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The QPrinter class is a paint device that paints on a printer. More...
Inherits QPaintDevice.
The QPrinter class is a paint device that paints on a printer.
This device represents a series of pages of printed output, and is used in almost exactly the same way as other paint devices such as QWidget and QPixmap. A set of additional functions are provided to manage device-specific features, such as orientation and resolution, and to step through the pages in a document as it is generated.
When printing directly to a printer on Windows or Mac OS X, QPrinter uses the built-in printer drivers. On X11, QPrinter uses the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) or the standard Unix lpr utility to send PostScript or PDF output to the printer. As an alternative, the printProgram() function can be used to specify the command or utility to use instead of the system default.
QPrinter supports a number of parameters, most of which can be changed by the end user through a print dialog. In general, QPrinter passes these functions onto the underlying QPrintEngine.
The most important parameters are:
Many of these functions can only be called before the actual printing begins (i.e., before QPainter.begin() is called). This usually makes sense because, for example, it's not possible to change the number of copies when you are halfway through printing. There are also some settings that the user sets (through the printer dialog) and that applications are expected to obey. See QAbstractPrintDialog's documentation for more details.
When QPainter.begin() is called, the QPrinter it operates on is prepared for a new page, enabling the QPainter to be used immediately to paint the first page in a document. Once the first page has been painted, newPage() can be called to request a new blank page to paint on, or QPainter.end() can be called to finish printing. The second page and all following pages are prepared using a call to newPage() before they are painted.
The first page in a document does not need to be preceded by a call to newPage(). You only need to calling newPage() after QPainter.begin() if you need to insert a blank page at the beginning of a printed document. Similarly, calling newPage() after the last page in a document is painted will result in a trailing blank page appended to the end of the printed document.
If you want to abort the print job, abort() will try its best to stop printing. It may cancel the entire job or just part of it.
Since QPrinter can print to any QPrintEngine subclass, it is possible to extend printing support to cover new types of printing subsystem by subclassing QPrintEngine and reimplementing its interface.
See also QPrintDialog and Printing with Qt.
This enum type is used to indicate whether QPrinter should print in color or not.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.Color | 1 | print in color if available, otherwise in grayscale. |
| QPrinter.GrayScale | 0 | print in grayscale, even on color printers. |
This enum type (not to be confused with Orientation) is used to specify each page's orientation.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.Portrait | 0 | the page's height is greater than its width. |
| QPrinter.Landscape | 1 | the page's width is greater than its height. |
This type interacts with QPrinter.PageSize and QPrinter.setFullPage() to determine the final size of the page available to the application.
The OutputFormat enum is used to describe the format QPrinter should use for printing.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.NativeFormat | 0 | QPrinter will print output using a method defined by the platform it is running on. This mode is the default when printing directly to a printer. |
| QPrinter.PdfFormat | 1 | QPrinter will generate its output as a searchable PDF file. This mode is the default when printing to a file. |
| QPrinter.PostScriptFormat | 2 | QPrinter will generate its output as in the PostScript format. (This feature was introduced in Qt 4.2.) |
See also outputFormat(), setOutputFormat(), and setOutputFileName().
This enum type is used by QPrinter to tell the application program how to print.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.FirstPageFirst | 0 | the lowest-numbered page should be printed first. |
| QPrinter.LastPageFirst | 1 | the highest-numbered page should be printed first. |
This enum type specifies what paper size QPrinter should use. QPrinter does not check that the paper size is available; it just uses this information, together with QPrinter.Orientation and QPrinter.setFullPage(), to determine the printable area.
