Printing

• Oct 29, 2020
• 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

Print Documents Using the Default Printer

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:

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/winforms-the-richeditcontrols-common-api-t210437

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.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-print-from-the-xtrarichedit-t595964

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)

You can specify additional printing settings (whether to print the comments’ background color or update document variables before printing) using the PrintingOptions class properties. Access an object using the RichEditControlOptionsBase.Printing property, as shown below:

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 using the Command UI

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

To set options that are unavailable from RichEditControl directly, use the DevExpress Printing Library. This library has the PrintableComponentLink 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.

Note

A complete sample project is available at https://github.com/DevExpress-Examples/how-to-use-different-printing-techniques-and-set-printing-options-in-code-e3882

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

Important

Such PrintableComponentLink properties, as LinkBase.Landscape or LinkBase.PaperKind do not affect the layout of a printed document. To change the document page layout properties before printing, change the corresponding settings of a document section ( accessed by the Section.Page property).