Monday, May 25, 2026

Java: maven escpos-coffee library, output to binary file

This is working demo how to create print preview and generate output.bin which is valid byte format to send to thermal printer.

Edit pom.xml and add escpos-coffee

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0
         https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">

    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>com.dedetok</groupId>
    <artifactId>myapp</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <properties>
        <maven.compiler.source>17</maven.compiler.source>
        <maven.compiler.target>17</maven.compiler.target>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
    </properties>

    <build>
        <plugins>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.13.0</version>
            </plugin>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.6.3</version>
                <configuration>
                    <mainClass>com.dedetok.myapp.App</mainClass>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.4.2</version>
                <configuration>
                    <archive>
                        <manifest>
                            <mainClass>com.dedetok.myapp.App</mainClass>
                        </manifest>
                    </archive>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

        </plugins>
    </build>

	<dependencies>

		<dependency>
			<groupId>com.github.anastaciocintra</groupId>
			<artifactId>escpos-coffee</artifactId>
			<version>4.1.0</version>
		</dependency>

	</dependencies>
</project>

run package or compile to download library

$ mvn compile

Edit App.java


package com.dedetok.myapp;

import com.github.anastaciocintra.escpos.EscPos;
import com.github.anastaciocintra.escpos.EscPosConst;
import com.github.anastaciocintra.escpos.Style;
import com.github.anastaciocintra.output.PrinterOutputStream;

import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.border.EmptyBorder;
import java.awt.*;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.text.DecimalFormat;
import java.text.DecimalFormatSymbols;

public class App extends JFrame {

    private JTextArea txtPreview;
    private DecimalFormat formatter;

    public App() {

        setTitle("ESC/POS Receipt Preview");
        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        setSize(420, 700);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);

        JPanel root = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
        root.setBackground(new Color(180, 180, 180));

        JPanel paper = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
        paper.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(300, 600));
        paper.setBackground(Color.WHITE);

        txtPreview = new JTextArea();

        txtPreview.setFont(new Font(Font.MONOSPACED, Font.PLAIN, 15));
        txtPreview.setEditable(false);
        txtPreview.setLineWrap(false);

        txtPreview.setBackground(Color.WHITE);
        txtPreview.setForeground(Color.BLACK);

        txtPreview.setBorder(new EmptyBorder(12, 12, 12, 12));

        JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(txtPreview);
        scroll.setBorder(null);

        paper.add(scroll, BorderLayout.CENTER);

        root.add(paper);

        add(root);

        generatePreview();

        // generate ESC/POS binary file
        try {
            generateEscPosFile();
            System.out.println("ESC/POS output saved to output.bin");
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    private void generatePreview() {

        DecimalFormatSymbols symbols = new DecimalFormatSymbols();
        symbols.setGroupingSeparator('.');

        formatter = new DecimalFormat("#,###", symbols);

        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

        sb.append(center("MY COFFEE SHOP")).append("\n");
        sb.append(center("Bluetooth ESC/POS")).append("\n");
        sb.append(center("Jl. Ubud Bali")).append("\n");

        sb.append("--------------------------------\n");

        addItem(sb, "Espresso", 2, 18000);
        addItem(sb, "Cappuccino", 1, 25000);
        addItem(sb, "Croissant", 3, 12000);

        sb.append("--------------------------------\n");

        sb.append(String.format("%-20s %10s\n",
                "SUBTOTAL",
                formatter.format(97000)));

        sb.append(String.format("%-20s %10s\n",
                "TAX",
                formatter.format(9700)));

        sb.append("--------------------------------\n");

        sb.append(String.format("%-20s %10s\n",
                "TOTAL",
                formatter.format(106700)));

        sb.append("\n");

        sb.append(center("THANK YOU")).append("\n");
        sb.append(center("PLEASE COME AGAIN")).append("\n");

        sb.append("\n\n\n");

        txtPreview.setText(sb.toString());
    }

    private void generateEscPosFile() throws IOException {

        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("output.bin");

        EscPos escpos = new EscPos(fos);

        Style titleStyle = new Style()
                .setJustification(EscPosConst.Justification.Center)
                .setBold(true)
                .setFontSize(Style.FontSize._2, Style.FontSize._2);

        Style centerStyle = new Style()
                .setJustification(EscPosConst.Justification.Center);

        Style normalStyle = new Style();

        escpos.writeLF(titleStyle, "MY COFFEE SHOP");
        escpos.writeLF(centerStyle, "Bluetooth ESC/POS");
        escpos.writeLF(centerStyle, "Jl. Ubud Bali");

        escpos.writeLF("--------------------------------");

        addItemEscPos(escpos, "Espresso", 2, 18000);
        addItemEscPos(escpos, "Cappuccino", 1, 25000);
        addItemEscPos(escpos, "Croissant", 3, 12000);

        escpos.writeLF("--------------------------------");

        escpos.writeLF(normalStyle,
                String.format("%-20s %10s",
                        "SUBTOTAL",
                        formatter.format(97000)));

        escpos.writeLF(normalStyle,
                String.format("%-20s %10s",
                        "TAX",
                        formatter.format(9700)));

        escpos.writeLF("--------------------------------");

        escpos.writeLF(normalStyle,
                String.format("%-20s %10s",
                        "TOTAL",
                        formatter.format(106700)));

        escpos.writeLF("");

        escpos.writeLF(centerStyle, "THANK YOU");
        escpos.writeLF(centerStyle, "PLEASE COME AGAIN");

        escpos.feed(4);
        escpos.cut(EscPos.CutMode.FULL);

        escpos.close();
        fos.close();
    }

    private void addItemEscPos(EscPos escpos,
                               String item,
                               int qty,
                               int price) throws IOException {

        int total = qty * price;

        escpos.writeLF(item);

        escpos.writeLF(
                String.format(
                        " %2dx %-14s %10s",
                        qty,
                        "",
                        formatter.format(total)
                )
        );
    }

    private void addItem(StringBuilder sb,
                         String item,
                         int qty,
                         int price) {

        int total = qty * price;

        sb.append(item).append("\n");

        sb.append(String.format(
                " %2dx %-14s %10s\n",
                qty,
                "",
                formatter.format(total)
        ));
    }

    private String center(String text) {

        int width = 32;

        if (text.length() >= width)
            return text;

        int leftPadding = (width - text.length()) / 2;

        return " ".repeat(leftPadding) + text;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> {
            new App().setVisible(true);
        });
    }
}

Note: lpx device (e.g /dev/usb/lp1) does not use serial com, you need to send hex code direct via OutputStream