print-dog 0.1.3

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Print Dog

Watch a directory and automatically print PDF files as soon as they finish downloading.

Install

Install directly from the source checkout (editable):

pip install -e .

Once published to PyPI, anyone can install with:

pip install print-dog

Usage

Run the watcher with the console script that gets installed:

print-dog /path/to/watch --printer My_Printer

The folder argument is optional; if omitted the watcher monitors ~/Downloads. Use --log-level DEBUG for verbose logging.

If you omit --printer, the system default printer is used. Set it via lpoptions -d <printer-name> or list printers with lpstat -p.

Windows + SumatraPDF

To avoid per-user paths when using SumatraPDF:

print-dog "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads" --use-sumatra

--use-sumatra searches the common installation folders (%LOCALAPPDATA%, %PROGRAMFILES%, etc.) or the path pointed to by the SUMATRAPDF_PATH environment variable. Override the location or CLI flags when needed:

• --sumatra-path "C:\Custom\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe"
• --sumatra-args "-print-to \"Office Printer\" -silent"

Filter by filename

Limit processing to PDFs whose names start with specific prefixes:

print-dog --allow-prefix Invoice --allow-prefix Statement

Only files beginning with Invoice or Statement will be printed. Supply --allow-prefix multiple times to add prefixes.

Slow downloads

The watcher waits for a PDF to stabilise before printing. Tweak the behaviour when downloads are large or networks are slow:

print-dog --download-timeout 1200 --stable-checks 6 --poll-interval 1.5

• --download-timeout (seconds) controls the maximum time to wait.
• --stable-checks is the number of consecutive unchanged size checks required.
• --poll-interval (seconds) adjusts how often the file size is checked.
• Temporary files such as .crdownload or .part are ignored until they disappear, so browsers that rename at the end (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) are handled gracefully.

Testing without a printer

• Use --dry-run to simulate printing while keeping the watcher logic intact.

• Or provide a custom command that receives the file path, e.g.:

  print-dog --print-command "echo printing {file}"
  

Environment variables and ~ are expanded automatically inside --print-command, so Windows users can rely on %LOCALAPPDATA%\SumatraPDF\SumatraPDF.exe.

Building a distribution

Use python -m build (requires pip install build) to produce source and wheel distributions that can be uploaded to PyPI with twine upload dist/*. The resulting package installs the print-dog command on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

For repeatable releases, the repo ships scripts/release.sh. Run ./scripts/release.sh 0.1.x from a clean git tree; it bumps the version, builds, runs twine check, uploads, and tags. Set TWINE_USERNAME=__token__ and TWINE_PASSWORD=<pypi-token> beforehand.

Platform helpers

• Windows: run scripts\run-print-dog.bat (uses py -3.14) or scripts\run-print-dog-simple.bat (uses the default python). Both scripts upgrade the package then launch the watcher; create shortcuts for quick access and edit the PRINT_ARGS variable to set prefixes or printers.
• macOS: run scripts/run-print-dog-macos.sh. It upgrades the package and starts the watcher. Export PYTHON_BIN, WATCH_DIR, or PRINT_ARGS before execution to override defaults. Make it executable with chmod +x and launch manually or via Automator/launchd.