WPF PrintDialog: How to Enable and Detect Selected Page Print Feature?

Question

WPF PrintDialog: How to Enable and Detect Selected Page Print Feature?

Jane Jie Chen 506

Our WPF application targets .NET 4.8.

The WPF application can generate run report which include 12 pages.

run report allows print. So far there is no option, and it always prints all 12 pages.

we like to add feature to allow select page numbers and only print those selected pages.

we follow the link:

https://www.thomasclaudiushuber.com/2009/11/24/wpf-printing-how-to-print-a-pagerange-with-wpfs-printdialog-that-means-the-user-can-select-specific-pages-and-only-these-pages-are-printed/

we can select page ranges and print selected page range such as 2-4 pages with following code.

we also like to allow select separated page number and print selected pages.

we know we can set PrintDialog.SelectedPagesEnabled = true.

but we do not know how to detect that PrintDialog selects "Selected Pages" option.

Is there code example to show us how to? Thx!

private async Task PrintReport()

{

PrintDialog printDialog = new PrintDialog();

printDialog.UserPageRangeEnabled = true;

if ( printDialog.ShowDialog() == false )

            return;
```   **if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.UserPages)**

```go
                    {

                        DocumentPaginator paginator = new PageRangeDocumentPaginator(

                                         DocumentSource.DocumentPaginator,

                                         printDialog.PageRange);

                        //following line get: Fixed page cannot contain another fixed page.

                        //printDialog.PrintDocument(paginator, "PrintReport");

                        for (int pageNumber = Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageFrom); pageNumber <= Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageTo); pageNumber++)

                        {

                            printDialog.PrintVisual(paginator.GetPage(pageNumber).Visual, "PrintReport");

                        }

                    }

                    else

                    {

                        printDialog.PrintDocument(DocumentSource.DocumentPaginator, "PrintReport");

                    }
```}

public class PageRangeDocumentPaginator : DocumentPaginator

```swift
{

    private int _startIndex;

    private int _endIndex;

    private DocumentPaginator _paginator;

    public PageRangeDocumentPaginator(DocumentPaginator paginator, PageRange pageRange)

    {

        _startIndex = pageRange.PageFrom - 1;

        _endIndex = pageRange.PageTo - 1;

        _paginator = paginator;

        // Adjust the _endIndex

        _endIndex = Math.Min(_endIndex, _paginator.PageCount - 1);

    }

    //public override DocumentPage GetPage(int pageNumber)

    //{

    //    // Just return the page from the original

    //    // paginator by using the "startIndex"

    //    return _paginator.GetPage(pageNumber + _startIndex);

    //}

    public override DocumentPage GetPage(int pageNumber)

    {

         return _paginator.GetPage(pageNumber - 1);

    }

    public override bool IsPageCountValid

    {

        get { return true; }

    }

    public override int PageCount

    {

        get

        {

            if (_startIndex > _paginator.PageCount - 1)

                return 0;

            if (_startIndex > _endIndex)

                return 0;

            return _endIndex - _startIndex + 1;

        }

    }

    public override Size PageSize

    {

        get { return _paginator.PageSize; }

        set { _paginator.PageSize = value; }

    }

    public override IDocumentPaginatorSource Source

    {

        get { return _paginator.Source; }

    }

}

Accepted answer

0 additional answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hi, @Jane Jie Chen. Welcome to Microsoft Q&A.

You could refer to the following methods to achieve the effect you want.

Its core: You could get a VisualBrush through new VisualBrush(paginator.GetPage(pageNumber).Visual), which could be bound to <Rectangle Fill="{Binding VisualBrush}"></Rectangle> for display and printing.

Create a window to select which pages to print (1. Red border represents selection 2. Click to cancel or select).

PreviewResultWindow.xaml

    <Grid>
        <Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="4*"/>
            <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/>
        </Grid.ColumnDefinitions>
        <ScrollViewer   VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Visible" >
        <ItemsControl x:Name="PreViewDataControl"  >
            <ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
                <DataTemplate>
                    <Button Margin="10" Width="200" Height="150" Click="Button_Click">
                        <Button.Content>
                            <Rectangle Width="200" Height="150" Fill="{Binding PageVisualBrush}"></Rectangle>
                        </Button.Content>
                        <Button.Style>
                            <Style TargetType="Button">
                                <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="Transparent" />
                                <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="0" />
                                <Style.Triggers>
                                        <!-- Triggered by the check property of DataContext -->
                                    <DataTrigger Binding="{Binding Check}" Value="True">
                                        <Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="Red" />
                                        <Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="2" />
                                    </DataTrigger>
                                </Style.Triggers>
                            </Style>
                        </Button.Style>
                    </Button>
                </DataTemplate>
            </ItemsControl.ItemTemplate>
        </ItemsControl>
        </ScrollViewer>
        <Button Grid.Column="1" Content="Confirm" Height="70" Click="Button_Click_1"></Button>
    </Grid>

PreviewResultWindow.xaml.cs

    public partial class PreviewResultWindow : Window
    {
        public PreviewResultWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            var previewDocument = ((sender as Button).DataContext as PreViewDocument);
            previewDocument.Check = !previewDocument.Check;
        }

        private void Button_Click_1(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            this.Close();
        }
    }

