How to Use The LEADTOOLS Virtual Printer Driver

Take the following steps to create and run a program that prints using the LEADTOOLS printer.

1. Start Visual Studio .NET.

2. Choose File->New->Project... from the menu.

3. In the New Project dialog box, choose either "Visual C# Projects" or "VB Projects" in the Projects Type List, and choose "Windows Application" in the Templates List.

4. Type the project name as "PRINTER DRIVER" in the Project Name field, and then click OK. If desired, type a new location for your project or select a directory using the Browse button, and then click OK.

5. In the "Solution Explorer" window, right-click the "References" folder, and select "Add Reference..." from the context menu. In the "Add Reference" dialog box, select the ".NET" tab and browse to Leadtools For .NET "<LEADTOOLS_INSTALLDIR>\Bin\Dotnet\Win32 " folder and select the following DLLs:

   • Leadtools.dll
   • Leadtools.Printer.dll

6. Switch to Form1 code view (right-click Form1 in the solution explorer then select View Code ) and add the following lines at the beginning of the file:

   C#

   VB
   Imports System.Drawing.Imaging 
   Imports System.Drawing.Printing 
   Imports Leadtools 
   Imports Leadtools.Printer 
                    
        

   using System.Drawing.Imaging; 
   using System.Drawing.Printing; 
   using Leadtools; 
   using Leadtools.Printer; 
                    
        

7. Declare the following private variable:

   C#

   VB
   Private _printer as Printer  
                    
        

   private Printer _printer;  
                    
        

8. Add an event handler to the Form1 Load event and code it as follows:

   C#

   VB
   Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load 
      Try 
        Dim printerName as string="LEADTOOLS Printer" 
        Dim installedPrinters As List(Of String) = New List(Of String)() 
        For Each printer As String In PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters 
           installedPrinters.Add(printer) 
        Next 
        If Not installedPrinters.Contains(printerName) Then 
           Dim printerPassword as string="1234" 
           Dim documentPrinterRegPath As String = "SOFTWARE\\LEAD Technologies, Inc.\\Printer\\" 
           Dim printerInfo As New PrinterInfo() 
           printerInfo.MonitorName = printerName 
           printerInfo.PortName = printerName 
           printerInfo.ProductName = printerName 
           printerInfo.PrinterName = printerName 
           printerInfo.Password = printerPassword 
           printerInfo.RegistryKey = documentPrinterRegPath + printerName 
           printerInfo.RootDir = "C:\LEADTOOLS 19\Bin\Common\PrinterDriver\" 
           printerInfo.Url = "https://www.leadtools.com" 
           printerInfo.PrinterExe = Application.ExecutablePath 
           Printer.Install(printerInfo) 
        End If 
        _printer = New Printer(printerName) 
        AddHandler _printer.EmfEvent, AddressOf _printer_EmfEvent 
        AddHandler _printer.JobEvent, AddressOf _printer_JobEvent 
      Catch ex As Exception 
         MessageBox.Show(ex.Message) 
      End Try 
   End Sub  
                    
        

   private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e) 
   { 
      try 
      { 
          string printerName="LEADTOOLS Printer"; 
          List<string> installedPrinters = new List<string>(); 
          foreach (string printer in PrinterSettings.InstalledPrinters) 
             installedPrinters.Add(printer); 
          if (!installedPrinters.Contains(printerName)) 
          { 
             string printerPassword="1234"; 
             string documentPrinterRegPath = @"SOFTWARE\LEAD Technologies, Inc.\Printer\"; 
             PrinterInfo printerInfo = new PrinterInfo(); 
             printerInfo.MonitorName = printerName; 
             printerInfo.PortName = printerName; 
             printerInfo.ProductName = printerName; 
             printerInfo.PrinterName = printerName; 
             printerInfo.Password = printerPassword; 
             printerInfo.RegistryKey = documentPrinterRegPath + printerName; 
             printerInfo.RootDir = @"C:\LEADTOOLS 19\Bin\Common\PrinterDriver\"; 
             printerInfo.Url = "https://www.leadtools.com"; 
             printerInfo.PrinterExe = Application.ExecutablePath; 
             Printer.Install(printerInfo); 
          } 
          _printer=new Printer(printerName); 
          _printer.EmfEvent += new EventHandler<EmfEventArgs>(_printer_EmfEvent); 
          _printer.JobEvent += new EventHandler<JobEventArgs>(_printer_JobEvent); 
      } 
      catch (Exception ex) 
      { 
         MessageBox.Show(this, ex.Message); 
      } 
   }  
                    
        

9. Add an event handler to the Emf event and code it as follows:

   C#

   VB
   Private Sub _printer_EmfEvent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EmfEventArgs) 
      System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes("c:\LEADTOOLS_IMAGE1.emf", e.Stream.ToArray()) 
      Dim metaFile As New Metafile(e.Stream) 
   End Sub  
                    
        

   void _printer_EmfEvent(object sender, EmfEventArgs e) 
   { 
     System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes(@"c:\1.emf", e.Stream.ToArray()); 
     Metafile metaFile = new Metafile(e.Stream); 
   }  
                    
        

10. Add an event handler to the job info event and code it as follows:

    C#

    VB
    Private Sub _printer_JobEvent(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As JobEventArgs) 
        Dim printerName As String = e.PrinterName 
        Dim jobID As Integer = e.JobID 
        If e.JobEventState = EventState.JobStart Then 
           MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Job {0} was started", jobID)) 
        ElseIf e.JobEventState = EventState.JobEnd Then 
           MessageBox.Show(String.Format("Job {0} was Ended", jobID)) 
        End If 
    End Sub  
                     
         

    void _printer_JobEvent(object sender, JobEventArgs e) 
    { 
       string printerName = e.PrinterName; 
       int jobID = e.JobID; 
                        
       if (e.JobEventState == EventState.JobStart) 
       { 
           MessageBox.Show(string.Format("Job {0} was started",jobID)); 
       } 
       else if (e.JobEventState == EventState.JobEnd) 
       { 
          MessageBox.Show(string.Format("Job {0} was Ended",jobID)); 
       } 
    }  
                     
         

11. Build, and Run the program to test it.