Print Preview

[eltorro]

Most print preview solutions use the MFC Doc/View architecture which limits it usefulness outside of c++. I found an article where a Delphi programmer used Enhanced Meta Files wrapped in a custom header and packaged together to create a print preview control. After a little more searching, It looks like using EMFs is a solution that would work.

Some people suggest to create the document in Word or HTML and use Word or a browser to view it. Indeed, I have rendered documents to HTML and used the IE UDF to display the contents and/or print them. Not quite as ideal as one would like.

Using GRS's printwin.au3 as a start, I came up with a print preview solution which others may be able to expand upon.

The zip file contains the udf files necessary.

Screenshot:

Here is an example.

expandcollapse popup

#include <WinAPI.au3>
#include "WinPrint.au3"
#include "Preview.au3"
#include "PrintDialog.au3"

Global $PixelsPerInchY, $TwipsPerPixelY, $PixelsPerInchX, $TwipsPerPixelX, $PageWidth, $PageHeight

;1 print to default printer
;2 print preview 
;3 use the second parameter as the device Context
;anything else, show printer dialog and get device context.

_Print(2, 0)
_ShowPreview()


Func _Print($iMode = 0, $hPrintDC = 0)
    Local $s_DefaultPrinter, $s_DocName,$DocName, $DOCINFO, $result
    Switch $iMode
        Case 1, 2
            ;print to default printer
            $s_DefaultPrinter = _WinSpool_GetDefaultPrinter()
            If $s_DefaultPrinter = "" Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
            $hPrintDC = _WinAPI_CreateDC("winspool", $s_DefaultPrinter)
            If $hPrintDC = 0 Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
        Case 3
            ;use dc provided
            If $hPrintDC = 0 Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
        Case Else
            ;Show printer dialog
            Local $tPD
            $hPrintDC = _ShowPrintDialog($tPD)
            $tPD = 0
            If $hPrintDC = 0 Then Return SetError(1, 0, 0)
    EndSwitch

    ; get pixel and twips info
    $PixelsPerInchY = _WinAPI_GetDeviceCaps($hPrintDC, $__WINAPICONSTANT_LOGPIXELSY) ; Get Pixels Per Inch Y
    $TwipsPerPixelY = 1440 / $PixelsPerInchY
    $PixelsPerInchX = _WinAPI_GetDeviceCaps($hPrintDC, $__WINAPICONSTANT_LOGPIXELSX) ; Get Pixels Per Inch X
    $TwipsPerPixelX = 1440 / $PixelsPerInchX
    ; get page width and height
    $PageWidth = _WinAPI_GetDeviceCaps($hPrintDC, $HORZRES) ; Get width, in millimeters, of the physical screen
    $PageHeight = _WinAPI_GetDeviceCaps($hPrintDC, $VERTRES) ; Get height, in millimeters, of the physical screen.


    Local $hBrush, $hBrushOld, $hLF, $hFont, $hOldFont, $DESIREDFONTSIZE, $s_TextOut
    Local $OutSize, $xLeft, $yTop, $tLF, $iColorOld, $LastPoint
    Local $hPen0,$hPen1,$hPen2,$hPen3,$hPen4,$hPen5,$hPen6,$hPen7,$hPen8,$hPen9,$hPenOld
    
    ; set docinfo
    $s_DocName = "Printing from AutoIt with WinAPI"
    $DocName = DllStructCreate("char DocName[" & StringLen($s_DocName & Chr(0)) & "]")
    DllStructSetData($DocName, "DocName", $s_DocName & Chr(0)) ; Size of DOCINFO structure

    ;$DocOutput = DllStructCreate("char DocOutput[" & StringLen($s_DocOutput & chr(0)) & "]")
    ;DllStructSetData($DocOutput, "DocOutput", $s_DocOutput)

    $DOCINFO = DllStructCreate($tagDOCINFO) ; Structure for Print Document info
    DllStructSetData($DOCINFO, "Size", 20) ; Size of DOCINFO structure
    DllStructSetData($DOCINFO, "DocName", DllStructGetPtr($DocName)) ; Set name of print job (Optional)
    ;DllStructSetData($DOCINFO, "Output", DllStructGetPtr($DocOutput)) ; Set name of print job (Optional)

    If $iMode = 2 Then
        $result += _MetaFile_StartDoc($hPrintDC, $DOCINFO)
        $result += _MetaFile_StartPage($hPrintDC)
    Else
        $result += _WinAPI_StartDoc($hPrintDC, $DOCINFO)
        ; start new page
        $result += _WinAPI_StartPage($hPrintDC)
    EndIf

    ; create font
    $DESIREDFONTSIZE = 18
    $hFont = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 0, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Times New Roman')

    ; set newfont, save old font
    $hOldFont = _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hFont)

