Develop Reference

Printing PDF programmatically bloats file size

Ok, So I've been given a task to build a light weight printing feature that will replace a third party tool that costs a significant amount of money,and not only that, has far too many features.
I've managed to build a little system that polls some data and calls an endpoint on an on-premise MVC app, which in turn prints the document.
All is great, but I'm really struggling to figure out why the PDF file size bloats when hitting the Print Queue.
Currently the File size is 822KB when I print manually via Adobe the PDF is compressed to 342KB
BUT using the system it bloats to an astonishing 4.22MB
To note I am using the PDFium SDK Nuget package to take away some of the heavy lifting. Having said that, I do utilize System.Drawing.Printing to craft settings to pass to PDFium.
A little code to demonstrate printing:
public bool PrintPDF(string printer,
string filePath)
{
try
{
var printerSettings = new PrinterSettings
{
PrinterName = "Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P2015 Series",
Copies = 1,
};
using (var document = PdfDocument.Load(#"C:\folder\Documentation\test.pdf"))
{
using (var printDocument = document.CreatePrintDocument())
{
printDocument.PrinterSettings = printerSettings;
printDocument.DefaultPageSettings = pageSettings;
printDocument.DocumentName = "test.pdf";
printDocument.PrintController = new StandardPrintController();
printDocument.Print();
}
}
return true;
}
catch(System.Exception ex)
{
new Email().SendEmail("", "TEST ERR", ex.Message, "email address");
return false;
}
}
At the moment I'd be happy if it printed the physical size (822KB) rather than bloating it.
Id really appreciate some guidance and a nudge in the right direction.

PDF is (usually) a vector representation of the page, its a page description. PDF can contain bitmap data as well, but for text and line art its usually vector, and white space simply isn't included in the description at all.
When you print, then behind the scenes the application creates a device context compatible with the printer you select, replays the drawing commands it used to draw the content on the display, and then tells the printer context to print.
That causes the device driver to be handed the GDI commands to draw the page. Depending on the printer type (ie what page description language it understands) the device driver can simply pass on the commands (for a GDI printer), convert them to a high level vector representation (like PostScript) or render them to a bitmap. Some drivers may do a combination of these approaches. The result is then sent to the printer.
The Adobe PDF 'printer' works by co-opting the Windows PostScript printer driver, which converts GDI commands into vector PostScript operations, which are easily turned into vector PDF operations, resulting in a small representation of the page.
It sounds to me like your printer (or possibly printer driver) is 'dumb' and wants, or is being sent, a big bitmap. Once upon a time, in the days when printers ran on serial interfaces and 9600 baud was fast, it was worth keeping the file size small and having the printer be smart, because it took a long time to send the data. Nowadays, that's less of a concern, even several megabytes can transfer rapidly, and if you send a pre-rendered bitmap to the printer, the printer can be dumb and still print fast, because all it has to do is transfer the bits.
You haven't really said what you mean when you "print manually using Adobe" or "use the system" so I can't tell you more than that, but my guess would be that your big PDF simply contains a large (compressed) image.

c# printing through PDF drivers, print to file option will output PS instead of PDF

After struggling whole day, I identified the issue but this didn't solve my problem.
On short:
I need to open a PDF, convert to BW (grayscale), search some words and insert some notes nearby found words. At a first look it seems easy but I discovered how hard PDF files are processed (having no "words" concepts and so on).
Now the first task, converting to grayscale just drove me crazy. I didn't find a working solution either commercial or free. I came up with this solution:
open the PDF
print with windows drivers, some free PDF printers
This is quite ugly since I will force the C# users to install such 3'rd party SW but.. that is fpr the moment. I tested FreePDF, CutePDF and PDFCreator. All of them are working "stand alone" as expected.
Now when I tried to print from C#, obviously, I don't want the print dialog, just select BW option and print (aka. convert)
The following code just uses a PDF library, shown for clarity only.
Aspose.Pdf.Facades.PdfViewer viewer = new Aspose.Pdf.Facades.PdfViewer();
viewer.BindPdf(txtPDF.Text);
viewer.PrintAsGrayscale = true;
//viewer.RenderingOptions = new RenderingOptions { UseNewImagingEngine = true };
//Set attributes for printing
//viewer.AutoResize = true; //Print the file with adjusted size
//viewer.AutoRotate = true; //Print the file with adjusted rotation
viewer.PrintPageDialog = true; //Do not produce the page number dialog when printing
////PrinterJob printJob = PrinterJob.getPrinterJob();
//Create objects for printer and page settings and PrintDocument
System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings ps = new System.Drawing.Printing.PrinterSettings();
System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings pgs = new System.Drawing.Printing.PageSettings();
//System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument prtdoc = new System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument();
//prtdoc.PrinterSettings = ps;
//Set printer name
//ps.PrinterName = prtdoc.PrinterSettings.PrinterName;
ps.PrinterName = "CutePDF Writer";
ps.PrintToFile = true;
ps.PrintFileName = #"test.pdf";
//
//ps.
//Set PageSize (if required)
//pgs.PaperSize = new System.Drawing.Printing.PaperSize("A4", 827, 1169);
//Set PageMargins (if required)
//pgs.Margins = new System.Drawing.Printing.Margins(0, 0, 0, 0);
//Print document using printer and page settings
viewer.PrintDocumentWithSettings(ps);
//viewer.PrintDocument();
//Close the PDF file after priting
What I discovered and seems to be little explained, is that if you select
ps.PrintToFile = true;
no matter C# PDF library or PDF printer driver, Windows will just skip the PDF drivers and instead of PDF files will output PS (postscript) ones which obviously, will not be recognized by Adobe Reader.
Now the question (and I am positive that others who may want to print PDFs from C# may be encountered) is how to print to CutePDF for example and still suppress any filename dialog?
In other words, just print silently with programmatically selected filename from C# application. Or somehow convince "print to file" to go through PDF driver, not Windows default PS driver.
Thanks very much for any hints.

