FILE: PRTLGPCT.EXE: Print a Large Bitmap on Multiple Pages

ID: Q175084

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The PaintPicture method of the Picture object allows you to print the picture. However, this method will adjust the picture size to fit on a single sheet of paper. This article shows you how to print a large picture on multiple sheets of paper.

A sample project demonstrating printing a large picture on multiple sheets is available for download from the Microsoft Software Library:

~ Prtlgpct.exe

For more information about downloading files from the Microsoft Software Library, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q119591 : How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

When you run the self-extracting file, the following files are expanded into the Printing Large Pictures Project on your hard drive:


MORE INFORMATION

To print a large picture over several sheets, you start by calculating the ratio of the picture's height and width to the maximum height and width the printer can print. From this ratio, you can calculate the number of pages required to print the picture completely. With each page, you use the PrintPicture method to print the maximum image on that sheet. Keep repeating this process on each successive page until the picture is completely printed.

The next section shows you how to create a sample program to demonstrate this technique.

Step-by-Step Example

  1. Start a new project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.


  2. Add three CommandButtons, a Common Dialog control, and a Picture control to Form1.


  3. Copy the following code to the Code window of Form1: 
    
      Option Explicit

      Const constMaxValue = 32767

      Dim lngPrinterWidth As Long, lngPrinterHeight As Long
      Dim lngPictureWidth As Long, lngPictureHeight As Long
      Dim lngXCoor As Long, lngYCoor As Long
      Dim sngWidthRatio As Single, sngHeightRatio As Single
      Dim intPageWidth As Integer, intPageHeight As Integer
      Dim bytWidthCount As Byte, bytHeightCount As Byte

      Private Sub Form_Load()
         Command1.Caption = "Load Picture"
         Command2.Caption = "Print Single Page"
         Command3.Caption = "Print Multiple Pages"
      End Sub

      Private Sub Command1_Click()
         'Opens the common dialog box so you can select a picture file
         'to load into the Picture object.
         Dim picFile As Picture
         CommonDialog1.Filter = "JPEG files|*.jpg|BMP files|*.bmp"
         CommonDialog1.ShowOpen

         If CommonDialog1.filename <> "" Then
            Set picFile = LoadPicture(CommonDialog1.filename)
            Set Picture1.Picture = picFile
            Form1.Height = Picture1.Height + 1700
            Form1.Width = Picture1.Width + 1400
            Picture1.Left = 700
            Picture1.Top = 700
         End If
      End Sub

      Private Sub Command2_Click()
         'Print the picture on a single sheet. Picture object automatically
         'adjusts picture size to fit into a single sheet.
         Printer.PaintPicture Picture1.Picture, lngXCoor, lngYCoor
         Printer.EndDoc
         MsgBox "Done Sending Info to Printer"
      End Sub

      Private Sub Command3_Click()
         'Print the picture on multiple sheets.

         'Load the dimensions of the image and printer into memory
         lngPictureWidth = Picture1.Picture.Width
         lngPictureHeight = Picture1.Picture.Height
         lngPrinterWidth = Printer.Width
         lngPrinterHeight = Printer.Height

         'Calculate the ratios
         sngWidthRatio = lngPictureWidth / lngPrinterWidth
         sngHeightRatio = lngPictureHeight / lngPrinterHeight

         'Calculate how many pages are required to print the picture
         intPageWidth = constMaxValue - Int(constMaxValue - sngWidthRatio)
         intPageHeight = constMaxValue - Int(constMaxValue - _
                                                         sngHeightRatio)

         For bytWidthCount = 1 To intPageWidth

            'Calculate the x-offset
            lngXCoor = -lngPrinterWidth * (bytWidthCount - 1)

            For bytHeightCount = 1 To intPageHeight

            'Calculate the y-offset
               lngYCoor = -lngPrinterHeight * (bytHeightCount - 1)

               'Use the Paint Picture method to print the picture
               Printer.PaintPicture Picture1.Picture, _
                                    lngXCoor, _
                                    lngYCoor, _
                                    lngPictureWidth, _
                                    lngPictureHeight
               'start a new page
               Printer.NewPage
            Next bytHeightCount
         Next bytWidthCount

         Printer.EndDoc
         MsgBox "Done Sending Info to Printer"
      End Sub


  4. Press the F5 key to run the program. Click Load Picture to open the Common Dialog, and choose a picture file. Click Print Single Page to print the picture to a single page or Print Multiple Pages to print to multiple pages.


Additional query words: kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbVBp kbdsd kbDSupport kbprinting 


Keywords          : 
Version           : 
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: June 4, 1999