docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/framework/winforms/controls/how-to-display-print-preview-in-windows-forms-applications.md

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title	titleSuffix	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords	ms.assetid
Display Print Preview in Windows Forms apps		03/30/2017	csharp vb cpp	print preview [Windows Forms], displaying printing [Windows Forms], print preview examples [Windows Forms], print preview	e394134c-0886-4517-bd8d-edc4a3749eb5

How to: Display Print Preview in Windows Forms Applications

You can use the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control to enable users to display a document, often before it is to be printed.

To do this, you need to specify an instance of the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument class; this is the document to be printed. For more information about using print preview with the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument component, see How to: Print in Windows Forms Using Print Preview.

Note

To use the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control at run time, users must have a printer installed on their computer, either locally or through a network, as this is partly how the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog component determines how a document will look when printed.

The xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control uses the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings class. Additionally, the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control uses the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings class, just as the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog component does. The print document specified in the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control's xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewControl.Document%2A property refers to instances of both the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings and xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings classes, and these are used to render the document in the preview window.

To view pages using the PrintPreviewDialog control

• Use the xref:System.Windows.Forms.CommonDialog.ShowDialog%2A method to display the dialog box, specifying the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument to use.

  In the following code example, the xref:System.Windows.Forms.Button control's xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click event handler opens an instance of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control. The print document is specified in the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog.Document%2A property. In the example below, no print document is specified.

  The example requires that your form has a xref:System.Windows.Forms.Button control, a xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument component named myDocument, and a xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintPreviewDialog control.

  Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, _  
     ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click  
     ' The print document 'myDocument' used below  
     ' is merely for an example.  
     ' You will have to specify your own print document.  
     PrintPreviewDialog1.Document = myDocument  
     PrintPreviewDialog1.ShowDialog()  
  End Sub  
  

  private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)  
  {  
     // The print document 'myDocument' used below  
     // is merely for an example.  
     // You will have to specify your own print document.  
     printPreviewDialog1.Document = myDocument;  
     printPreviewDialog1.ShowDialog();  
  }  
  

  private:  
     void button1_Click(System::Object ^ sender,  
        System::EventArgs ^ e)  
     {  
        // The print document 'myDocument' used below  
        // is merely for an example.  
        // You will have to specify your own print document.  
        printPreviewDialog1->Document = myDocument;  
        printPreviewDialog1->ShowDialog();  
     }  
  

  (Visual C#, Visual C++) Place the following code in the form's constructor to register the event handler.

  this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);  
  

  this->button1->Click += gcnew  
     System::EventHandler(this, &Form1::button1_Click);  
  

See also

• PrintDocument Component
• PrintPreviewDialog Control
• Windows Forms Print Support
• Windows Forms