PdfViewer.CustomPrint

PdfViewer.CustomPrint event

Occurs before printing starts and allows to provide custom print handlers instead of the default one.

public event EventHandler<CustomPrintEventArgs> CustomPrint;

Examples

The example demonstrates how to print from Aspose.PDF on Linux systems. The following code is aimed primarily on printing from Aspose.PDF on Linux systems. Users of Windows systems may continue using the default PdfViewer print implementation without providing a CustomPrint handler.

Prerequisites

On the print server system the CUPS should be installed and configured:

sudo apt update && apt install cups
sudo service cups start
if you’re going to print documents on the same system where the Aspose.PDF-enabled app is running, you won’t need additional CUPS configuration. If you need to print from a different system, please refer to the CUPS documentation on how to allow access to print server via the network.

A printer can be set up using the CUPS web-interface. Optionally, you may use a virtual PDF printer:

sudo apt install printer-driver-cups-pdf
sudo service cups restart
please make sure that the virtual PDF printer appeared in the list of available printers in the CUPS web interface (at http://localhost:631/printers/ with default CUPS settings)

If your client system (where the Aspose.PDF-enabled app is running) is different from the print server, you need to install and run CUPS there as well:

sudo apt update && apt install cups
sudo service cups start

How to print a document using the lp command

var docPath = dataDir + "input.pdf";
var viewer = new PdfViewer();
viewer.BindPdf(docPath);

// Set a custom printing handler that builds an lp command and runs it with bash
viewer.CustomPrint += ViewerOnCustomPrintLp;

// Send the document to the virtual PDF printer installed with the printer-driver-cups-pdf package
var ps = new PrinterSettings
{
    PrinterName = "PDF"
};
var pgs = ps.DefaultPageSettings;
pgs.PaperSize = PaperSizes.A4;

// The document will be printed using the provided print handler
viewer.PrintDocumentWithSettings(pgs, ps);
viewer.Close();

// Custom print handler
private void ViewerOnCustomPrintLp(object sender, CustomPrintEventArgs e)
{
    var sb = new StringBuilder("lp ");
    // Set the name of the printer to print at
    sb.AppendFormat("-d {0} ", e.PrinterSettings.PrinterName);

    // Set the number of copies
    if (e.PrinterSettings.Copies > 0)
    {
        sb.AppendFormat("-n {0} ", e.PrinterSettings.Copies);
    }

    // Set the range of pages to print
    if (e.PrinterSettings.PrintRange == PrintRange.SomePages)
    {
        sb.AppendFormat("-P {0}-{1} ", e.PrinterSettings.FromPage, e.PrinterSettings.ToPage);
    }

    // Set paper size
    sb.AppendFormat("-o media={0} ", e.PageSettings.PaperSize.Kind.ToString("G").ToLower());

    // Set landscape orientation if requested
    if (e.PageSettings.Landscape)
    {
        sb.Append("-o orientation-requested=4 ");
    }

    // Set printer resolution
    switch (e.PageSettings.PrinterResolution.Kind)
    {
        case PrinterResolutionKind.High:
            sb.Append("-o print-quality=5 ");
            break;

        case PrinterResolutionKind.Medium:
            sb.Append("-o print-quality=4 ");
            break;

        case PrinterResolutionKind.Draft:
            sb.Append("-o print-quality=3 ");
            break;
    }

    // Set two-sided print if requested
    switch (e.PrinterSettings.Duplex)
    {
        case Duplex.Simplex:
            sb.Append("-o sides=one-sided ");
            break;

        case Duplex.Vertical:
            sb.Append("-o sides=two-sided-short-edge ");
            break;

        case Duplex.Horizontal:
            sb.Append("-o sides=two-sided-long-edge ");
            break;
    }

    // The name of the file to print
    sb.AppendFormat("-- {0} ", e.FileName);

    // Run the prepared lp command with bash
    var psi = new ProcessStartInfo
    {
        FileName = "/bin/bash",
        Arguments = string.Format("-c \"{0}\"", sb.ToString()),
        RedirectStandardOutput = true,
        UseShellExecute = false,
        CreateNoWindow = true
    };

    using (var process = Process.Start(psi))
    {
        process.WaitForExit();
    }
}