I solved conversion to grayscale with a commercial component with this post and I also posted there my complete solution, in care anyone will struggle like me.
Converting PDF to Grayscale pdf using ABC PDF

HTML to PDF in a Windows universal app (UWP)

Is it possible to convert an HTML string to a PDF file in a UWP app?
I've seen lots of different ways it can be done in regular .NET apps (there seem to be plenty of third party libraries), but I've yet to see a way it can be done in a Universal/UWP app. Does anyone know how it can be done?
Perhaps there is some way to hook into the "Microsoft Print to PDF" option, if there is no pure code solution?
Or is there a roundabout way of doing it, maybe like somehow using Javascript and https://github.com/MrRio/jsPDF inside a C# UWP app? I'm not sure, clutching at straws...
EDIT
I have marked the solution provided by Grace Feng - MSFT as correct for proving that it IS possible to convert HTML to PDF, through the use of the Microsoft Print to PDF option in the print dialog. Thank you

Perhaps there is some way to hook into the "Microsoft Print to PDF" option, if there is no pure code solution?
Yes, but using this way, you will need to firstly show your HTML string in controls like RichEditBox or TextBlock, only UIElement can be printable content.
You can also create PDF file by yourself, here is basic syntax used in PDF:
You can use BT and ET to create paragraph:
Here is sample in C#:
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
sb.AppendLine("BT"); // BT = begin text object, with text-units the same as userspace-units
sb.AppendLine("/F0 40 Tf"); // Tf = start using the named font "F0" with size "40"
sb.AppendLine("40 TL"); // TL = set line height to "40"
sb.AppendLine("230.0 400.0 Td"); // Td = position text point at coordinates "230.0", "400.0"
sb.AppendLine("(Hello World)'");
sb.AppendLine("/F2 20 Tf");
sb.AppendLine("20 TL");
sb.AppendLine("0.0 0.2 1.0 rg"); // rg = set fill color to RGB("0.0", "0.2", "1.0")
sb.AppendLine("(This is StackOverflow)'");
sb.AppendLine("ET");
Then you can create a PDF file and save this into this file. But since you want to convert the HTML to PDF, it could be a hard work and I think you don't want to do this.
Or is there a roundabout way of doing it, maybe like somehow using Javascript and https://github.com/MrRio/jsPDF inside a C# UWP app? I'm not sure, clutching at straws...
To be honestly, using Libs or Web service to convert HTML to PDF is also a method, there are many and I just searched for them, but I can't find any free to be used in WinRT. So I think the most practicable method here is the first one, hooking into Microsoft Print to PDF. To do this, you can check the official Printing sample.
Update:
Used #Jerry Nixon - MSFT's code in How do I print WebView content in a Windows Store App?, this is a great sample. I just added some code for add pages for printing, in the NavigationCompleted event of WebView:
private async void webView_NavigationCompleted(WebView sender, WebViewNavigationCompletedEventArgs args)
{
MyWebViewRectangle.Fill = await GetWebViewBrush(webView);
MyPrintPages.ItemsSource = await GetWebPages(webView, new Windows.Foundation.Size(842, 595));
}
Then in the printDoc.AddPages += PrintDic_AddPages; event (printDoc is instance of PrintDocument):
private void PrintDic_AddPages(object sender, AddPagesEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var item in MyPrintPages.Items)
{
var rect = item as Rectangle;
printDoc.AddPage(rect);
}
printDoc.AddPagesComplete();
}
For other code you can refer to the official printing sample.

