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Klipper extras

paintress-klipper-extras adds inkjet printing to a Klipper machine. It loads jobs into the daemon, calculates print bounds and coordinates gantry motion for each swath.

Source code: paintress-team/paintress-klipper-extras.

Not part of Klipper

This plugin is maintained by Paintress, not by the Klipper project, and is not affiliated with or endorsed by it. Report problems with the plugin to Paintress rather than to Klipper.

The plugin communicates with the daemon over TCP through PaintressdClient. The daemon handles data streaming and communication with the firmware.

extras/paintress.py

Registers the PAINTRESS_* G-code commands (connect, open payload, compute print bounds, purge, trigger test, print and the rest), drives gantry motion and runs the swath-by-swath print loop. A [paintress] config section enables it.

For each swath it moves the head to the swath start, arms the swath, and sweeps X at print_speed while the firmware fires. It does not stream swath data; the daemon does that.

After each sweep, the plugin waits up to about 3 s for that swath's print_complete event. This catches a missing trigger on the affected swath. It polls the event stream in short intervals so Klipper's reactor stays responsive.

extras/paintress_head.py

This module registers optional [paintress_head <name>] sections. Select one with head: in [paintress]. Each section stores the mounted head's offsets and available purge channels. You can configure several heads and switch by changing that selection.

The job's pass schedule defines the swath positions; the head section supplies mounting offsets. The daemon separately checks that the job matches the configured head.

extras/paintressd_client.py

This synchronous TCP client lets paintress.py load jobs and arm swaths. It can also run on its own to test daemon connectivity. A print still requires Klipper motion and the hardware trigger.

The plugin can use Klipper's exclude_object polygons to position an image over a 3D-printed object. It derives the travel rectangle from the job's pass schedule. Heads with stacked inks need lead-in passes below the image origin, so travel can extend beyond the image bounds. See Swaths and passes.

Failure model

A failure cancels the 2D job. The plugin aborts the firmware, returns the head to its stored position and handles the error so an enclosing 3D print can continue. The 2D job must restart from its first swath; it cannot resume partway through.

Start trigger

The plugin splits each sweep at trigger_distance and raises the [output_pin] named by trigger_output_pin with SET_PIN. Both are set in the [paintress] section. The motion MCU emits the edge at the scheduled X position, avoiding TCP and USB timing jitter. Both moves follow the same line, so the head passes through the split without stopping.