EXP Systems Forum: Can Outlook print to PDF batch printer?

Message

   Hi Michel,
do you know how to print to a specific batch PDF printer from Outlook. I am hearing from other Outlook specific web sites that Outlook cannot do that. Outlook will only print to your currently active printer, but doesn't allow to change it through VBA. I am sure you know the asnwer since you must have come across this issue before.
I checked and I know for sure that outlook library doesn't offer .activeprinter property. I am talking about MS Outlook 11.0 object library.
This is really a huge problem for me. I hope you can pull something out of your sleeve .... :-)

Thanks and regards
Marek

Author	Message
yyzmxs Newbie Joined: 06 Feb 06 Posts: 11	Topic: Can Outlook print to PDF batch printer? Posted: 25 Jun 06 at 9:04AM
	Hi Michel, do you know how to print to a specific batch PDF printer from Outlook. I am hearing from other Outlook specific web sites that Outlook cannot do that. Outlook will only print to your currently active printer, but doesn't allow to change it through VBA. I am sure you know the asnwer since you must have come across this issue before. I checked and I know for sure that outlook library doesn't offer .activeprinter property. I am talking about MS Outlook 11.0 object library. This is really a huge problem for me. I hope you can pull something out of your sleeve .... :-) Thanks and regards Marek
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Michel_K17 Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: 25 Jan 03 Posts: 1673	Posted: 25 Jun 06 at 11:33AM
	The older version of Access is the same way. In the sample code for Access, I simply change the default printer with VBA, Print, then change it back to what it was. That should also work for Outlook too (thoug I have not tried) Cheers! Michel
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Michel_K17 Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: 25 Jan 03 Posts: 1673	Posted: 25 Jun 06 at 11:36AM
	The Access code is here: http://www.exp-systems.com/Forum_exp/forum_posts.asp?TID=125&PN=1 I'll see if I an generate sample Outlook code tomorrow. Michel
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yyzmxs Newbie Joined: 06 Feb 06 Posts: 11	Posted: 25 Jun 06 at 1:07PM
	Thanks for the quick reply. I'll take a look at the access code in the meantime. Regards Marek
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yyzmxs Newbie Joined: 06 Feb 06 Posts: 11	Posted: 25 Jun 06 at 1:14PM
	I see that API is the only way to go. OK I'll try to incorporate that in my code and hopefully it will work. It's amazing how many times during my VBA wonders I've come across some pretty wild design decisions by Microsoft. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know what lead them to drop the .activeprinter property for Outlook? I mean come on, this is hardly believable isn't it? I'll let you know should I have trouble with API, but hope not as it looks simple. Thanks again Marek
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Michel_K17 Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: 25 Jan 03 Posts: 1673	Posted: 30 Jun 09 at 11:27PM
	Hi Marek, I concur. To me, the most baffling is the transition from VB6 to VB.NET. I'm OK with VB.NET to create web apps, but it is remains a poor alternative for Windows Applications, performance wise. It's especially perplexing since VBA has pretty much stayed the same. I have two family members who used to work at Microsoft, and it's not all bad: they definitely try very hard, but still, it's impossible to please everyone. Cheers!
	Michel Korwin-Szymanowski EXP Systems LLC
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Todelete Guest	Posted: 15 Jul 10 at 4:55AM
	*Originally posted by yyzmxs* Hi Michel, do you know how to print to a specific batch PDF printer from Outlook. I am hearing from other Outlook specific web sites that Outlook cannot do that. Outlook will only print to your currently active printer, but doesn't allow to change it through VBA. I am sure you know the asnwer since you must have come across this issue before. I checked and I know for sure that outlook library doesn't offer .activeprinter property. I am talking about MS Outlook 11.0 object library. This is really a huge problem for me. I hope you can pull something out of your sleeve .... :-) Thanks and regards Marek For me MS Outlook is an unusual software, because of the application can solve a lot of different problems with emails for free - outlook 2007 pst recovery. Moreover some days ago it resolved my trouble with emails quite easy and simply as far as I remembered. The software demonstrated me how it could easily extract your contacts as well as other files.
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Michel_K17 Moderator Group Forum Administrator Joined: 25 Jan 03 Posts: 1673	Posted: 17 Jul 10 at 1:16AM
	Hi, The only way I know (I have not tested) is to change the default printer programmatically in Outlook VBA, print to the batch printer, and then revert back to the original default printer. I have sample code like that in the Access VBA code, because one of the older versions of Access has the same limitation. You'll need to download my ActiveX component [here] to also get the sample code. I hope that helps, even though it's not the magic bullet you were looking for.
	Michel Korwin-Szymanowski EXP Systems LLC
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