Cat Printer 0.5.1

Cat Printer has a logo now: a till receipt whose top edge turns into cat ears.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

New

• New tray icon – the receipt cat with the coloured status dot (green ready, blue printing, orange cooling, red error). Works on light and dark taskbars.
• New exe icon in all sizes, with a simplified cut for 16–32 px.
• Status page shows the logo in the header and as the browser-tab icon.
• Logo files in docs/logo/: symbol, wordmark, horizontal and stacked versions in colour, black, white and for dark backgrounds, plus an app icon and a short usage guide.

Nothing else changed – printing, settings and history work as in 0.5.0.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

Windows caches icons, so shortcuts may show the old cat for a while after updating.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: 2DEF590D5F7CCD5EEF17C43ADBA352EE4F218E0F0CE89C0EE93FB426898BD32B

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Cat Printer hat jetzt ein Logo – einen Kassenbon mit Katzenohren. Neu sind Tray-Symbol (mit Statuspunkt), exe-Icon und das Logo auf der Statusseite; sonst hat sich nichts geändert. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.5.0

Cat Printer now speaks English throughout.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

New

• Everything in German or English: tray menu, tooltip and notifications, error messages (e.g. printer off, invalid settings), the printer status shown in Windows, the installer dialogs and the printed test pages – in addition to the status page.
• Language setting: Automatic (default, follows the Windows display language), Deutsch or English. Change it in the new tray submenu Language / Sprache, with the DE | EN switch on the status page (it now switches the whole program) or in the status page settings.
• The log file stays German (it is only meant for troubleshooting).

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: CEBD1B339D2DCAB67161D361209461EAAA8F08E479877A6D8FCA34A1822D4884

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Tray-Symbol, Benachrichtigungen, Fehlermeldungen, Installer und Testseiten gibt es jetzt auch auf Englisch. Die Sprache folgt standardmäßig Windows und lässt sich im Tray-Menü, mit dem DE | EN-Schalter auf der Statusseite oder in deren Einstellungen umstellen. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.4.2

The status page now speaks English.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

New

• German / English status page. A DE | EN switch next to the status (top right) changes the language instantly. The choice is remembered in the browser; on the first visit the page follows the browser language. Dates and numbers use the matching format. Messages that come from the server itself (e.g. the error text of a failed job) are still German.

Fixed

• Virus scanners briefly lock freshly written files. Saving a history entry could then fail silently, and in rare cases also the settings or the stored battery reading. Saving now retries while the file is locked.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: 67105217F02BA5FE07EDADA44059279E3B3C6A81D1FD17FA8315286711843C78

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Die Statusseite lässt sich jetzt oben rechts zwischen Deutsch und Englisch umschalten. Außerdem behoben: Wenn der Virenscanner eine frisch gespeicherte Datei kurz sperrte, konnte ein Verlaufseintrag verloren gehen. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.4.1

Detects charging and tells you when the battery is full.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

New

• Charging detection. With the USB cable plugged in, the printer reports its charging voltage, so the battery percentage looked too high. The driver now recognises charging from a voltage jump between two idle readings and shows „lädt …“ (charging) instead of a percentage, pauses the low-battery warnings and checks every 5 minutes.
• "Fully charged" notification once per charge, when the charging voltage has reached the top twice in a row – no matter how empty the battery was before.
• Unplugging is detected from the voltage dropping again; the last reading is kept in battery.json, so this works across restarts and updates too.

Verified on the printer: 7.78 V with cable → 7.56 V unplugged (real level 46 %) → 7.76 V plugged in again, detected as charging.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: 95584DAD0ED9D9D810851674DF12FEC6ECCB26020532B8C9D64C934681C9B9BF

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Erkennt jetzt, wenn der Drucker am USB-Kabel lädt, zeigt „lädt …“ statt einer zu hohen Prozentzahl und meldet „voll geladen“, sobald der Akku voll ist. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.4.0

Automatic battery warning.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

New

• Battery level in percent, estimated from the voltage of the printer's two-cell Li-ion battery (8.4 V = full). Shown in the tray tooltip and on the status page with a bar (green / orange when low / red when almost empty).
• Automatic battery check every 30 minutes while nothing is printing (adjustable on the status page, 0 = off). If the printer is off, the check fails silently and Bluetooth is released right away. The level is also measured after every print.
• Warnings – each shown once until the battery has been recharged: low (15 %, adjustable), almost empty (5 %), plus fully charged after charging. The warning also appears as the Windows printer status.
• Replaces the old fixed warning at 6.8 V, which was already nearly empty.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: 2E85A2BD0621BE790AD87CC7646B0A7FC6D2B459B16D4D208BAB16D0D70C48C3

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Akkustand in Prozent (Tray und Statusseite), automatische Prüfung alle 30 Minuten und Warnungen bei „schwach“ (15 %), „fast leer“ (5 %) sowie „voll geladen“. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen – Einstellungen bleiben erhalten.

Cat Printer 0.3.3

Fixes cut-off prints when several jobs are printed back to back.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

Fixed

• Queued prints were cut off. When several photos were printed one after another, the end of each one was missing and a white line could appear. Two causes, both fixed:
  • Every job started with ESC @ (reset), which discards whatever the printer still has in its buffer. It is no longer sent.
  • The Bluetooth connection was closed after each job and reopened for the next one, while the printer was still printing. The connection now stays open and is only closed after 90 s without a job. A dead connection (printer switched off and on) is replaced automatically.
• False "too hot" alarm: with jobs back to back, the full printer buffer briefly blocks sending (up to ~13 s). This was mistaken for a heat pause. A heat pause is now only reported when sending blocks for more than 30 s or the printer's heat flag is set.