    ; print centered test message
    $s_TextOut = "This is a test..."
    $OutSize = _WinAPI_GetTextExtentPoint32($hPrintDC, $s_TextOut)
    ; Compute the starting point for the text-output operation(centered)
    $xLeft = (($PageWidth / 2) - (DllStructGetData($OutSize, "X") / 2))
    ; Compute the starting point for the text-output 2 lines down
    $yTop = DllStructGetData($OutSize, "Y") * 2
    ; Send text
    $xLeft = Inch2PixelX(0.781250)
    $yTop = Inch2PixelY(0.260417)
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; create font structure, rotated 180 degrees
    $tLF = DllStructCreate($tagLOGFONT)
    $DESIREDFONTSIZE = 12
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "Escapement", 2700)
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "Height", (($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY))
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "Italic", False)
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "Underline", False)
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "FaceName", "Arial")

    ; set font
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFontIndirect($tLF)
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $xLeft = 1000
    $yTop = 1000
    $s_TextOut = "Testing...123"
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($tLF)
    DllStructSetData($tLF, "Escapement", 2250)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFontIndirect($tLF)
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 1800, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 1500, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 1200, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 900, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; set textcolor, save last textcolor
    $iColorOld = _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0xFF0000)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 600, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; set textcolor, save last textcolor
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0x00FF00)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 300, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; set textcolor, save last textcolor
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0x0000FF)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; update font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 0, 0, $FW_BOLD, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; set textcolor, save last textcolor
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0x0)

    ; Send rotated text to printer, starting at location 1000, 1000
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; set textcolor
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0x0000FF)

    ; restore original font
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hOldFont)

    ; restore original color
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, $iColorOld)

    ; delete fonts
    _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hOldFont)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hFont)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)
    $tLF = 0
    ; create pens to draw with (PenStyle, Width, RGB-Color)
    $hPen0 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 0, 0x000000)
    $hPen1 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_DASH, 0, 0x000000)
    $hPen2 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_DOT, 0, 0x000000)
    $hPen3 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_DASHDOT, 0, 0x000000)
    $hPen4 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_DASHDOTDOT, 0, 0x000000)
    $hPen5 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 20, 0x000000)
    $hPen6 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 40, 0x000000)
    $hPen7 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 40, 0x0000FF)
    $hPen8 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 40, 0x00FF00)
    $hPen9 = _WinAPI_CreatePen($PS_SOLID, 40, 0xFF0000)

    ; set starting point
    $LastPoint = DllStructCreate($tagPOINT)
    $result += _WinAPI_MoveToEx($hPrintDC, 1000, 2000, $LastPoint)

    ; select pen, save old pen
    $hPenOld = _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen2)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1100, 3000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen4)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1200, 2000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen3)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1300, 3000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen1)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1400, 2000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen0)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1500, 3000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen5)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1600, 2000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen6)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1700, 3000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen7)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1800, 2000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen8)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 1900, 3000)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen9)
    ; draw line
    $result += _WinAPI_LineTo($hPrintDC, 2000, 2000)

    ; draw arch connected from current point
    $result += _WinAPI_SetArcDirection($hPrintDC, $AD_CLOCKWISE)
    $result += _WinAPI_ArcTo($hPrintDC, 2500, 2000, 3000, 2500, 2500, 2500, 3000, 2500)

    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen4)
    ; draw arch
    $result += _WinAPI_Arc($hPrintDC, 2500, 1000, 3500, 1500, 0, 0, 0, 0)

    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen5)
    ; create brush
    $hBrush = _WinAPI_CreateSolidBrush(0x0000FF)
    ; select brush
    $hBrushOld = _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hBrush)

    ; draw rectangles
    $result += _WinAPI_Rectangle($hPrintDC, 3500, 2000, 4500, 2500)
    $result += _WinAPI_RoundRect($hPrintDC, 3500, 2600, 4500, 3100, 200, 200)

    ; draw circle
    $result += _WinAPI_Ellipse($hPrintDC, 3300, 1800, 3700, 2200)

    ; restore original brush
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hBrushOld)
    ; select pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPen2)
    $result += _WinAPI_Arc($hPrintDC, 3300, 1900, 3700, 2300, 0, 0, 0, 0)

    ;==============================================================================
    ;

    If $iMode = 2 Then
        ; End the page
        $result += _MetaFile_EndPage($hPrintDC)
        ; start new page
        $result += _MetaFile_StartPage($hPrintDC)
        ;Each page is a new dc.
    Else
        ; End the page
        $result += _WinAPI_EndPage($hPrintDC)
        ; start new page
        $result += _WinAPI_StartPage($hPrintDC)
    EndIf
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)

