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I am changing default print settings using winspool.drv before printing. Do the altered default printing settings get embedded with the print job when it is printed? Or are they saved somewhere else? If I change a setting, what happens when the print job is sent to the printer? What information goes with the print job? Am I even asking the right questions? I am batch printing a lot of files and changing settings between pages in each job.
Edit: My understanding is this:

  1. I make changes to default printer settings
  2. Print document, default printer settings are embedded in spool file and sent to printer
  3. Printer prints using spool file

Is my understanding is correct? Do I need to wait until the print job is over before changing the printer settings?

Charles
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jle
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1 Answers1

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  • Changing default settings for a simple task is usually a no-go and should never be done. If your program crashes or does something wrong, the user's settings are lost, which might even get pretty expensive considering high quality print settings, photo paper, etc.
  • You should change the settings per job using the provided API (if possible) to only affect the current/to be printed document.
  • Once the print job is done/spooled (i.e. it's only waiting for the printer to start or getting online), updated settings no longer affect the document.
Mario
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  • What if there is no provided API? – jle Dec 11 '12 at 19:43
  • I am have to use unmanaged code to change printer settings before print because the print method of the Acrobat API always uses the default settings. – jle Dec 11 '12 at 22:01
  • Uh, sounds like some really bad design. Use another PDF library? :( – Mario Dec 11 '12 at 22:46
  • The other ones just convert to image before printing--not an ideal solution. – jle Dec 12 '12 at 15:28
  • Any reason for that? Unless you're using a plotter it will print a bitmap anyway. Just ensure the resolution is high enough. – Mario Dec 12 '12 at 20:55
  • Mario, I ended up converting to tiffs and using System.Drawing.Printing to print them. However, the print file size went from 50kb to 8mb, so Acrobat was definitely printing as eps and not a bitmap. Or do you mean the Printer converting to bitmap? – jle Dec 13 '12 at 20:41
  • It really depends on the printer and the drivers, especially when printing text only. Behind the scenes, the result is always a bitmap, it just depends on whether you send the bitmap or the printer creates the bitmap for printing. – Mario Dec 14 '12 at 00:12