Provide binding data for PreviewResultWindow.xaml. PreViewDocument.cs

    public class PreViewDocument : INotifyPropertyChanged
    {

        private VisualBrush pageVisualBrush;
        public VisualBrush PageVisualBrush { get { return pageVisualBrush; } set { pageVisualBrush = value; OnPropertyChanged(nameof(PageVisualBrush)); } }

        public bool check;
        public bool Check { get { return check; } set { check = value; OnPropertyChanged(nameof(Check)); } }

        public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;

        protected void OnPropertyChanged(string propertyName)
        {
            PropertyChanged?.Invoke(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }

MainWindow.xaml

    <Grid x:Name="MyGrid" Loaded="OnLoaded">
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition Height="*"/>
            <RowDefinition Height="6*"/>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Button Content="Print" Click="PrintButtonClick"  Margin="10" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Width="75"></Button>
        <DocumentViewer x:Name="viewer" Grid.Row="1"/>
    </Grid>

MainWindow.xaml.cs

    public partial class MainWindow : Window
    {
        private FixedDocument _fixedDocument;
        public MainWindow()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void OnLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            // Load the FixedDocument
            var document = new XpsDocument("InputFile.xps", FileAccess.Read);
            var sequence = document.GetFixedDocumentSequence();
            _fixedDocument = sequence.References[0].GetDocument(false);

            // Assign it to the viewer
            viewer.Document = _fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator.Source;
        }

        private async Task PrintReport()
        {

            PrintDialog printDialog = new PrintDialog();
            printDialog.UserPageRangeEnabled = true;

            if (printDialog.ShowDialog() == false)
                return;

            //-----------------Solution 1: Print without using PageRangeDocumentPaginator.cs--------------------------
            DocumentPaginator paginator = _fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator;
            ObservableCollection<PreViewDocument> previewDocuments = new ObservableCollection<PreViewDocument>();


            //Pre-print results
			//Select All
            for (int pageNumber = 0; pageNumber <= paginator.PageCount - 1; pageNumber++)
            {
                var previewDocument = new PreViewDocument() { PageVisualBrush = new VisualBrush(paginator.GetPage(pageNumber).Visual), Check = true };
                previewDocuments.Add(previewDocument);
            }
			//Range selection
            if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.UserPages)
            {
                for (int pageNumber = 0; pageNumber < paginator.PageCount; pageNumber++)
                {
                    if (pageNumber >= Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageFrom) - 1 && pageNumber <= Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageTo) - 1)
                    {
                        continue;
                    }
                    previewDocuments[pageNumber].Check = false;
                }
            }


            ConfirmPrintData(previewDocuments);
            var visualBrushs = previewDocuments.Where(p => p.Check == true).Select(p => p.PageVisualBrush).ToList();


            ExecutePrint(printDialog, visualBrushs);

            //--------------------Solution 2: Print using PageRangeDocumentPaginator.cs-----------------------------
            //if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.UserPages)
            //{
            //    DocumentPaginator paginator = new PageRangeDocumentPaginator(_fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator, printDialog.PageRange);
            //    ObservableCollection<PreViewDocument> previewDocuments = new ObservableCollection<PreViewDocument>();
            //    for (int pageNumber = Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageFrom); pageNumber <= Convert.ToInt32(printDialog.PageRange.PageTo); pageNumber++)
            //    {
            //        var previewDocument = new PreViewDocument() { PageVisualBrush = new VisualBrush(paginator.GetPage(pageNumber).Visual), Check = true };
            //        previewDocuments.Add(previewDocument);
            //    }
            //    ConfirmPrintData(previewDocuments);

            //    var visualBrushs = previewDocuments.Where(p => p.Check == true).Select(p => p.PageVisualBrush).ToList();
            //    ExecutePrint(printDialog, visualBrushs);
            //}
            //else
            //{
            //    printDialog.PrintDocument(_fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator, "PrintReport");

            //}

            MessageBox.Show("Printing completed");
        }

        public void ConfirmPrintData(ObservableCollection<PreViewDocument> previewDocuments)
        {
            PreviewResultWindow previewResultWindow = new PreviewResultWindow();
            previewResultWindow.PreViewDataControl.ItemsSource = previewDocuments;
            previewResultWindow.ShowDialog();

        }

        private async void PrintButtonClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
        {
            await PrintReport();
        }

        public void ExecutePrint(PrintDialog printDialog,List<VisualBrush> visualBrushes)
        {
            FixedDocument fixedDocument = new FixedDocument();

            foreach (var visualBrush in visualBrushes)
            {
                FixedPage page = new FixedPage();
                page.Width = printDialog.PrintableAreaWidth;
                page.Height = printDialog.PrintableAreaHeight;

                // VisualBrush as rectangle content
                Rectangle rect = new Rectangle
                {
                    Width = page.Width,
                    Height = page.Height,
                    Fill = visualBrush
                };

                // Add to FixedPage
                page.Children.Add(rect);

                // Adding PageContent to FixedDocument
                PageContent pageContent = new PageContent();
                ((IAddChild)pageContent).AddChild(page);
                fixedDocument.Pages.Add(pageContent);
            }

            // Printing FixedDocument
            printDialog.PrintDocument(fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator, "Print Report");
        }
}

In the above code, VisualBrush uses ExecutePrint() to print; VisualBrush uses ConfirmPrintData() to open the PreviewResultWindow.xaml dialog box to display data and let the user select the print result. You could adjust the PreviewResultWindow according to your own preferences to make the selection in a certain way.