Determine properties such as if PDF is Simplex or Duplex in iTextSharp

I am using iTextSharp for reading and managing PDF documents. Things such as stamping overlays for the background or logos and backers. The PDF's are statement files, so I cannot give an example. I am wondering how to view the settings of the PDF to see if the PDF file is Simplex or Duplex, and that sort of information. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. At the moment I test for certain criteria of second page, and this is a poor and bad way to do this. Thanks in advance, and happy coding!

The duplex mode is stored in the document's /ViewerPreferences dictionary under the /Duplex key. It supports three values, /DuplexFlipLongEdge, /DuplexFlipShortEdge, and /Simplex. You can use the code below to inspect this:
//Assume false by default since this was introduced in PDF 1.7
Boolean isDuplex = false;
//Bind a reader to our file
using (var r = new PdfReader(testFile)) {
//Get the view preferences
var prefs = r.Catalog.GetAsDict(PdfName.VIEWERPREFERENCES);
//Make sure we found something
if (prefs != null) {
//Get the duplex key
var duplex = prefs.Get(PdfName.DUPLEX);
//Make sure we got something and it is one of the duplex modes
isDuplex = (duplex != null && (duplex.Equals(PdfName.DUPLEXFLIPLONGEDGE) || duplex.Equals(PdfName.DUPLEXFLIPSHORTEDGE)));
}
}

I know its 2 years later but I just spent hours searching, found this... but eventually found...
I create a button that runs this script (that pops up the printer dialogue with duplex pre selected if available... note that selecting another printer erases this pre selection.. also change "Long" for "Short" if you flip that way... q8)
var pp = this.getPrintParams();
pp.DuplexType = pp.constants.duplexTypes.DuplexFlipLongEdge;
this.print(pp);

How to print a PDF with C#

I´ve trying to solve this problem for nearly 2 days. There are a lot of more or fewer good solutions on the net, but not a single one fits my task perfectly.
Task:
Print a PDF programmatically
Do it with a fixed printer
Don´t let the user do more than one Button_Click
Do it silent - the more, the better
Do it client side
First Solutions:
Do it with a Forms.WebBrowser
If we have Adobe Reader installed, there is a plugin to show PDF´s in the webbrowser. With this solution we have a nice preview and with webbrowserControlName.Print() we can trigger the control to print its content.
Problem - we still have a PrintDialog.
Start the AcroRd32.exe with start arguments
The following CMD command let us use Adobe Reader to print our PDF.
InsertPathTo..\AcroRd32.exe /t "C:\sample.pdf" "\printerNetwork\printerName"
Problems - we need the absolute path to AcroRd32.exe | there is an Adobe Reader Window opening and it has to be opened until the print task is ready.
Use windows presets
Process process = new Process();
process.StartInfo.FileName = pathToPdf;
process.StartInfo.Verb = "printto";
process.StartInfo.Arguments = "\"" + printerName + "\"";
process.Start();
process.WaitForInputIdle();
process.Kill();
Problem - there is still an Adobe Reader window popping up, but after the printing is done it closes itself usually.
Solution - convince the client to use Foxit Reader (don´t use last two lines of code).
Convert PDF pages to Drawing.Image
I´ve no idea how to do it with code, but when I get this to work the rest is just a piece of cake. Printing.PrintDocument can fulfill all demands.
Anyone an idea to get some Drawing.Image´s out of those PDF´s or another approach how to do it?
Best Regards,
Max

The most flexible, easiest and best performing method I could find was using GhostScript. It can print to windows printers directly by printer name.
"C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.07\bin\gswin64c.exe" -dPrinted -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=mswinpr2 -dNoCancel -sOutputFile="%printer%printer name" "pdfdocument.pdf"
Add these switches to shrink the document to an A4 page.
-sPAPERSIZE=a4 -dPDFFitPage

If a commercial library is an option, you can try with Amyuni PDF Creator. Net.
Printing directly with the library:
For opening a PDF file and send it to print directly you can use the method IacDocument.Print. The code in C# will look like this:
// Open PDF document from file<br>
FileStream file1 = new FileStream ("test.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
IacDocument doc1 = new IacDocument (null);
doc1.Open (file1, "" );
// print document to a specified printer with no prompt
doc1.Print ("My Laser Printer", false);
Exporting to images (then printing if needed):
Choice 1: You can use the method IacDocument.ExportToJPeg for converting all pages in a PDF to JPG images that you can print or display using Drawing.Image
Choice 2: You can draw each page into a bitmap using the method IacDocument.DrawCurrentPage with the method System.Drawing.Graphics.FromImage. The code in C# should look like this:
FileStream myFile = new FileStream ("test.pdf", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
IacDocument doc = new IacDocument(null);
doc.Open(myFile);
doc.CurrentPage = 1;
Image img = new Bitmap(100,100);
Graphics gph = Graphics.FromImage(img);
IntPtr hdc = gph.GetHDC();
doc.DrawCurrentPage(hdc, false);
gph.ReleaseHdc( hdc );
Disclaimer: I work for Amyuni Technologies

