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.

    Requirement:

    Visual Studio must run as an administrator for this tutorial to work correctly. For instructions on how to switch from normal use to administrator, refer to Run Visual Studio as an administrator.

  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:

    VB
    Imports System.Drawing.Imaging 
    Imports System.Drawing.Printing 
    Imports Leadtools 
    Imports Leadtools.Printer 
    C#
    using System.Drawing.Imaging; 
    using System.Drawing.Printing; 
    using Leadtools; 
    using Leadtools.Printer; 

  7. Declare the following private variable:

    VB
    Private _printer as Printer  
    C#
    private Printer _printer;  

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

    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 20\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  
    C#
    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 20\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:

    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  
    C#
    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:

    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  
    C#
    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.
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