    $hLF = _WinAPI_CreateFont((($DESIREDFONTSIZE * - 20) / $TwipsPerPixelY), 0, 0, 0, $FW_NORMAL, False, False, False _
            , $DEFAULT_CHARSET, $OUT_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $CLIP_DEFAULT_PRECIS, $DEFAULT_QUALITY, $DEFAULT_PITCH, 'Arial')
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hLF)

    ; print centered test message
    $s_TextOut = "This is page 2"
    $OutSize = _WinAPI_GetTextExtentPoint32($hPrintDC, $s_TextOut)
    ; Compute the starting point for the text-output operation(centered)
    $xLeft = (($PageWidth / 2) - (DllStructGetData($OutSize, "X") / 2))
    ; Compute the starting point for the text-output 2 lines down
    $yTop = DllStructGetData($OutSize, "Y") * 2
    ; Send text
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, 0x0000FF)
    $result += _WinAPI_TextOut($hPrintDC, $xLeft, $yTop, $s_TextOut)

    ; restore original font
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hOldFont)

    ; restore original color
    $result += _WinAPI_SetTextColor($hPrintDC, $iColorOld)

    ; delete pens
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen0)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen1)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen2)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen3)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen4)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen5)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen6)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen7)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen8)
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hPen9)

    ; delete brush
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hBrush)
    ; delete font
    _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hLF)

    ; restore original font
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hOldFont)

    ; restore original pen
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hPenOld)

    ; restore original brush
    $result += _WinAPI_SelectObject($hPrintDC, $hBrushOld)

    If $iMode = 2 Then
        ; End the page
        $result += _MetaFile_EndPage($hPrintDC)
        ; End the print job
        $result += _MetaFile_EndDoc($hPrintDC)
    Else
        ; End the page
        $result += _WinAPI_EndPage($hPrintDC)
        ; End the print job
        $result += _WinAPI_EndDoc($hPrintDC)
        ; Delete the printer device context
    EndIf

    _WinAPI_ReleaseDC(0, $hPrintDC)
    _WinAPI_DeleteDC($hPrintDC)
    Return $result 
EndFunc   ;==>_Print

Func Inch2PixelX($iInchesx)
    Return Int($iInchesx * $PixelsPerInchX)
EndFunc   ;==>Inch2PixelX

Func Inch2PixelY($iInchesy)
    Return Int($iInchesy * $PixelsPerInchY)
EndFunc   ;==>Inch2PixelY

Some thing that needs to be noted are:

• Each "page" is a new device context. This is significant in that GDI objects (like fonts and brushes) loaded to the dc are lost with the dc then page ends. I could not find a way to clear the meta file and reuse to device context.
• The page size is fixed at letter size portrait.
• Each page is a separate emf file.

The meta files are dumped into a temp folder with an ini file. The preview window reads the ini file for the title and page count then loads the preview. When the preview dialog is closed, the meta files and ini are erased.

---

The zip file is here.

---

The zip contains:

• WinPrint.au3 - GRS's printwin script modified.
• PrintDialog.au3 -- Show the printer common dialog.
• MetaFile.au3 -- Windows enhanced meta file api calls in AutoIt3
• Preview.au3 -- Shows the print preview window.
• PreviewTest.au3 -- A little demonstration.

A basic overview for print preview:

Include Preview.au3
Get a handle to a printer device context
Setup the DOCINFO structure
Use _MetaFIle_StartDoc in place of _WinAPI_StartDoc
Use _MetaFile_StartPage in place of _WinAPI_StartPage
Draw on the device context use gdi functions.
Use _MetaFile_EndPage in place of _WinAPI_EndPage
Repeat from _MetaFile_StartPage as necessary.
Use _MetaFile_EndDoc in place of _WinAPI_EndDoc
Call _ShowPreview()

Please look at the example to see how it works.

::eltorro

edit: changed topic description, added link to top, added screenshot link.

Edited April 27, 2010 by eltorro

[enaiman]

Nice job

[eltorro]

Thanks

[bowain]

Great work here.

Took me the better part of yesterday to get it to read a text file then preview it, but kept going back to your example and finally got it to work.

Thanks for your hard work.

Edit: Just figured out ratings (yeah I know real hard there) and gave u 5 stars

Edited April 29, 2010 by bowain

[eltorro]

Great work here.

Took me the better part of yesterday to get it to read a text file then preview it, but kept going back to your example and finally got it to work.

Thanks for your hard work.

Edit: Just figured out ratings (yeah I know real hard there) and gave u 5 stars

Thanks.

I'm working on displaying the preview in landscape.

[bowain]

Thanks.

I'm working on displaying the preview in landscape.