The defined sizes (with setFullPage(true)) are:
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.A0 | 5 | 841 x 1189 mm |
| QPrinter.A1 | 6 | 594 x 841 mm |
| QPrinter.A2 | 7 | 420 x 594 mm |
| QPrinter.A3 | 8 | 297 x 420 mm |
| QPrinter.A4 | 0 | 210 x 297 mm, 8.26 x 11.69 inches |
| QPrinter.A5 | 9 | 148 x 210 mm |
| QPrinter.A6 | 10 | 105 x 148 mm |
| QPrinter.A7 | 11 | 74 x 105 mm |
| QPrinter.A8 | 12 | 52 x 74 mm |
| QPrinter.A9 | 13 | 37 x 52 mm |
| QPrinter.B0 | 14 | 1030 x 1456 mm |
| QPrinter.B1 | 15 | 728 x 1030 mm |
| QPrinter.B10 | 16 | 32 x 45 mm |
| QPrinter.B2 | 17 | 515 x 728 mm |
| QPrinter.B3 | 18 | 364 x 515 mm |
| QPrinter.B4 | 19 | 257 x 364 mm |
| QPrinter.B5 | 1 | 182 x 257 mm, 7.17 x 10.13 inches |
| QPrinter.B6 | 20 | 128 x 182 mm |
| QPrinter.B7 | 21 | 91 x 128 mm |
| QPrinter.B8 | 22 | 64 x 91 mm |
| QPrinter.B9 | 23 | 45 x 64 mm |
| QPrinter.C5E | 24 | 163 x 229 mm |
| QPrinter.Comm10E | 25 | 105 x 241 mm, U.S. Common 10 Envelope |
| QPrinter.DLE | 26 | 110 x 220 mm |
| QPrinter.Executive | 4 | 7.5 x 10 inches, 191 x 254 mm |
| QPrinter.Folio | 27 | 210 x 330 mm |
| QPrinter.Ledger | 28 | 432 x 279 mm |
| QPrinter.Legal | 3 | 8.5 x 14 inches, 216 x 356 mm |
| QPrinter.Letter | 2 | 8.5 x 11 inches, 216 x 279 mm |
| QPrinter.Tabloid | 29 | 279 x 432 mm |
| QPrinter.Custom | 30 | Unknown size |
With setFullPage(false) (the default), the metrics will be a bit smaller; how much depends on the printer in use.
This enum type specifies what paper source QPrinter is to use. QPrinter does not check that the paper source is available; it just uses this information to try and set the paper source. Whether it will set the paper source depends on whether the printer has that particular source.
Warning: This is currently only implemented for Windows.
| Constant | Value |
|---|---|
| QPrinter.Auto | 6 |
| QPrinter.Cassette | 11 |
| QPrinter.Envelope | 4 |
| QPrinter.EnvelopeManual | 5 |
| QPrinter.FormSource | 12 |
| QPrinter.LargeCapacity | 10 |
| QPrinter.LargeFormat | 9 |
| QPrinter.Lower | 1 |
| QPrinter.MaxPageSource | 13 |
| QPrinter.Middle | 2 |
| QPrinter.Manual | 3 |
| QPrinter.OnlyOne | 0 |
| QPrinter.Tractor | 7 |
| QPrinter.SmallFormat | 8 |
This enum describes the mode the printer should work in. It basically presets a certain resolution and working mode.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.ScreenResolution | 0 | Sets the resolution of the print device to the screen resolution. This has the big advantage that the results obtained when painting on the printer will match more or less exactly the visible output on the screen. It is the easiest to use, as font metrics on the screen and on the printer are the same. This is the default value. ScreenResolution will produce a lower quality output than HighResolution and should only be used for drafts. |
| QPrinter.PrinterResolution | 1 | This value is deprecated. Is is equivalent to ScreenResolution on Unix and HighResolution on Windows and Mac. Due do the difference between ScreenResolution and HighResolution, use of this value may lead to non-portable printer code. |
| QPrinter.HighResolution | 2 | On Windows, sets the printer resolution to that defined for the printer in use. For PostScript printing, sets the resolution of the PostScript driver to 1200 dpi. |
Note: When rendering text on a QPrinter device, it is important to realize that the size of text, when specified in points, is independent of the resolution specified for the device itself. Therefore, it may be useful to specify the font size in pixels when combining text with graphics to ensure that their relative sizes are what you expect.
| Constant | Value |
|---|---|
| QPrinter.Idle | 0 |
| QPrinter.Active | 1 |
| QPrinter.Aborted | 2 |
| QPrinter.Error | 3 |
Used to specify the print range selection option.
| Constant | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| QPrinter.AllPages | 0 | All pages should be printed. |
| QPrinter.Selection | 1 | Only the selection should be printed. |
| QPrinter.PageRange | 2 | The specified page range should be printed. |
See also QAbstractPrintDialog.PrintRange.
