There’s an astounding level of detail and thoroughness in Mixtela’s report on hacking a Polaroid camera to print on thermal paper. It reads almost like a pulp novel.
It was about 7pm when I finally got the whole thing closed up and apparently intact. I didn’t have time to test it. I just chucked everything in my bag and headed out.
Although everything should have been dandy, I hadn’t actually done one of the most crucial bits, that is, tie everything together with bash scripts.
So, coolest kid on the block, I arrived at the New Year’s Eve party with a serial cable and a laptop in order to finish programming my camera.Lucky I’d stuck that serial port on the outside, eh?
The results are fab:
The thermal printer used in the instructions is sold as the Edal Portable [Amazon Link] for $48. There are some even cheaper models but they’re bulkier. The Sonar Autofocus 5000 Polaroid camera is always knocking around on eBay for a few dollars.