Was working with this some more and noticed the resize (size to fit 100%) did not work, not really a big deal but was not sure if you knew or not. Also on the print feature (not sure if this is yours or Windows issue) but choosing one page to print (say page 2 to page 2) you still get the whole document. Again just a note and nothing that will stop me from using this. (giving all props to you for the print preview function )

The landscape version would come in handy but not for the current project I am working on. I've pretty much stripped the GUI down to just a print, page advance and close button.

Again Kudos!

Edited May 1, 2010 by bowain

[eltorro]

Was working with this some more and noticed the resize (size to fit 100%) did not work, not really a big deal but was not sure if you knew or not. Also on the print feature (not sure if this is yours or Windows issue) but choosing one page to print (say page 2 to page 2) you still get the whole document. Again just a note and nothing that will stop me from using this. (giving all props to you for the print preview function )

The landscape version would come in handy but not for the current project I am working on. I've pretty much stripped the GUI down to just a print, page advance and close button.

Again Kudos!

The resize combo box is basically a place holder for some scaling values and not hooked to msg loop yet. The page picking is a combination of both. One of the structures(PRINTDLG structure) used in the print setup dialogs takes the page ranges and passes them to the driver and is not yet filled in. Hopefully in the near future that part will be worked out.

[eltorro]

Updated the code. Scaling is enabled. I did some work on the scroll bars.

Links in first post

[TheSaint]

Thanks for sharing!

[rdwray]

I tried to use this and I did not get a preview. The hour glass came up, but nothing else. Thanks...

[TheCurrent]

thanks for this one, very useful.

[clustersblue]

Hi eltorro,

Just started using your PrintDialog.au3 and WinPrintConstants.au3 and slightly modified one of your functions (see below code) under "PrintDialog.au3" by adding one line of code "$openPrintingPreferences=..." hope you don't mind.

The purpose of that line is to invoke directly the Printing Preferences dialog which I did successfully. However, after setting the settings that I want (i.e. number of copies, paper size, paper type, etc...) then press OK it seems the devmode values were not updated. What I want really is for the user to be able to change the printer settings and then save the devmode data into a file for future use, using printUI. But it seems not, since when I restore the data the settings are still the default values. Is there something that I missed or did wrong? I'm not familiar how devmode structure works most likely I missed something.

Func _Get_Devmode_Data($szPrinter = Default)
If $szPrinter = Default Then  $szPrinter = _WinSpool_GetDefaultPrinter()
If $szPrinter = "" Then Return SetError(1,0,0)
Local $phPrinter, $hPrinter, $tDM = 0, $modifiedtDM
$phPrinter = DllStructCreate("ptr")
If _WinSpool_OpenPrinter($szPrinter, $phPrinter, -1) Then
  $hPrinter = DllStructGetData($phPrinter, 1)
  Local $iNeeded = _WinSpool_DocumentProperties(0, $hPrinter, $szPrinter, $tDM, 0, 0)
  If $iNeeded > 218 Then
   $tDM = DllStructCreate($tagDEVMODE & ";byte[" & $iNeeded - 218 & "]")
  Else
   $tDM = DllStructCreate($tagDEVMODE)
  EndIf
  $iResult = _WinSpool_DocumentProperties(0, $hPrinter, $szPrinter, $tDM, 0, $DM_OUT_BUFFER)

  $openPrintingPreferences = _WinSpool_DocumentProperties(0, $hPrinter, $szPrinter, $tDM, $tDM, BitOR($DM_IN_BUFFER,$DM_OUT_BUFFER,$DM_IN_PROMPT))
  
  $phPrinter = 0
  _WinSpool_ClosePrinter($hPrinter)
  if $openPrintingPreferences ==1 Then
   if $iResult = 0 Then
    $tDM = 0
    Return SetError(1,0,0)
   EndIf
   Return $tDM
  Else
   Return 2
  EndIf
EndIf
Return SetError(1,0,0)
EndFunc

Your UDF works flawlessly out of the box, thanks for sharing!

[jcpetu]

Hi eltorro, how could I use your script to print for example a word document?

Thks a lot and regards.

[BrewManNH]

Unfortunately, eltorro hasn't been online here in nearly 2 years.

[jcpetu]

Ok, thanks BrewManNH.

[mesale0077]

PrintPreview.zip

new link please

[x_bennY]

someone has the link or the file to share? or another solution? i really need this.

---------------------------------------------

Wow! Good news... after a long time of researching i found the file in a japonese forum! I'm attaching the original and the one that i've quickly edited to work on actual autoit version. I suggest to add this files into the forum database, at the download section.

459b1469257663.rar

PrintPreview xbY.rar

Edited December 8, 2017 by x_bennY
Download link is broken, attaching the files.

[argumentum]

On 12/8/2017 at 4:24 PM, x_bennY said:

I suggest to add this files into the forum database, at the download section.

https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/files/file/453-printpreviewzip/