Creates a new printer object with the given mode.
Aborts the current print run. Returns true if the print run was successfully aborted and printerState() will return QPrinter.Aborted; otherwise returns false.
It is not always possible to abort a print job. For example, all the data has gone to the printer but the printer cannot or will not cancel the job when asked to.
Returns true if collation is turned on when multiple copies is selected. Returns false if it is turned off when multiple copies is selected.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setCollateCopies().
Returns the current color mode.
See also setColorMode().
Returns the name of the application that created the document.
See also setCreator().
Returns the document name.
See also setDocName().
Returns true if double side printing is enabled.
Currently this option is only supported on X11.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.2.
See also setDoubleSidedPrinting().
Returns true if font embedding is enabled.
Currently this option is only supported on X11.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setFontEmbeddingEnabled().
Returns the from-page setting. The default value is 0.
If fromPage() and toPage() both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setFromTo() and toPage().
Returns true if the origin of the printer's coordinate system is at the corner of the page and false if it is at the edge of the printable area.
See setFullPage() for details and caveats.
See also setFullPage() and PageSize.
Tells the printer to eject the current page and to continue printing on a new page. Returns true if this was successful; otherwise returns false.
Returns the number of copies to be printed. The default value is 1.
On Windows, Mac OS X and X11 systems that support CUPS, this will always return 1 as these operating systems can internally handle the number of copies.
On X11, this value will return the number of times the application is required to print in order to match the number specified in the printer setup dialog. This has been done since some printer drivers are not capable of buffering up the copies and in those cases the application must make an explicit call to the print code for each copy.
See also setNumCopies().
Returns the orientation setting. This is driver-dependent, but is usually QPrinter.Portrait.
See also setOrientation().
Returns the name of the output file. By default, this is an empty string (indicating that the printer shouldn't print to file).
See also setOutputFileName().
Returns the output format for this printer.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setOutputFormat().
Returns the current page order.
The default page order is FirstPageFirst.
See also setPageOrder().
Returns the page's rectangle; this is usually smaller than the paperRect() since the page normally has margins between its borders and the paper.
See also pageSize().
Returns the printer page size. The default value is driver-dependent.
See also setPageSize(), pageRect(), and paperRect().
Returns the paint engine used by the printer.
Reimplemented from QPaintDevice.
Returns the paper's rectangle; this is usually larger than the pageRect().
See also pageRect().
Returns the printer's paper source. This is Manual or a printer tray or paper cassette.
See also setPaperSource().
Returns the print engine used by the printer.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
Returns the printer name. This value is initially set to the name of the default printer.
See also setPrinterName().
Returns the printer options selection string. This is useful only if the print command has been explicitly set.
The default value (an empty string) implies that the printer should be selected in a system-dependent manner.
Any other value implies that the given value should be used.
Warning: This function is not available on Windows.
See also setPrinterSelectionOption().
Returns the current state of the printer. This may not always be accurate (for example if the printer doesn't have the capability of reporting its state to the operating system).
Returns the name of the program that sends the print output to the printer.
The default is to return an empty string; meaning that QPrinter will try to be smart in a system-dependent way. On X11 only, you can set it to something different to use a specific print program. On the other platforms, this returns an empty string.
See also setPrintProgram() and setPrinterSelectionOption().
Returns the page range of the QPrinter. After the print setup dialog has been opened, this function returns the value selected by the user.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setPrintRange().
Returns the current assumed resolution of the printer, as set by setResolution() or by the printer driver.
See also setResolution().
Sets the default value for collation checkbox when the print dialog appears. If collate is true, it will enable setCollateCopiesEnabled(). The default value is false. This value will be changed by what the user presses in the print dialog.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also collateCopies().
Sets the printer's color mode to newColorMode, which can be either Color or GrayScale.
See also colorMode().
Sets the name of the application that created the document to creator.
This function is only applicable to the X11 version of Qt. If no creator name is specified, the creator will be set to "Qt" followed by some version number.
See also creator().
Sets the document name to name.
See also docName().
Enables double sided printing if doubleSided is true; otherwise disables it.
Currently this option is only supported on X11.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.2.
See also doubleSidedPrinting().
