How to programmatically print on Letterhead, Cardstock, Pre-printed paper in .NET

Question

I am attempting to print from a WCF service using the System.Drawing.Printing library. The problem is that I am attempting to choose a paper type (or media type) of Letterhead, Cardstock, or Pre-printed paper which does not appear to be available in this library.

System.Drawing.Printing has a PageSettings class, but I can only set the PaperSize and there is no PaperSize for Letterhead, Cardstock, Pre-printed, etc. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings(v=vs.110).aspx

Also the PaperSource class from PrinterSettings.PaperSources does not contain any information about what kind of paper is in each tray.

Does anyone have a recommendation how to ensure the print job I send has the correct settings so that the printer will know which tray to print from?

There MUST be a way to do this. For example, I can select Letterhead when printing from Word or Excel, but only when I go to Printer Properties. Why can I not do this programmatically in .NET? Is this a managed code limitation? Do I need to access the printer driver?

Even System.Printing does not have these options available. Also MSDN states:

Caution: Classes within the System.Printing namespace are not supported for use within a Windows service or ASP.NET application or service. Attempting to use these classes from within one of these application types may produce unexpected problems, such as diminished service performance and run-time exceptions.

The only other option I have available is to have the user manually set up each printer with the kind of paper in each tray in a database with some user interface. Then I would just set the tray to print from. I would like to avoid this if possible.

UPDATE DEC 14, 2015

The printer manufacturer is willing to give a paid solution but that is not feasible for the project at this time.

Rough code solution is:

private PrintJobStatusEnum SendToPrinter(PrintDocumentModel printJob, out List<string> errors)
        {
            errors = new List<string>();

            // The print job includes the printer and page settings
            var printerSettings = new PrinterSettings
            {
                PrinterName = "MyPrinterName",
                Duplex = printJob.IsDuplex ? Duplex.Vertical : Duplex.Simplex
            };

            // Set the paper size
            var paperKind = PaperKind.Letter;

            // Find the paper size in the available sizes on the printer
            var paperSizes = printerSettings.PaperSizes.Cast<PaperSize>().AsQueryable();
            var paperSize = paperSizes.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Kind == paperKind);

            // Set the paper source (tray)
            var paperSources = printerSettings.PaperSources.Cast<PaperSource>().AsQueryable();

            // The SourceName is different for many printers. 
            // Double-check yours through PrinterSettings.PaperSources
            var paperSource = paperSources.FirstOrDefault(s => s.SourceName == "Cassette 1");
            if (paperSource == null)
            {
                paperSource = paperSources.FirstOrDefault(s => s.Kind == PaperSourceKind.AutomaticFeed);
            }

            // Set up the page
            var pageSettings = new PageSettings
            {
                Landscape = printJob.PaperOrientationLookUpId == MyConstants.PaperOrientationLandscape,
                Margins = new Margins(0, 0, 0, 0), // Not sure if margins are needed
                PaperSize = paperSize ?? new PaperSize("Letter", 850, 1100),
                Color = printJob.IsColor,
                PaperSource = paperSource,
                PrinterSettings = printerSettings
            };


            // Send document, printer settings and page settings to print handler
            List<string> printErrors;

            var result = _pdfPrintHandler.Print(printerSettings, pageSettings, printJob, out printErrors);
            errors.AddRange(printErrors);

            return result;
        }

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 02 '15 at 16:55

How this used to work and probably still does with .NET is all these features are specific to a printers driver. They are not exposed as callable APIs. What paper size and type etc. are user configurable at run-time. The driver will change what precise method it uses to stick the ink to the paper and it is none of your business.

The driver will however tell you how big the paper is your printing to and you can rework the output accordingly. You can also choose to programmatically flip the rendering yourself to make portrait and landscape.

You can save and load printer configs "Page Setups". So you could get the user to configure different "Page Setups" with different tray selections and switch between them when you print.

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/0e1194ee-d71b-45b4-b4c2-5b626a100d30/windows-print-spooler-api-and-paper-tray-selection?forum=netfxbcl

That's what I feared. In this case, there is no user, it is a process that runs every day to print all of the accumulated documents for mailing. I will have to be in touch with the printer manufacturer or send each job to the tray that has the correct paper as specified by a user ahead of time in the database. Thanks anyway! — mpetersen, Dec 03 '15 at 20:29

How to programmatically print on Letterhead, Cardstock, Pre-printed paper in .NET

1 Answers1