ID Number: Q11863
2.00 2.03 2.10 3.00
WINDOWS
Summary:
This article describes how to determine the printable area for a
printer in Windows.
More Information:
Escape(GETPHYSPAGESIZE) specifies the size of the physical sheet of
the currently selected paper size; for example, 8 1/2 by 11 for
letter-sized paper on the Epson FX-80.
Escape(GETPRINTINGOFFSET) specifies how far in and how far down the
printable area starts on the sheet of paper; for example, 1/4 inch in
and 1/8 inch down for the Epson.
GetDeviceCaps(HORZSIZE) specifies the width of the printable area on
the page, in millimeters (8 inches for the Epson).
GetDeviceCaps(VERTSIZE) specifies the length of the printable area on
the page, in millimeters (10 inches for the Epson).
GetDeviceCaps(HORZRES) specifies the width of the printable area on
the page, in pixels. Note that this value will depend on the currently
selected graphics resolution (960 for the Epson at 120 x 72 DPI or 120
x 144 DPI, 1920 for the Epson at 240 x 144 DPI).
GetDeviceCaps(VERTRES) specifies the length of the printable area on
the page, in pixels. Note that this value will depend upon the
currently selected graphics resolution (720 for the Epson at 120 x 72
DPI, 1440 for the Epson at 120 x 144 DPI or 240 x 144 DPI).
If pixels per inch are desired, GetDeviceCaps(LOGPIXELSX and
LOGPIXELSY) gives the number of pixels per inch in each direction (120
per inch horizontal, 72 per inch vertical for Epson). Please note that
these arguments were not documented prior to Windows version 3.0.
Device coordinates are returned; therefore, conversion to logical
coordinates is necessary before drawing with GDI.
The origin of the printable area is 0,0. The rectangle that defines
the printable area is as follows:
left = 0
top = 0
right = GetDeviceCaps (HORZSIZE)
bottom = GetDeviceCaps (VERTSIZE)
Using the above example for the Epson, the paper is 8 1/2 by 11
inches. Horizontally, the printable area goes from 1/4 inch to 8 1/4
inches; vertically, the printable area goes from 1/8 inch from the top
to 10 1/8 inches.