Change printer default paper size

Question

I have several custom paper sizes defined on a printer(the printer is set as default). I need to be able to select one of these formats as the default one.

A programmatic(C#) solution would be ideal, but a command line one would be ok too.

Right now, I am able to get the list of paper sizes(name/dimensions) defined on the printer, and I can find out which one is the default.

In order to select another format as default, the only solution I have so far is by changing the dmPaperSize field on the devMode structure; BUT I cannot find out the correct value that corresponds to the desired paper format. So I set dmPaperSize to 0, and increment it, until the correct format appears on the printer. This takes a very long time on some printers.

Is there another way to select(by name) the default papaer format on the default printer ?

Answer 1

You are in the right direction in changing the default printer settings. .NET doesn't provide direct support to change the default settings of a printer.

I used the PrinterSettings class from this codeproject article to change the printer settings.

The available paper sizes from the printer can be retrieved using the PrintDocument.PrinterSettings . See the sample code below for retrieving the available papersizes from the printer and using the PaperSize.RawKind for changing the papersize of the printer.

public class PrinterSettingsDlg : Form
{
    PrinterSettings ps = new PrinterSettings();
    Button button1 = new Button();
    ComboBox combobox1 = new ComboBox();
    public PrinterSettingsDlg()
    {
        this.Load += new EventHandler(PrinterSettingsDlg_Load);
        this.Controls.Add(button1);
        this.Controls.Add(combobox1);
        button1.Dock = DockStyle.Bottom;
        button1.Text = "Change Printer Settings";
        button1.Click += new EventHandler(button1_Click);
        combobox1.Dock = DockStyle.Top;
    }

    void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        PrinterData pd = ps.GetPrinterSettings(PrinterName);
        pd.Size = ((PaperSize)combobox1.SelectedItem).RawKind;
        ps.ChangePrinterSetting(PrinterName, pd);
    }

    void PrinterSettingsDlg_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        PrintDocument pd = new PrintDocument();
        pd.PrinterSettings.PrinterName = // printer name
        combobox1.DisplayMember = "PaperName";
        foreach (PaperSize item in pd.PrinterSettings.PaperSizes)
        {
            combobox1.Items.Add(item);
        }            
    }
}

Answer 2

The following code would set the default printer papersize:

PrintDocument pd = new PrintDocument();
pd.DefaultPageSettings.PaperSize = new System.Drawing.Printing.PaperSize("PaperA4", 840, 1180);
pd.Print();

On how to print using PrintDocument you could refer this link .

Hope this helps.