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Jane Jie Chen 506 Reputation points

2025-03-17T14:09:22.8333333+00:00

Hi Hongrui Yu,

thanks for providing another solution for PrintDialog.UserPageRangeEnabled == true.

We actually look for solution for PrintDialog.SelectedPagesEnabled == true.

we know that following line allow print single page

printDialog.PrintVisual(paginator.GetPage(pageNumber).Visual, "PrintReport");

In the Print dialog, user selects "Selection" option, type "2,4,6" in the Textbox, after the PrintDialog box closes, which property of PrintDialog we can get "2,4.6" value? Thx!

if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.SelectedPages) { //how to know what page numbers user selected? }
Jane Jie Chen 506 Reputation points

2025-03-17T14:51:45.9933333+00:00

see the print option dialog.
Hongrui Yu-MSFT 5,255 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-03-18T02:54:40.34+00:00

Hi, @Jane Jie Chen.

You should not enter a value in the Pages input box when your Page Range has Selection selected. You also see that PrintDialog does not provide an input box for Selection. At this point you might consider creating an input dialog box to accept the value.

SelectedDiaglog.xaml

<Window … Title="Input Dialog Box" Height="150" Width="300" WindowStartupLocation="CenterOwner"> <Grid Margin="10"> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions>  <StackPanel> <TextBox x:Name="InputTextBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" /> <Label x:Name="InputFormat" Grid.Row="1" Content="InputFormat:x,x,x... For example:2,4,6" /> </StackPanel>  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Grid.Row="1"> <Button Content="Confirm" Width="75" Margin="0,0,10,0" Click="OnConfirmClick" /> <Button Content="Cancel" Width="75" Click="OnCancelClick" /> </StackPanel> </Grid> </Window>

SelectedDiaglog.xaml.cs(Returning values via UserInput)

public partial class SelectedDiaglog : Window { public string UserInput { get; private set; } public SelectedDiaglog() { InitializeComponent(); } private void OnConfirmClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { UserInput = InputTextBox.Text; DialogResult = true; Close(); } private void OnCancelClick(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { DialogResult = false; Close(); } }

Called when you select a Selection and click Print.

if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.SelectedPages) { SelectedDiaglog selectedDiaglog = new SelectedDiaglog(); if (selectedDiaglog.ShowDialog() == true) // If the user clicks Confirm { string input = selectedDiaglog.UserInput; // Get the string input by the user var selectNum = input.Split(',').ToList(); //TODO: Use the page number to find the corresponding data for printing } }
Jane Jie Chen 506 Reputation points

2025-03-18T13:19:36.3033333+00:00

Hi Hongrui Yu,

thanks for pointing out that "You should not enter a value in the Pages input box when your Page Range has Selection selected. You also see that PrintDialog does not provide an input box for Selection. At this point you might consider creating an input dialog box to accept the value.".

Could we assume that WPF print dialog does not provide "Input Box" for "Selection" option?

Thanks for provide the solution to create the SelectedDiaglog to allow input page numbers. That is help us with a simple and temporary solution.

Is there a possible to customize the WPF PrintDialog and add Input box for "Selection" option? thx!
Hongrui Yu-MSFT 5,255 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-03-19T03:29:47.6133333+00:00

Hi, @Jane Jie Chen.

You could customize PrintDialog, just like the PreviewResultWindow.xaml in my first answer is a custom PrintDialog, you could design PreviewResultWindow as you like (for example: add selection) to filter the pages to be printed, and simply call PrintDocument to start printing the content to be printed.

PrintDialog printDialog = new PrintDialog(); printDialog.PrintDocument(fixedDocument.DocumentPaginator, "Print Report");

It is not necessary to call

printDialog.UserPageRangeEnabled = true; printDialog.ShowDialog() if (printDialog.PageRangeSelection == PageRangeSelection.UserPages) { ... }

Of course, it will be more complicated to completely restore the PrintDialog through a custom PrintDialog. If you still want to use the original UI, it is recommended to use the solution in the Comment above, so that when the user clicks Print, a separate dialog box will pop up to allow the user to further confirm the page to be printed.
Hongrui Yu-MSFT 5,255 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2025-03-21T01:02:31.2833333+00:00

Hi, @Jane Jie Chen.

Is there any update to the question? Did my answer solve your problem? If so, you could accept it as the answer. It's helpful for community members with related questions.

Share via

WPF PrintDialog: How to Enable and Detect Selected Page Print Feature?

0 additional answers

Your answer