Poor Man's Polaroid

https://boxart.lt/blog/poor_mans_polaroid?locale=en

by ZacnyLos • 5 months ago

252 56 5 months ago

boxart.lt

ivanvoid• 5 months ago

this is a great idea and wonderful execution, inspiring others(me) to build one!

qwertox• 5 months ago

The use of thermal paper was surprising. Great idea, indeed.

ashdnazg• 5 months ago

If you're using mobile, there's an "English" button in the menu.

Note to website owner - it could be nice to have a permalink to the English version.

h2zizzle• 5 months ago

Hey, I enjoyed reading about the spausdintuvu and power banko.

projektfu• 5 months ago

The English seems to be "cleaned up" compared to the English translation.

"I forgot to take a photo before I started humping one of printers"

slysnuk• 5 months ago

One should know that thermopaper contains Bisphenol A aka BPA.

mwidell2• 5 months ago

You can buy phenol-free thermopaper if you are concerned

echoangle• 5 months ago

Is there a way to actually verify that? I still don't trust that just because it says it on the label.

ninalanyon2• 5 months ago

Is it free of all phenols or just free of Bisphenol A? I ask because there are very similar Bisphenols (S and F) that are at least suspected of being just as bad as BPA and they are not banned or limited by REACH Annex XVII.

igniuss3• 5 months ago

Unless you're in Europe.

As part of the EU’s REACH Regulation Annex XVII, a restriction banning Bisphenol A (BPA) content in thermal paper above 0.02% by weight came into effect on January 2, 2020. This prohibition was implemented due to health concerns associated with BPA exposure

so unless you're buying old rolls, or from non reputable sources, it shouldn't be an issue in the EU at least.

VladVladikoff2• 5 months ago

I thought that it was just replaced with similar molecules such as BPS, which has been shown to have equally bad effects.

retired• 5 months ago

I’m fairly certain that a large percentage of people who buy thermal printer for fun do so from China, which has no regulations on thermal paper.

mwidell2• 5 months ago

Fun project. But if you just want the end result, you can buy one of these thermopaper toy cameras on Amazon for like $20.

detritus• 5 months ago

I bought such a thing for my daughter and it's great fun but this old codger will never cease to be amazed at how much tech is available for such a small amount of money - the digital camera functions normally, takes video too, the system has basic games and a vivid LCD screen and there's a thermal printer - all in a cute moulded package. £25 ours cost.

sen• 5 months ago

One of my kids just got a $13 “smart watch” which has a touch screen, camera with filters/editor, microSD storage, plays MP3s, records voice memos, has games, and more I’m probably forgetting.

It absolutely blows my mind how cheap tech is these days.

baxtr• 5 months ago

Nice project!

But this is definitely NOT for a poor man. Poor people buy a $20 camera on Amazon.

A time-rich person can afford this camera.

voidUpdate4• 5 months ago

Polaroid film costs about 1 euro for them, and a thermal image costs about 1 cent. After enough photos, it cancels out

numberwhun• 5 months ago

Sure, but what about other costs. You can pick up a poloroid for about $50-75 on ebay. With this one, you will need to buy things like a 3D printer (and the necessary accessories, like filament), the rasperry pi, battery pack, printer, etc. Yes, the thermal paper is cheaper over all, but the cost will be a lot more up front, even if it work out over time. Don't get me wrong, this is a cool toy, but the title is definitely a bit off.

felixr• 5 months ago

You can buy a camera with an integrated thermal printer for 20$ or even less.

qsera• 5 months ago

This is already available on online shops.

thih9• 5 months ago

Note that this is an existing product category, usually cheap too.

Lots of examples here: https://thermalprintcameras.wordpress.com

Of course one can still want to hack something like this yourself for fun or other reasons.

voidUpdate4• 5 months ago

Reminds me a lot of https://mitxela.com/projects/thermal_paper_polaroid

cluckindan• 5 months ago

Too bad the thermal prints may not last very long.

Gravityloss• 5 months ago

Do thermal prints still use materials that are endocrine disruptors, I don't know. But something to consider. https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/human-exp...

igniuss3• 5 months ago

It's been regulated since 2020 in Europe at least.

As part of the EU’s REACH Regulation Annex XVII, a restriction banning Bisphenol A (BPA) content in thermal paper above 0.02% by weight came into effect on January 2, 2020. This prohibition was implemented due to health concerns associated with BPA exposure

bpa free thermal paper is pretty easy to source from anywhere now because of this.

conception• 5 months ago

From my understanding, BPA was just replaced either a similar chemicals https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259018262...

If the law calls out BPA exclusively and not a more general description, it’s just a false sense of safety.

VladVladikoff2• 5 months ago

Yeah I was excited about such a project concept until I saw it was thermal printer. Would love a little Polaroid type camera with inexpensive film for my kids to play with, but I don’t want them playing with thermal paper, kids put literally everything in their mouths.

alistairSH• 5 months ago

Fuji Instax Mini is probably the closest you'll get right now. But, the film isn't exactly cheap.

vanderZwan3• 5 months ago

This brand claims to be fully recyclable:

https://www.koehlerpaper.com/en/products/Thermal-paper/TH_Bl...

