Virtual Image Printer Driver Cnet
I'm looking to create a virtual printer that passes data to my .NET application. I want to then create an installer that installs both the printer and the .NET application. It would we really nice to be able to write it all in C#, but I have a feeling that this will require a printer driver to be written is unmanaged code. Does anyone know of a fairly clean tutorial or example of how to do this?
ctrlalt313373Feb 12, 2014 Text speed. CNET Labs performs this test on all printers except snapshot printers. Our test document is a 10-page, text-only, 62Kb Microsoft Word DOC file. Image Printer is a, virtual printer driver for computers running Windows 2000, 2003, XP, 2008, Vista, and Windows 7 operating systems based on the Microsoft universal printer driver. It allows you to print any printable document from your computer in a variety of formats.
- Printer reviews, ratings, and prices at CNET. Find the Printer that is right for you.
- CNET Labs performs this test on all printers except snapshot printers. Our test document is a 10-page, text-only, 62Kb Microsoft Word DOC file that employs a variety of font sizes and.
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8 Answers
Visit http://www.printerplusplus.com. It is open source .NET virtual printer. It gives you an installer and a .NET class for writing code to process your 'printer data'.
Did exactly what you are asking using the Github project: Microsoft/Windows-driver-samples/print/XPSDrvSmpl
Installer: http://wixtoolset.org/
Application: Listen to internal port Ripple desktop wallet download mac.
Flow: Install printer and application from a single installer. User prints something with your driver while the application listens to the internal port. When data is sent the application picks it up. This is for XPS, can be converted to PDF, but the flow is similar no matter what you are printing. If you need anything else check out Microsoft/Windows-driver-samples/print/ on GitHub or other sources specific to your needs.
/canon-ir-1600-usb-driver.html. /bohemian-rhapsody-sax-quartet-pdf-printer.html. Update:
A lot of questions about how to get the driver working so here is a quick example:
Start by downloading Windows Driver Kit (WDK) if you do not have it installed already. When installing choose to add the extension for Visual Studio as well in the final step. In your Visual Studio 2017 Install you need to have Desktop development with C++ to have the right SDKs. If you don't have it see the anser below on how to add it.
Then download the .zip file for Windows-driver-samples master:
Navigate to the folder <UnzipFolder>printXPSDrvSmpl and open XPSDrvSmpl.sln in Visual Studio.
Then follow Microsofts own guide on GitHub. As you can see it is for Visual Studio 2015 but I think it is the same for 2017 (not tested yet):
To build a driver solution using Windows Driver Kit (WDK) 10 and Visual Studio 2015, perform the following steps.
- Open the solution file in Visual Studio 2015.
- Add all non-binary files (usually located in the install directoryof the sample) to the Package project: a. In the Solution Explorer,right click Driver Files b. Select Add, then click Existing Item c.Navigate to the location to which you downloaded the sample, andselect all the files in the install directory, or the equivalent setof non-binary files such as INFs, INIs, GPD, PPD files, etc. d.Click Add
- Configure these files to be added into the driver package: a. In theSolution Explorer, right click on the solution and choose Add > NewProject. Choose Driver Install Package under Visual C++/WindowsDriver/Package. b. In the Solution Explorer, right click the Packageproject and select Properties. c. In the left pane, clickConfiguration Properties > Driver Install > Package Files. d. In theright pane, use the ellipsis button (.) to browse to the set offiles that needs to be added to the driver package. All the datafiles that you added in Step 2-c, except the INF file, should beadded. This configuration is per-architecture, so this configurationmust be repeated for each architecture that will be built. e. ClickOK.
- Open the INF file and edit it to match the built output. a. Open theINF file. b. In the Version section, add a reference to a catalogfile like this: CatalogFile=XpsDrvSmpl.cat. c. In theSourceDisksFiles section, change the location of the DLL files youare building, to =1. This indicates that there is no architecturespecific directory in this driver. If you ship multiplearchitectures simultaneously, you will need to collate the driverINF manually.
At this point, Visual Studio 2015 will be able to build a driver package and output the files to disk. In order to configure driver signing and deployment, see Developing, Testing, and Deploying Drivers.
Ogglas
OgglasI think you will have to do a lot of WinAPI wrapping. Start researching on Windows Driver Development Kit to find the things you have to do.
I also found this commercial Printer Driver Resource Toolkit for .NET.
CMSCMSYou could simply have your app expose itself like an LPD type printer or monitor port 9100. You could then install any print driver you like, and point it a your app.
Douglas AndersonDouglas AndersonWas looking for an answer for similar question, and found this link through Wikipedia - http://www.colorpilot.com/emfprinterpilot.html (allows to create Virtual Printers in different languages)
dolzenkodolzenkoWhy not consider using an alternative approach. Like using an intermediate ready made printing program, such as those freely available Print-to-PDF application. Then all you need is to decode PDF using some 3rd party library (which has free and opensource variance too) instead of cracking your head to reinvent the wheel. There are other Print-to-XXX application which you could also consider depending on the format you see fit.
Virtual Image Printer Driver Windows
faultyfaultyI don't thing interpreting PDF approach is any good either. I don't know why you want to do what you want to do. Maybe you're trying to write a PDF printer of your own.
I think you should really give the Windows Driver Development thing a look. If you want to develop a printer driver, I think you'll have to do it in C++.
Good Luck.
Cyril GuptaCyril GuptaIf I remember correctly Microsoft does not support .NET within printer driver development. I have yet to come across a pure .NET printer driver. You will be a very brave man to do so! The website 'Printer Driver Resource Toolkit' does not say that the driver has been written in .NET