDI Integration: Uses StretchDIBits with HALFTONE interpolation for superior scaling.
  • Custom Paper Support: Automatically communicates custom dimensions to the printer via DEVMODE (A4, 4x6", Letter, etc.).
  • Silent Printing: Directly triggers the print job without a redundant print dialog.

🚀 How It Works

1. Configure: Set your paper size (e.g., A4 or 4x6 photo paper) and grid matrix.
2. Import: Add your high-resolution photos to the sidebar catalog.
3. Place: Select a photo and click cells in the grid to "stamp" them.
4. Tune: Click any placed photo to adjust its individual rotation, fit, or alignment.
5. Print: Click Print Direct. The application composites the high-res images and sends them to your selected printer.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 19, Vite, TailwindCSS 4, Framer Motion
• Backend: Rust (Tauri v2)
• Image Processing: image crate (lossless decoding and rotation)
• Printing: Win32 GDI via windows crate (Direct Device Context manipulation)
• State: Persistent local storage for your grid templates and session state

💻 Development

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Rust (stable)
• Windows 10/11 (required for Win32 Printing APIs and WebView2)

Setup

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run tauri dev

Build

# Create a production installer
npm run tauri build

The installer will be generated in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

📜 License

MIT