This function is used by subclasses of QPrinter to specify custom print and paint engines (printEngine and paintEngine, respectively).
QPrinter does not take ownership of the engines, so you need to manage these engine instances yourself.
Note that changing the engines will reset the printer state and all its properties.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also printEngine(), paintEngine(), and setOutputFormat().
Enabled or disables font embedding depending on enable.
Currently this option is only supported on X11.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also fontEmbeddingEnabled().
Sets the from-page and to-page settings to from and to respectively.
The from-page and to-page settings specify what pages to print.
If from and to both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.
This function is useful mostly to set a default value that the user can override in the print dialog when you call setup().
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also fromPage() and toPage().
If fp is true, enables support for painting over the entire page; otherwise restricts painting to the printable area reported by the device.
By default, full page printing is disabled. In this case, the origin of the QPrinter's coordinate system coincides with the top-left corner of the printable area.
If full page printing is enabled, the origin of the QPrinter's coordinate system coincides with the top-left corner of the paper itself. In this case, the device metrics will report the exact same dimensions as indicated by PageSize. It may not be possible to print on the entire physical page because of the printer's margins, so the application must account for the margins itself.
See also fullPage(), setPageSize(), width(), height(), and Printing with Qt.
Sets the number of copies to be printed to numCopies.
The printer driver reads this setting and prints the specified number of copies.
See also numCopies().
Sets the print orientation to orientation.
The orientation can be either QPrinter.Portrait or QPrinter.Landscape.
The printer driver reads this setting and prints using the specified orientation.
On Windows, this option can be changed while printing and will take effect from the next call to newPage().
On Mac OS X, changing the orientation during a print job has no effect.
See also orientation().
Sets the name of the output file to fileName.
Setting a null or empty name (0 or "") disables printing to a file. Setting a non-empty name enables printing to a file.
This can change the value of outputFormat(). If the file name has the suffix ".ps" then PostScript is automatically selected as output format. If the file name has the ".pdf" suffix PDF is generated. QPrinter will use Qt's cross-platform PostScript or PDF print engines respectively. If you can produce this format natively, for example Mac OS X can generate PDF's from its print engine, set the output format back to NativeFormat.
See also outputFileName(), setOutputToFile(), and setOutputFormat().
Sets the output format for this printer to format.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also outputFormat().
Sets the page order to pageOrder.
The page order can be QPrinter.FirstPageFirst or QPrinter.LastPageFirst. The application is responsible for reading the page order and printing accordingly.
This function is mostly useful for setting a default value that the user can override in the print dialog.
See also pageOrder().
Sets the printer page size to newPageSize if that size is supported. The result if undefined if newPageSize is not supported.
The default page size is driver-dependent.
This function is useful mostly for setting a default value that the user can override in the print dialog.
See also pageSize(), PageSize, setFullPage(), setResolution(), pageRect(), and paperRect().
Sets the paper source setting to source.
Windows only: This option can be changed while printing and will take effect from the next call to newPage()
See also paperSource().
Sets the printer name to name.
See also printerName().
Sets the printer to use option to select the printer. option is null by default (which implies that Qt should be smart enough to guess correctly), but it can be set to other values to use a specific printer selection option.
If the printer selection option is changed while the printer is active, the current print job may or may not be affected.
Warning: This function is not available on Windows.
See also printerSelectionOption().
Sets the name of the program that should do the print job to printProg.
On X11, this function sets the program to call with the PostScript output. On other platforms, it has no effect.
See also printProgram().
Sets the print range option in to be range.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also printRange().
Requests that the printer prints at dpi or as near to dpi as possible.
This setting affects the coordinate system as returned by, for example QPainter.viewport().
This function must be called before QPainter.begin() to have an effect on all platforms.
See also resolution() and setPageSize().
Returns a list of the resolutions (a list of dots-per-inch integers) that the printer says it supports.
For X11 where all printing is directly to postscript, this function will always return a one item list containing only the postscript resolution, i.e., 72 (72 dpi -- but see PrinterMode).
Returns the to-page setting. The default value is 0.
If fromPage() and toPage() both return 0 this signifies 'print the whole document'.
The programmer is responsible for reading this setting and printing accordingly.
This function was introduced in Qt 4.1.
See also setFromTo() and fromPage().
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