Packages

Packages

CrossEscPos is split into layered, independently-usable packages so you can take only what you need — the headless emulator, a render backend, the transports, and/or the Avalonia controls.

Package	What it gives you	Depends on
CrossEscPos.Abstractions	Backend-agnostic contracts: IReceiptCanvas, IReceiptImage, IReceiptImageFactory, ITypefaceProvider, IImageEncoder, IReceiptPrintable, IPrinterResponder	—
CrossEscPos.Core	The headless ESC/POS emulator: ReceiptPrinter, the interpreter, the receipt document model, barcode/QR	Abstractions
CrossEscPos.Rendering.Skia	The default render backend (SkiaSharp, native); fonts embedded	Abstractions
CrossEscPos.Rendering.ImageSharp	A 100% managed render backend (ImageSharp) — no native dependency, runs in the browser (WASM) with no native relink; byte-compatible output with Skia	Abstractions
CrossEscPos.Transports	TCP / serial / USB transports that feed a printer (desktop)	Core
CrossEscPos.Controls	Reusable Avalonia controls: ReceiptView, PrinterStatePanel	Core, Avalonia

Everything lives under the single CrossEscPos.* namespace root (organized by feature, e.g. CrossEscPos.Emulator, CrossEscPos.Graphics, CrossEscPos.Controls), so types resolve across the packages regardless of which one they ship in.

How the packages depend on each other

flowchart BT
    Abstractions["CrossEscPos.Abstractions"]
    Core["CrossEscPos.Core"] --> Abstractions
    Skia["CrossEscPos.Rendering.Skia"] --> Abstractions
    ImageSharp["CrossEscPos.Rendering.ImageSharp"] --> Abstractions
    Transports["CrossEscPos.Transports"] --> Core
    Controls["CrossEscPos.Controls"] --> Core
    Controls --> Abstractions

    Host(["your host app"]) -.-> Core
    Host -.->|"pick one backend"| Skia
    Host -.->|"…or"| ImageSharp
    Host -.-> Controls
    Host -.-> Transports

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Choosing a render backend

	Rendering.Skia	Rendering.ImageSharp
Implementation	native libSkiaSharp	100% managed (SixLabors.ImageSharp)
Browser (WASM)	needs wasm-tools + native relink (~23 MB runtime)	just works — no native relink
Speed	faster (native raster)	fine for receipt rendering
Output	reference	byte-compatible with Skia
Default in	desktop app, server	browser app

Both embed JetBrains Mono and produce the same receipts. See Rendering & Backends.

Install

The packages are on NuGet, published by the Release workflow on each v* tag:

dotnet add package CrossEscPos.Core
dotnet add package CrossEscPos.Rendering.Skia
# or the managed backend:
dotnet add package CrossEscPos.Rendering.ImageSharp
# …and Controls / Transports as needed

Prefer local builds? dotnet pack -c Release emits the .nupkg files under each project's bin/Release, or reference the projects directly with dotnet add reference.