How to: Print a Windows Form 

As part of the development process, you typically will want to print a copy of your Windows Form. The following code example shows how to print a copy of the current form by using the CopyFromScreen method.

Example

Imports System
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Printing

Public Class Form1
    Inherits Form
    Private WithEvents printButton As New Button
    Private WithEvents printDocument1 As New PrintDocument

    Public Sub New()
        printButton.Text = "Print Form"
        Me.Controls.Add(printButton)
    End Sub

    Dim memoryImage As Bitmap

    Private Sub CaptureScreen()
        Dim myGraphics As Graphics = Me.CreateGraphics()
        Dim s As Size = Me.Size
        memoryImage = New Bitmap(s.Width, s.Height, myGraphics)
        Dim memoryGraphics As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(memoryImage)
        memoryGraphics.CopyFromScreen(Me.Location.X, Me.Location.Y, 0, 0, s)
    End Sub

    Private Sub printDocument1_PrintPage(ByVal sender As System.Object, _
       ByVal e As System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs) Handles _
       printDocument1.PrintPage
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(memoryImage, 0, 0)
    End Sub

    Private Sub printButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As _
       System.EventArgs) Handles printButton.Click
        CaptureScreen()
        printDocument1.Print()
    End Sub

    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New Form1())
    End Sub
End Class

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Printing;

public class Form1 :
    Form
{
    private Button printButton = new Button();
    private PrintDocument printDocument1 = new PrintDocument();

    public Form1()
    {
        printButton.Text = "Print Form";
        printButton.Click += new EventHandler(printButton_Click);
        printDocument1.PrintPage += new PrintPageEventHandler(printDocument1_PrintPage);
        this.Controls.Add(printButton);
    }

    void printButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        CaptureScreen();
        printDocument1.Print();
    }


    Bitmap memoryImage;

    private void CaptureScreen()
    {
        Graphics myGraphics = this.CreateGraphics();
        Size s = this.Size;
        memoryImage = new Bitmap(s.Width, s.Height, myGraphics);
        Graphics memoryGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(memoryImage);
        memoryGraphics.CopyFromScreen(this.Location.X, this.Location.Y, 0, 0, s);
    }

    private void printDocument1_PrintPage(System.Object sender,  
           System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(memoryImage, 0, 0);
    }

  

    public static void Main()
    {
        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }
}

Compiling the Code

This is a complete code example that contains a Main method.

Robust Programming

The following conditions may cause an exception:

• You do not have permission to access the printer.

• There is no printer installed.

Security

In order to run this code example, you must have permission to access the printer you use with your computer.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Render Images with GDI+
How to: Print Graphics in Windows Forms

Reference

PrintDocument