Sending GDI+ Output to a Printer

Using Windows GDI+ to draw on a printer is similar to using GDI+ to draw on a computer screen. To draw on a printer, obtain a device context handle for the printer and then pass that handle to a Graphics constructor.

The following console application draws a line, a rectangle, and an ellipse on a printer named MyPrinter:

#include <windows.h>
#include <gdiplus.h>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace Gdiplus;

INT main()
{
   // Initialize GDI+.
   GdiplusStartupInput gdiplusStartupInput;
   ULONG_PTR gdiplusToken;
   GdiplusStartup(&gdiplusToken, &gdiplusStartupInput, NULL);

   // Get a device context for the printer.
   HDC hdcPrint = CreateDC(NULL, TEXT("\\\\printserver\\print1"), NULL, NULL);

   DOCINFO docInfo;
   ZeroMemory(&docInfo, sizeof(docInfo));
   docInfo.cbSize = sizeof(docInfo);
   docInfo.lpszDocName = "GdiplusPrint";

   StartDoc(hdcPrint, &docInfo);
   StartPage(hdcPrint);
      Graphics* graphics = new Graphics(hdcPrint);
      Pen* pen = new Pen(Color(255, 0, 0, 0));
      graphics->DrawLine(pen, 50, 50, 350, 550);
      graphics->DrawRectangle(pen, 50, 50, 300, 500);
      graphics->DrawEllipse(pen, 50, 50, 300, 500);
      delete pen;
      delete graphics;
   EndPage(hdcPrint);
   EndDoc(hdcPrint);
   
   DeleteDC(hdcPrint);
   GdiplusShutdown(gdiplusToken);
   return 0;
}

In the preceding code, the three GDI+ drawing commands are in between calls to the StartDoc and EndDoc functions, each of which receives the printer device context handle. All graphics commands between StartDoc and EndDoc are routed to a temporary metafile. After the call to EndDoc, the printer driver converts the data in the metafile into the format required by the specific printer being used.

Generally you won't want to hard-code the name of a printer as was done in the preceding console application. One alternative to hard-coding the name is to call GetDefaultPrinter to obtain the name of the default printer. Before you call GetDefaultPrinter, you must allocate a buffer large enough to hold the printer name. You can determine the size of the required buffer by calling GetDefaultPrinter, passing NULL as the first argument.

The following console application gets the name of the default printer and then draws a rectangle and an ellipse on that printer. The Graphics::DrawRectangle call is in between calls to StartPage and EndPage, so the rectangle is on a page by itself. Similarly, the ellipse is on a page by itself.

#include <windows.h>
#include <gdiplus.h>
#include <stdio.h>
using namespace Gdiplus;

INT main()
{
   // Initialize GDI+.
   GdiplusStartupInput gdiplusStartupInput;
   ULONG_PTR gdiplusToken;
   GdiplusStartup(&gdiplusToken, &gdiplusStartupInput, NULL);

   DWORD size;
   HDC hdcPrint;

   DOCINFO docInfo;
   ZeroMemory(&docInfo, sizeof(docInfo));
   docInfo.cbSize = sizeof(docInfo);
   docInfo.lpszDocName = "GdiplusPrint";

   // Get the size of the default printer name.
   GetDefaultPrinter(NULL, &size);

   // Allocate a buffer large enough to hold the printer name.
   TCHAR* buffer = new TCHAR[size];

   // Get the printer name.
   if(!GetDefaultPrinter(buffer, &size))
   {
      printf("Failure");
   }
   else
   {
      // Get a device context for the printer.
      hdcPrint = CreateDC(NULL, buffer, NULL, NULL);

      StartDoc(hdcPrint, &docInfo);
         Graphics* graphics;
         Pen* pen = new Pen(Color(255, 0, 0, 0));

         StartPage(hdcPrint);
            graphics = new Graphics(hdcPrint);
            graphics->DrawRectangle(pen, 50, 50, 200, 300);
            delete graphics;
         EndPage(hdcPrint);

         StartPage(hdcPrint);
            graphics = new Graphics(hdcPrint);
            graphics->DrawEllipse(pen, 50, 50, 200, 300);
            delete graphics;
         EndPage(hdcPrint);

         delete pen;
      EndDoc(hdcPrint);

      DeleteDC(hdcPrint);
   }

   delete buffer;

   GdiplusShutdown(gdiplusToken);
   return 0;
}