docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/framework/winforms/advanced/how-to-choose-the-printers-attached-to-user-computer-in-windows-forms.md

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How to: Choose the Printers Attached to a User's Computer	03/30/2017	csharp vb cpp	printing [Windows Forms], choosing printers printers [Windows Forms], choosing	63c1172b-2931-4ac0-953f-37f629494bbf

How to: Choose the Printers Attached to a User's Computer in Windows Forms

Often, users want to choose a printer other than the default printer to print to. You can enable users to choose a printer from among those currently installed by using the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog component. Through the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog component, the xref:System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult of the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog component is captured and used to select the printer.

In the following procedure, a text file is selected to be printed to the default printer. The xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog class is then instantiated.

To choose a printer and then print a file

1. Select the printer to be used using the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog component.

   In the following code example, there are two events being handled. In the first, a xref:System.Windows.Forms.Button control's xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.Click event, the xref:System.Windows.Forms.PrintDialog class is instantiated and the printer selected by the user is captured in the xref:System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult property.

   In the second event, the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument.PrintPage event of the xref:System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument component, a sample document is printed to the printer specified.

   Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click  
      Dim PrintDialog1 As New PrintDialog()  
      PrintDialog1.Document = PrintDocument1  
      Dim result As DialogResult = PrintDialog1.ShowDialog()  
   
      If (result = DialogResult.OK) Then  
        PrintDocument1.Print()  
      End If
   
   End Sub  
   
   Private Sub PrintDocument1_PrintPage(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs) Handles PrintDocument1.PrintPage  
      e.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brushes.Red, New Rectangle(500, 500, 500, 500))
   End Sub  
   

   private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)  
   {  
      PrintDialog printDialog1 = new PrintDialog();  
      printDialog1.Document = printDocument1;  
      DialogResult result = printDialog1.ShowDialog();  
      if (result == DialogResult.OK)  
      {  
         printDocument1.Print();  
      }  
   }  
   
   private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
   System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)  
   {  
      e.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brushes.Red,
        new Rectangle(500, 500, 500, 500));  
   }  
   

   private:  
      void button1_Click(System::Object ^ sender,  
         System::EventArgs ^ e)  
      {  
         PrintDialog ^ printDialog1 = gcnew PrintDialog();  
         printDialog1->Document = printDocument1;  
         System::Windows::Forms::DialogResult result =
            printDialog1->ShowDialog();  
         if (result == DialogResult::OK)  
         {  
            printDocument1->Print();  
         }  
      }  
   private:  
      void printDocument1_PrintPage(System::Object ^ sender,  
         System::Drawing::Printing::PrintPageEventArgs ^ e)  
      {  
         e->Graphics->FillRectangle(Brushes::Red,  
            Rectangle(500, 500, 500, 500));  
      }  
   

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

   this.printDocument1.PrintPage += new  
      System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventHandler  
      (this.printDocument1_PrintPage);  
   this.button1.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.button1_Click);  
   

   this->printDocument1->PrintPage += gcnew  
      System::Drawing::Printing::PrintPageEventHandler  
      (this, &Form1::printDocument1_PrintPage);  
   this->button1->Click += gcnew  
      System::EventHandler(this, &Form1::button1_Click);  
   

See also

• Windows Forms Print Support