Printing in VB.Net/C# Forms Application -- Layout Designer?

Question

I maintain a vb.net forms application that prints various labels to label printers. (Label printers are just like any printer, just smaller print area/lower resolution)

The system uses a legacy printing method that's supported in the printer hardware, but has been out of general use for over a decade. I'm adding logic to print from the PrintDocument class. I like the flexibility of the class, but layout is a bit tedious. (Defining the sizes/locations of each DrawString command, etc.)

Are there any software products or open source UI designers for generating print document layout? The designer output must be something I can integrate into my code (dll is OK, just not a separate executable) and can not have a per user license. (Lots of users on my system)

Answer 1

Have a look at this thread http://stackoverflow.com/questions/182670/visual-print-design-for-net.

Also, you might consider a PDF template that you can inject with the values, then print the PDF, not perfect, but it could work depending on your needs.

Answer 2

When I looked for a similar need, I ran across some solutions that were marketed as business card designers that looked like it'd fit the bill.

Answer 3

Since what I need is fairly simple I went ahead and rolled my own simple desinger. Found at a great little class that makes controls movable/resizable which saved a bunch of time. Thanks all for the ideas.

Answer 4

How to code a Print layout for records in VB.NET