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PrintDocument Class



Namespace:  System.Drawing.Printing
Assembly:  System.Drawing (in System.Drawing.dll)

public class PrintDocument : Component

The PrintDocument type exposes the following members.

Public methodPrintDocumentInitializes a new instance of the PrintDocument class.

Protected propertyCanRaiseEventsGets a value indicating whether the component can raise an event. (Inherited from Component.)
Public propertyContainerGets the IContainer that contains the Component. (Inherited from Component.)
Public propertyDefaultPageSettingsGets or sets page settings that are used as defaults for all pages to be printed.
Protected propertyDesignModeGets a value that indicates whether the Component is currently in design mode. (Inherited from Component.)
Public propertyDocumentNameGets or sets the document name to display (for example, in a print status dialog box or printer queue) while printing the document.
Protected propertyEventsGets the list of event handlers that are attached to this Component. (Inherited from Component.)
Public propertyOriginAtMarginsGets or sets a value indicating whether the position of a graphics object associated with a page is located just inside the user-specified margins or at the top-left corner of the printable area of the page.
Public propertyPrintControllerGets or sets the print controller that guides the printing process.
Public propertyPrinterSettingsGets or sets the printer that prints the document.
Public propertySiteGets or sets the ISite of the Component. (Inherited from Component.)

Public methodDispose()Releases all resources used by the Component. (Inherited from Component.)
Protected methodDispose(Boolean)Releases the unmanaged resources used by the Component and optionally releases the managed resources. (Inherited from Component.)
Protected methodFinalizeReleases unmanaged resources and performs other cleanup operations before the Component is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Component.)
Protected methodGetServiceReturns an object that represents a service provided by the Component or by its Container. (Inherited from Component.)
Protected methodOnBeginPrintRaises the BeginPrint event. It is called after the Print method is called and before the first page of the document prints.
Protected methodOnEndPrintRaises the EndPrint event. It is called when the last page of the document has printed.
Protected methodOnPrintPageRaises the PrintPage event. It is called before a page prints.
Protected methodOnQueryPageSettingsRaises the QueryPageSettings event. It is called immediately before each PrintPage event.
Public methodPrintStarts the document's printing process.
Public methodToStringInfrastructure. Provides information about the print document, in string form. (Overrides Component.ToString().)

Public eventBeginPrintOccurs when the Print method is called and before the first page of the document prints.
Public eventDisposedOccurs when the component is disposed by a call to the Dispose method. (Inherited from Component.)
Public eventEndPrintOccurs when the last page of the document has printed.
Public eventPrintPageOccurs when the output to print for the current page is needed.
Public eventQueryPageSettingsOccurs immediately before each PrintPage event.

Typically, you create an instance of the PrintDocument class, set properties such as the DocumentNameand PrinterSettings, and call the Print method to start the printing process. Handle the PrintPage event where you specify the output to print, by using the GraphicsGraphics property of the PrintPageEventArgs.

For more information about printing from a Windows Form application, see the Windows Forms Print Support. If you wish to print from a Windows Presentation Foundation application, see the System.Printing namespace.

The following code example prints the file named C:\My Documents\MyFile.txt on the default printer. To run the example, create a new Windows Forms project and paste the example code into the form, replacing the file contents. For C#, you will need to delete the Form1.Designer.cs file. Also, change the path to the file you want to print.


The example requires that each line fits within the page width.

Use the System.ComponentModel, System.Windows.Forms, System.Drawing, System.Drawing.Printing, and System.IO namespaces for this example.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Printing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

public partial class Form1 : System.Windows.Forms.Form
    private System.ComponentModel.Container components;
    private System.Windows.Forms.Button printButton;
    private Font printFont;
    private StreamReader streamToPrint;

    public Form1()
        // The Windows Forms Designer requires the following call.

    // The Click event is raised when the user clicks the Print button. 
    private void printButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
            streamToPrint = new StreamReader
               ("C:\\My Documents\\MyFile.txt");
                printFont = new Font("Arial", 10);
                PrintDocument pd = new PrintDocument();
                pd.PrintPage += new PrintPageEventHandler
        catch (Exception ex)

    // The PrintPage event is raised for each page to be printed. 
    private void pd_PrintPage(object sender, PrintPageEventArgs ev)
        float linesPerPage = 0;
        float yPos = 0;
        int count = 0;
        float leftMargin = ev.MarginBounds.Left;
        float topMargin = ev.MarginBounds.Top;
        string line = null;

        // Calculate the number of lines per page.
        linesPerPage = ev.MarginBounds.Height /

        // Print each line of the file. 
        while (count < linesPerPage &&
           ((line = streamToPrint.ReadLine()) != null))
            yPos = topMargin + (count *
            ev.Graphics.DrawString(line, printFont, Brushes.Black,
               leftMargin, yPos, new StringFormat());

        // If more lines exist, print another page. 
        if (line != null)
            ev.HasMorePages = true;
            ev.HasMorePages = false;

    // The Windows Forms Designer requires the following procedure. 
    private void InitializeComponent()
        this.components = new System.ComponentModel.Container();
        this.printButton = new System.Windows.Forms.Button();

        this.ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(504, 381);
        this.Text = "Print Example";

        printButton.ImageAlign =
        printButton.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(32, 110);
        printButton.FlatStyle = System.Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.Flat;
        printButton.TabIndex = 0;
        printButton.Text = "Print the file.";
        printButton.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(136, 40);
        printButton.Click += new System.EventHandler(printButton_Click);



.NET Framework


.NET Framework Client Profile

Supported in: 4, 3.5 SP1



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