function Printer : TPrinter;
Description
The Printer function returns a reference to the global Printer (TPrinter) object.
This object has many methods and properties that you can use to manage printing. In particular:
BeginDoc : Start printing
EndDoc : Finish printing
NewPage : Start a new page
PageHeight : The page canvas height in pixels
PageWidth : The page canvas width in pixels
Canvas.Font : Used to set font size/colour etc
Canvas.Draw : Draw a graphic on the page
Canvas.TextOut : Write text to the page
You should use TPrintDialog to show the user a printer selection and configuration dialog before printing, as in the example.
Related commands
TObject The base class type that is ancestor to all other classes
Example code : Printing the page width and height text strings onto a page
var
printDialog : TPrintDialog;
myPrinter : TPrinter;
begin
// Create a printer selection dialog
printDialog := TPrintDialog.Create(Form1);
// If the user has selected a printer (or default), then print!
if printDialog.Execute then
begin
// Use the Printer function to get access to the
// global TPrinter object.
// All references below are to the TPrinter object
myPrinter := Printer;
with myPrinter do
begin
// Start printing
BeginDoc;
// Set up a large blue font
Canvas.Font.Size := 20;
Canvas.Font.Color := clBlue;
// Write out the page size
Canvas.TextOut(20, 20, 'Page width = '+IntToStr(PageWidth));
Canvas.TextOut(20, 150, 'Page height = '+IntToStr(PageHeight));
// Finish printing
EndDoc;
end;
end;
end;
Show full unit code
A page will be printed with big blue text at the top left:
Page width = 2400
Page height = 3357