Print Rich Text Documents

• Nov 28, 2023
• 4 minutes to read

This document outlines the following techniques used to print from RichEditControl.

• Print Documents Using the Default Printer
• Change Print Settings
• Print Documents Using the Command UI
• DevExpress Printing Library

Use the Default Printer to Print a Document

RichEditControl allows you to print a document with the default settings without end-user interaction. To do that, use the RichEditControl.Print method as shown below:

View Example

RichEditControlActions.cs

static void buttonCustomAction_ItemClick_PrintDocumentMethod(object sender, ItemClickEventArgs e) {
    RichEditControl richEdit = e.Item.Tag as RichEditControl;
    if(richEdit.IsPrintingAvailable) {
        richEdit.Print();
    }
}

RichEditControlActions.vb

Private Shared Sub buttonCustomAction_ItemClick_PrintDocumentMethod(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As ItemClickEventArgs)
    Dim richEdit As RichEditControl = TryCast(e.Item.Tag, RichEditControl)
    If richEdit.IsPrintingAvailable Then
        richEdit.Print()
    End If
End Sub

Change Print Settings

Call the RichEditControl.Print method with the passed PrinterSettings instance to specify the desired printer options (the range of pages to print, the number of copies, etc.) to print a document.

XtraForm1.cs

PrinterSettings printerSettings = new PrinterSettings();
//Set the document pages to print:
printerSettings.FromPage = 2;
printerSettings.ToPage = 3;

//Specify the number of copies:
printerSettings.Copies = 2;

//Print the document: 
richEditControl1.Print(printerSettings);

XtraForm1.vb

Dim printerSettings As New PrinterSettings()
'Set the document pages to print:
printerSettings.FromPage = 2
printerSettings.ToPage = 3

'Specify the number of copies:
printerSettings.Copies = 2

'Print the document: 
richEditControl1.Print(printerSettings)

Note

The Landscape, Margins, PaperSize properties (accessible by the PrinterSettings.DefaultPageSettings property) do not affect the printed document’s layout. Change a document section settings (accessible by the Section.Page property) to modify the page layout properties before printing.

Use the PrintingOptions class properties to specify additional printing settings (whether to print the comments’ background color or update document variables before printing).

C#

PrintingOptions printOptions = richEditControl1.Options.Printing;
printOptions.EnableCommentBackgroundOnPrint = true;
printOptions.EnablePageBackgroundOnPrint = true;
printOptions.PrintPreviewFormKind = PrintPreviewFormKind.Bars;

VB.NET

Dim printOptions As PrintingOptions = richEditControl1.Options.Printing
printOptions.EnableCommentBackgroundOnPrint = True
printOptions.EnablePageBackgroundOnPrint = True
printOptions.PrintPreviewFormKind = PrintPreviewFormKind.Bars

Print Documents from the User Interface

All built-in printing commands are available on the File Ribbon tab. To learn how to provide your application with the Ribbon Command UI, refer to the How to: Create the RichEditControl with a Ribbon UI topic.

Tip

You can disable printing documents from the User Interface. Set the RichEditBehaviorOptions.Printing property to DocumentCapability.Hidden or DocumentCapability.Disabled to disable or hide the corresponding commands in the Ribbon UI and the pop-up menu.

DevExpress Printing Library

Use the DevExpress Printing Library to set options that are unavailable from RichEditControl directly. This library has the PrintableComponentLinkBase class, which allows you to change required printing settings (e.g., use the specific printer or disable showing error messages). For this, use the API from the table below as shown in the following code snippet.

Member	Description
PrintableComponentLink	Creates a new PrintableComponentLink instance with a given printing system.
PrintableComponentLinkBase.Component	Sets user implementation represented by the IPrintable instance for the current component link.
PrintableComponentLink.PrintingSystem	Obtains settings provided by the given PrintingSystem instance.
PrintableComponentLink.Print	Prints the current document using the specified printer.

Form1.cs

private static void PrintViaLink(IPrintable srv)
{
    PrintableComponentLink link = new PrintableComponentLink(new PrintingSystem());
    link.Component = srv;
    // Disable warnings.
    link.PrintingSystem.ShowMarginsWarning = false;
    link.PrintingSystem.ShowPrintStatusDialog = false;
    // Find a printer containing Canon in its name
    PrinterSettings settings = new PrinterSettings();
    string printerName = String.Empty;
    for (int i = 0; i < PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Count; i++) {
        string pName = PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters[i];
        if (pName.Contains("Canon")) {
            printerName = pName;
            break;
        }
    }
    // Print to the specified printer.
    link.Print(printerName);
}

Form1.vb

Private Shared Sub PrintViaLink(ByVal srv As IPrintable)
    Dim link As New PrintableComponentLink(New PrintingSystem())
    link.Component = srv
    ' Disable warnings.
    link.PrintingSystem.ShowMarginsWarning = False
    link.PrintingSystem.ShowPrintStatusDialog = False
    ' Find a printer containing Canon in its name
    Dim settings As New PrinterSettings()
    Dim printerName As String = String.Empty
    For i As Integer = 0 To PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters.Count - 1
        Dim pName As String = PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters(i)
        If pName.Contains("Canon") Then
            printerName = pName
            Exit For
        End If
    Next i
    ' Print to the specified printer.
    link.Print(printerName)
End Sub

Note

The Margins, PageHeaderFooter, PaperKind properties do not affect the printed document’s layout. Change a document section settings (accessible by the Section.Page property) to modify the page layout properties before printing.