It supposedly works by using a layer of reflective bubbles that collapses when exposed to heat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc1mlCThevg&t=20s

Of course, I don't know how those bubbles are made or how they are made to collapse from heat, so for all I know that layer still uses chemicals that currently slip through regulations. But I can also imagine that it is doable to create such a "functional layer" with safe materials.

buccal• 5 months ago

One shop network used blue paper here but changed to white some time ago.

Contrast was not great but I guess the price was the reason for the change.

thomascountz2• 5 months ago

Here seems to be some examples of printed images on Blue4est paper[1].

[1] https://thermalprintcameras.wordpress.com/blue4est-paper/

kleinishere• 5 months ago

2017 EPA Award as well :

https://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/green-chemistry-challenge...

huhtenberg• 5 months ago

Looking at all ready-made options on Amazon and elsewhere - anyone who will roll out an adult-oriented well-made single-button camera that takes in standard thermal paper rolls will make a fortune. This is such a great thing to have for get-togethers and parties. But it's essential to not being bound by $X/shot proprietary cartridges and be able to shoot and snap without thinking. Mementos for everyone!

* ... without thinking of costs involved. $2 per polaroid with half of them not even developing properly is a bit too high for spontaneous photography urges.

rahkiin• 5 months ago

The whole ‘shoot with thinking’ is one of the values to me. On top of, of course, the direct printing.

aflinik• 5 months ago

This is a really inspiring project and exactly the type of content I'm looking for on Hacker News.

A bit surprising that so many people in the comments would rather see links to cheap temu polaroid knockoffs.

putna• 5 months ago

Sveikinimai lietuviskam projektui HN pirmam puslapy ;) dziugu geras projektas

nyan-left• 5 months ago

Retas LT W :D

roadsidejesus2• 5 months ago

Ačiū, gerbiamieji:)

filcuk• 5 months ago

Funny, it's not two days that I've published what I called 'we have Polaroid at home' https://www.printables.com/model/1622259-14mm-label-tape-pic...

Note it's just a 3D printable stand for tiny printer labels (16mm wide). It was a literal 5 minute project but I liked the retro and restrictive aesthetic enough to share..

Such printer as shown is an absolute bargain at £15

FpUser• 5 months ago

There are actually cheap pocketable good quality bluetooth photo printers one can buy.

PaulHoule• 5 months ago

(1) So many people have told me they thought Polaroid film was crazy expensive

(2) There are the BPA concerns other people talk about but thermal prints don't age well at all. I made some prints of Pokemon characters about 5 years ago like this one

https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=1821741

and these are barely legible now. (Pokemon sample art is designed on the assumption that their art is going to be viewed on horrible screens, I'm going to argue that Lusamine respects Ansel Adams' "Zone Theory" really well which makes it work great as a thermal print)

thomascountz2• 5 months ago

Obligatory "be careful with that poisonous paper" warning[1]

[1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

roadsidejesus2• 5 months ago

I made this thing, appreciate the attention and kind words, to answer some questions/concerns:

- Paper is BPA free, got it from here https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0932QVYBQ

- Photos do have a lifetime, although no idea how long, the ones I have for a while seem to do better than the average store receipt

- It's not really _poor man's_ polaroid, but as someone else mentioned, price difference is not that big, while a single photo is a LOT cheaper

And there's a permalink for english language, in case OP or someone else can update it - https://boxart.lt/en/blog/poor_mans_polaroid

f1shy• 5 months ago

Paper is BPA free, got it from here

For those as paranoid as myself:

Common BPA substitutes, often used in "BPA-free" products, include Bisphenol S (BPS), Bisphenol F (BPF), Bisphenol AF (BPAF), and Bisphenol Z (BPZ). While marketed as safer alternatives, these analogs often share similar endocrine-disrupting properties and structural similarities to BPA, raising concerns about "regrettable substitution".

I don’t let my kids come in contact with anything “BPA Free” and we avoid plastics as much as possible.

vanderZwan3• 5 months ago

How customizeable is the programming of the thermal printers? Whenever I see the dot prints of these thermal print cameras I wonder if I could make it look better using more modern dithering algorithms, e.g. Ostromoukhov dithering:

https://observablehq.com/@jobleonard/variable-coefficient-di...

Yenrabbit• 5 months ago

Nice build. There are cheap (<$20) commercial versions, often targeted at kids. They make fantastic gifts, I thought it would be a bit of a gimmick but having instant printouts capturing happy moments added a fun dynamic to a few family trips, and our fridge is covered with an ever-rotating cast of family pics. And because they're ~free, it overcomes the blocker of a polaroid having to be 'special' while still keeping some constraints vs just snapping a cellphone pic.

p0w3n3d• 5 months ago

Funny story comes to my mind, I bought my daughter Instax because I was pretty sure it is digital, i.e. has a printer inside. However, I had trouble finding the resolution of the printer there... When we got it, I understood this is real photography paper, not a printer at all!

vanderZwan3• 5 months ago

If you got a recent digital one it actually does print on the photography paper. I'm guessing it works like a line scanner but in reverse, using color LEDs to "print" light dots in high resolution on the paper.

Poor Man's Polaroid

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