How to print a document using the ipptool

var docPath = dataDir + "input.pdf";
var viewer = new PdfViewer();
viewer.BindPdf(docPath);

// Set a custom printing handler that builds an ipptool job file and runs ipptool with bash
viewer.CustomPrint += ViewerOnCustomPrintIpptool;

// Send the document to the virtual PDF printer installed with the printer-driver-cups-pdf package
var ps = new PrinterSettings
{
    PrinterUri = new Uri("ipp://localhost/printers/PDF");
};
var pgs = ps.DefaultPageSettings;
pgs.PaperSize = PaperSizes.A4;

// The document will be printed using the provided print handler
viewer.PrintDocumentWithSettings(pgs, ps);
viewer.Close();

// Custom print handler
private void ViewerOnCustomPrintIpptool(object sender, CustomPrintEventArgs e)
{
    var command = new StringBuilder("ipptool -tv ");

    // The name of the file to print
    command.AppendFormat("-f {0} ", e.FileName);

    // Set the URI of the printer to print at
    command.Append(e.PrinterSettings.PrinterUri);

    // Get the temporary file name for the ipptool job file
    var jobFile = Path.GetTempFileName();

    var sb = new StringBuilder();
    sb.AppendLine("{");

    // Set job name and type of the job
    sb.AppendLine("  NAME \"Print file using Print-Job\"");
    sb.AppendLine("  OPERATION Print-Job");

    // Set default job settings
    sb.AppendLine("  GROUP operation-attributes-tag");
    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR charset attributes-charset utf-8");
    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR language attributes-natural-language en");
    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR uri printer-uri $uri");
    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR name requesting-user-name $user");
    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR mimeMediaType document-format $filetype");

    sb.AppendLine("  GROUP job-attributes-tag");

    // Set number of copies
    var copies = e.PrinterSettings.Copies < 1 ? 1 : e.PrinterSettings.Copies;
    sb.AppendFormat("  ATTR integer copies {0}{1}", copies, Environment.NewLine);

    sb.AppendLine("  ATTR collection media-col {");
    // Set paper size
    sb.AppendLine("    MEMBER collection media-size {");
    // .NET uses 1/100th of inch to represent paper size while IPP requires 1/1000th of millimeter - conversion is needed
    sb.AppendFormat("      MEMBER integer x-dimension {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.PaperSize.Width * 25.4),
        Environment.NewLine);
    sb.AppendFormat("      MEMBER integer y-dimension {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.PaperSize.Height * 25.4),
        Environment.NewLine);
    sb.AppendLine("    }");

    // Set margins
    if (pageSettings.Margins != null)
    {
        sb.AppendFormat("    MEMBER integer media-top-margin {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.Margins.Top * 25.4),
            Environment.NewLine);
        sb.AppendFormat("    MEMBER integer media-bottom-margin {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.Margins.Bottom * 25.4),
            Environment.NewLine);
        sb.AppendFormat("    MEMBER integer media-left-margin {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.Margins.Left * 25.4),
            Environment.NewLine);
        sb.AppendFormat("    MEMBER integer media-top-margin {0}{1}", (int) (e.PageSettings.Margins.Right * 25.4),
            Environment.NewLine);
    }

    sb.AppendLine("    MEMBER keyword media-source \"main\"");
    sb.AppendLine("    MEMBER keyword media-type \"stationery\"");
    sb.AppendLine("  }");

    sb.AppendLine("  FILE $filename");
    sb.AppendLine("  STATUS successful-ok");
    sb.AppendLine("  STATUS successful-ok-ignored-or-substituted-attributes");
    sb.AppendLine("  EXPECT job-id");
    sb.AppendLine("  EXPECT job-uri");
    sb.AppendLine("}");

    // Create ipptool job file
    File.WriteAllText(jobFile, sb.ToString());

    // Pass the job file to ipptool
    command.AppendFormat(" {0}", jobFile);

    // Run the prepared ipptool command with bash
    var psi = new ProcessStartInfo
    {
        FileName = "/bin/bash",
        Arguments = string.Format("-c \"{0}\"", command.ToString()),
        RedirectStandardOutput = true,
        UseShellExecute = false,
        CreateNoWindow = true
    };

    using (var process = Process.Start(psi))
    {
        process.WaitForExit();
    }

    // Delete temporary job file after the document is printed
    File.Delete(jobFile);
}