Tested: three dark photos queued back to back print completely.

Note: after a print, the WalkPrint phone app can't connect to the printer for about 90 seconds (Bluetooth allows only one connection).

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: B8ED5BC9100D554D946C0BE8B0C54CB9EAD59EC1A389DA8E467BB26E855F0D1F

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Behebt abgeschnittene Drucke, wenn mehrere Fotos direkt hintereinander gedruckt werden, und einen Fehlalarm „zu heiß“. Nach einem Druck kann sich die WalkPrint-App etwa 90 Sekunden lang nicht verbinden. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.3.1

Handles the printer's overheat protection.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

Fixed / new

• No more aborted jobs during a heat pause. After many dark prints in a row the printer stops for about 1–2 minutes to cool down and blocks further data. The old 15 s send timeout could abort the job; it now waits up to 5 minutes.
• Cool-down before the next job: the driver reads the printer's "head too hot" flag (bit 0x40 of DLE EOT 3) and waits until it clears, instead of letting the printer pause in the middle of an image.
• Visible status: "Zu heiß – kühlt ab …" (orange) on the tray icon and the status page, as the Windows printer state message, plus one notification.

Measured: five dark photos in a row (~30 cm in under 20 s) triggered the protection; the flag cleared about one minute after printing. Details in PROTOCOL.md.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs or updates (settings are kept), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: C65A92036E1D80EC682AC0D8D46F909AC4EF08BFFFBB6FBB8C895A4199208FDA

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Der Drucker schützt sich bei vielen dunklen Drucken am Stück vor Überhitzung und pausiert. Die neue Version bricht dabei keine Aufträge mehr ab, wartet vor dem nächsten Druck, bis er abgekühlt ist, und zeigt „Zu heiß – kühlt ab …“ an. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen.

Cat Printer 0.3.0

Print from your phone, and better photo tones.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11, Android on a Pixel 6a). Use at your own risk.

New

• Printing from phones (optional, off by default): switch on „Im Heimnetz freigeben“ on the status page. The printer then appears in your Wi-Fi as "Cat Printer @ " – Android's built-in Default Print Service finds it, no extra app needed.
  • Only printing is reachable from the network, only from private addresses; status page, settings and history stay on the PC.
  • Needs admin rights once for two firewall rules (private networks only). Uninstalling removes them.
• Phone photos look like PC photos: Windows lightens photo shadows when printing, phones don't – so phone photos came out darker. Photos from the network now get the same tone curve (on by default).
• Photo brightness slider (−30 … +50 %) for all photos. Text and graphics are never changed.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click: Yes installs (or updates an existing installation, keeping settings), No runs it without installing. For a fully portable copy, put an empty file named portable next to the exe.

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: 488ECB4037BBAE64B9AE00BA3FB5A2F1914433B1CD755DBF8F22C005723E6797

Full guide: README · Deutsche Anleitung

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: Neu ist Drucken vom Handy über das Heimnetz (auf der Statusseite „Im Heimnetz freigeben“ einschalten, standardmäßig aus), gleiche Fotohelligkeit bei Handy- und PC-Drucken sowie ein Regler „Foto-Helligkeit“. Zum Aktualisieren die neue CatPrinter.exe starten und Ja wählen – Einstellungen bleiben erhalten.

Cat Printer 0.2.0

First Windows release: use a YHK Bluetooth "cat printer" (WalkPrint app) as a normal Windows 11 printer in every program.

Note

Programmed with AI. Code, protocol analysis and documentation were written by an AI assistant (Anthropic's Claude, via Claude Code) and tested by a human on real hardware (a YHK-… printer on Windows 11). Use at your own risk.

Download

CatPrinter.exe – double-click and choose:

• Yes – install to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CatPrinter, start at logon (tray icon), Start menu entry, uninstall via Settings → Apps. Adds the Windows printer "Cat Printer" if missing (the only admin prompt).
• No – just run it from where it is, without installing.

For a fully portable copy (e.g. USB stick), put an empty file named portable next to the exe – settings then stay in a CatPrinterData folder beside it.

Requirements: Windows 11, printer paired via Settings → Bluetooth & devices (it appears as YHK-… with a Bluetooth serial COM port).

Warning

The exe is not code-signed. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" – click More info → Run anyway. Some antivirus programs wrongly flag PyInstaller executables. You can also build it yourself with build.ps1 or run from source.

SHA256 CatPrinter.exe: E8E42022611BD5F14F720D10687CBAFA4469C09D1D6654C4B55FD9FA32604F82

Features

• Local IPP print server + built-in Microsoft IPP Class Driver – no driver signing needed
• ESC/POS over Bluetooth serial, 384 dots / 58 mm paper, density setting
• Text stays crisp, photos are dithered (Draft / Normal / High print quality)
• Rotation, paper saving (blank space trimmed), automatic paper feed
• Tray icon with status, battery voltage and notifications
• Status page (http://127.0.0.1:631/) with job list, editable settings, test page and sample prints
• Optional history of printed jobs to view and print again – off by default for privacy

Full guide: README · Deutsche Anleitung

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🇩🇪 Kurz auf Deutsch: CatPrinter.exe herunterladen, doppelklicken, Ja zum Installieren oder Nein zum Starten ohne Installation. Die exe ist nicht signiert – bei der SmartScreen-Warnung Weitere Informationen → Trotzdem ausführen. Mit KI programmiert, auf echter Hardware getestet.