I tried many things and the one that worked best for me was launching a SumatraPDF from the command line:
// Launch SumatraPDF Reader to print
String arguments = "-print-to-default -silent \"" + fileName + "\"";
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("SumatraPDF.exe", arguments);
There are so many advantages to this:
SumatraPDF is much much faster than Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The UI doesn't load. It just prints.
You can use SumatraPDF as a standalone application so you can include it with your application so you can use your own pa. Note that I did not read the license agreement; you should probably check it out yourself.

Another approach would to use spooler function in .NET to send the pre-formatted printer data to a printer. But unfortunately you need to work with win32 spooler API
you can look at How to send raw data to a printer by using Visual C# .NET
you only can use this approach when the printer support PDF document natively.

My company offers Docotic.Pdf library that can render and print PDF documents. The article behind the link contains detailed information about the following topics:
printing PDFs in Windows Forms or WPF application directly
printing PDFs via an intermediate image
rendering PDFs on a Graphics
There are links to sample code, too.
I work for the company, so please read the article and try suggested solutions yourselves.

Process proc = new Process();
proc.StartInfo.FileName = #"C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe";
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = #"/p /h C:\Documents and Settings\brendal\Desktop\Test.pdf";
proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
proc.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
proc.Start();
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
{
if (!proc.HasExited)
{
proc.Refresh();
Thread.Sleep(2000);
}
else
break;
}
if (!proc.HasExited)
{
proc.CloseMainWindow();
}

You can use ghostscript to convert PDF into image formats.
The following example converts a single PDF into a sequence of PNG-Files:
private static void ExecuteGhostscript(string input, string tempDirectory)
{
// %d will be replaced by ghostscript with a number for each page
string filename = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(input) + "-%d.png";
string output = Path.Combine(tempDirectory, filename);
Process ghostscript = new Process();
ghostscript.StartInfo.FileName = _pathToGhostscript;
ghostscript.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
ghostscript.StartInfo.Arguments = string.Format(
"-dSAFER -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=png16m -r300 -sOutputFile=\"{0}\" \"{1}\"", output, input);
ghostscript.Start();
ghostscript.WaitForExit();
}
If you prefer to use Adobe Reader instead you can hide its window:
process.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;

I found a slightly different version of your code that uses the printto verb. I didn't try it, but maybe it helps you:
http://vbcity.com/forums/t/149141.aspx

If you're interested in commercial solutions which do exactly what you require then there are quite a few options. My company provides one of those options in a developer toolkit called Debenu Quick PDF Library.
Here is a code sample (key functions are PrintOptions and PrintDocument):
/* Print a document */
// Load a local sample file from the input folder
DPL.LoadFromFile("Test.pdf", "");
// Configure print options
iPrintOptions = DPL.PrintOptions(0, 0, "Printing Sample")
// Print the current document to the default
// printing using the options as configured above.
// You can also specify the specific printer.
DPL.PrintDocument(DPL.GetDefaultPrinterName(), 1, 1, iPrintOptions);

I know that the tag has Windows Forms; however, due to the general title, some people might be wondering if they may use that namespace with a WPF application -- they may.
Here's code:
var file = File.ReadAllBytes(pdfFilePath);
var printQueue = LocalPrintServer.GetDefaultPrintQueue();
using (var job = printQueue.AddJob())
using (var stream = job.JobStream)
{
stream.Write(file, 0, file.Length);
}
Now, this namespace must be used with a WPF application. It does not play well with ASP.NET or Windows Service. It should not be used with Windows Forms, as it has System.Drawing.Printing. I don't have a single issue with my PDF printing using the above code.
Note that if your printer does not support Direct Printing for PDF files, this won't work.

What about using the PrintDocument class?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.drawing.printing.printdocument.aspx
You just need to pass the filename of the file you want to print (based on the example).
HTH

As of July 2018, there is still no answer for the OP. There is no free way to 1) silently print your pdf for a 2) closed source project.
1) You can most certainly use a process i.e. Adobe Acrobat or Foxit Reader
2) Free solutions have a GPL (GNU's General Public License). This means you must open your source code if giving the software, even for free, to anyone outside your company.
As the OP says, if you can get a PDF to Drawing.Image, you can print it with .NET methods. Sadly, software to do this also requires payment or a GPL.