Windows Printing using the Shell

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Introduction

We needed to have a way to perform batch printing of a list of files in windows.i was able to find a way to print non-imaging files (.doc,.xls.txt.pdf) usign the System.Diagnostics.Process function and passing the "Print" verb.However,I was having trouble to find a way to print images escpecially since XP does it using the Windows XP Photo Printing Wizard.

However,I finally found a very useful example project at MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnnetcomp/html/FotoVisionDesktop.asp).
"Photos are printed using the Windows XP Photo Printing Wizard . The wizard is implemented in the system file photowiz.dll but the custom interface is not exposed. Instead, the Windows Image Acquisition Library (WIA) from Microsoft is used that provides a COM wrapper for the printing wizard. The printing code is encapsulated in the Print class."

More information about the WIA library can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wiaaut/wia/wiax/overviews/gettingstartedsamples.asp

The library can be downloaded and installed from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a332a77a-01b8-4de6-91c2-b7ea32537e29&DisplayLang=en

Though MSDN suggest the examples are in VB and scripting languages I was able to reproduce them in C#.

hope you enjoy it!!

Notes

1. WIA imaging toolkit is available for developers who need to develop image-enabled applications for Windows ME and XP (Service Pack 1).The WIA Automation Layer exposes features in Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later to make it easy to acquire images on digital cameras, scanners, or web cameras, and to rotate, scale, and annotate your image files.
2. Supported image formats include PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP and TIFF. These are defined by the FormatID Constants in the WIA library