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Printing Images in Java 1.1:

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Printing in Java 1.1 is EASY!

Java 1.1 includes some classes and methods that make printing an
easy task. The following text is a quick overview of the process.

First, create a print job :


PrintJob job = Toolkit.getDefaultToolkit().getPrintJob(
        my_frame,"Job Title",print_properties);
//check if user didn't cancel
if(job == null)
     return;

This will pop-up a window prompting the user for information about the
print job, such as printer name. This information is stored in
print_properties. This information can be used to save the default
user preferences, if you don't care to save, just pass a null value.


The next step is to get a graphics object for the page, you can
also get the page size:

Graphics page = job.getGraphics();
Dimension pagesize = job.getPageDimension();


Now you are ready to print as you would paint anything with a graphics
object. ATTENTION: this graphics object is not initiallized at all!
You MUST set a color before you draw, you should also set the font
if you want to write anything, for example:

page.setFont(new Font("Dialog",Font.BOLD,20));
page.setColor(Color.black);


The system will not check if you draw outside of the page bounds,
so include a command to clip the drawing to the page size:

page.setClip(0,0,pagesize.width,pagesize.height);

Now, you a really ready to print anything.


Once you have finished printing that page, you should send it to
the printer :

page.dispose();

You can print another page by getting another graphics object and
following the same steps.


Finally, when you have sent all pages to the printer you should
end the print job:

job.end();

THAT IS IT!


Printing components:

java.awt.Component (super class of Frame, Button, etc) defines
a method to print the component:

public void print(Graphics g)

Where g should be the graphics object for the printer page. The default
implementation of this method is to pass the Graphics g object
to the Component's paint(Graphics g) method. Thus, the component
will be printed in the same way as it is display on screen. If you
want it to be printed differently from the way it is displayed,
just override the print(Graphics g) method.

To print a hierarchy of Components, call the printAll(Graphics g)
method on the root Component of the hierarchy.