Printing a WPF BitmapImage

Question

What's the best way to print a BitmapImage? I come from a background in System.Drawing so I was thinking about converting it to a Bitmap and then printing it, but I'm thinking there's probably a better way.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Check out the PrintDialog class. All you should need to do is call the PrintVisual method passing in an Image as the visual that has your BitmapImage as a source.

You may want to setup other printing options, but you'll discover those as you explore PrintDialog and related APIs.

Answer 2

Building upon Drew's answer, it is best to measure and arrange the container that is handed to the PrintVisual method. This will prevent an image that is larger than a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper from being cut off. Here is an example of how I printed an image that was partially visible on-screen:

PrintDialog dlg = new PrintDialog();
bool? result = dlg.ShowDialog();

if (result.HasValue && result.Value)
{
    ImageViewer.Measure(new Size(dlg.PrintableAreaWidth, dlg.PrintableAreaHeight));
    ImageViewer.Arrange(new Rect(new Point(0, 0), ImageViewer1.DesiredSize));

    dlg.PrintVisual(ImageViewer, "Print a Large Image");
}

ImageViewer in my example could be replaced with any UIElement container such as a stackpanel, canvas, grid, ect. ImageViewer.Source should be set to the BitmapImage that is ready to be printed.

I got the idea from this page: http://www.switchonthecode.com/tutorials/printing-in-wpf