How to programmatically print to PDF file without prompting for filename in C# using the Microsoft Print To PDF printer that comes with Windows 10

Question

Microsoft Windows 10 comes with a Microsoft Print To PDF printer which can print something to a PDF file. It prompts for the filename to download.

How can I programmatically control this from C# to not prompt for the PDF filename but save to a specific filename in some folder that I provide?

This is for batch processing of printing a lot of documents or other types of files to a PDF programmatically.

Answer 1

To print a PrintDocument object using the Microsoft Print to PDF printer without prompting for a filename, here is the pure code way to do this:

// generate a file name as the current date/time in unix timestamp format
string file = (DateTime.UtcNow.Subtract(new DateTime(1970, 1, 1))).TotalSeconds.ToString();

// the directory to store the output.
string directory = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.MyDocuments);

// initialize PrintDocument object
PrintDocument doc = new PrintDocument() {
    PrinterSettings = new PrinterSettings() {
        // set the printer to 'Microsoft Print to PDF'
        PrinterName = "Microsoft Print to PDF",

        // tell the object this document will print to file
        PrintToFile = true,

        // set the filename to whatever you like (full path)
        PrintFileName = Path.Combine(directory, file + ".pdf"),
    }
};

doc.Print();

You can also use this method for other Save as File type printers such as Microsoft XPS Printer

Answer 2

You can print to the Windows 10 PDF printer, by using the PrintOut method and specifying the fourth output file name parameter, as in the following example:

/// <summary>
/// Convert a file to PDF using office _Document object
/// </summary>
/// <param name="InputFile">Full path and filename with extension of the file you want to convert from</param>
/// <returns></returns>
public void PrintFile(string InputFile)
{
    // convert input filename to new pdf name
    object OutputFileName = Path.Combine(
        Path.GetDirectoryName(InputFile),
        Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(InputFile)+".pdf"
    );


    // Set an object so there is less typing for values not needed
    object missing = System.Reflection.Missing.Value;

    // `doc` is of type `_Document`
    doc.PrintOut(
        ref missing,    // Background
        ref missing,    // Append
        ref missing,    // Range
        OutputFileName, // OutputFileName
        ref missing,    // From
        ref missing,    // To
        ref missing,    // Item
        ref missing,    // Copies
        ref missing,    // Pages
        ref missing,    // PageType
        ref missing,    // PrintToFile
        ref missing,    // Collate
        ref missing,    // ActivePrinterMacGX
        ref missing,    // ManualDuplexPrint
        ref missing,    // PrintZoomColumn
        ref missing,    // PrintZoomRow
        ref missing,    // PrintZoomPaperWidth
        ref missing,    // PrintZoomPaperHeight
    );
}

The OutputFile is a full path string of the input document you would like to convert, and the doc is a regular document object. For more info about the doc please see the following MSDN links for _Document.PrintOut()

• Office 2003
• Office 2013 and later

The PrintOut in the example results a silent print, when you print through the specified inputFile to the OutputFileName, which will be placed in the same folder as the original document, but it will be in PDF format with the .pdf extension.