RichText Tranparency Printing Problems
I have seen several messages here about the problems with printing RichText
fields. I am also experiencing this problem and have a question.
Somewhere one of the responses said that the problem lies in the Windows API
where it passes rendering of the RichText field to the printer and that the
majority of printers do not support or handle RichText transparency very
well.
I also have the Pragnaan Export component and experience the same problem
when exporting to a PDF file.
Basically what I am doing is alternating a background color in the detail
section of my report to increase readability. There are two fields that are
RichText fields and in the preview they properly show the transparency,
however in both the printout (on several printers) and when exporting to a
PDF using the Pragnaan component - they both do not show the transparency on
these RichText fields.
My question is this, is this really a Windows API issue or does the problem
lie elsewhere? I could be wrong, but I wouldn't assume that the Pragnaan
component is using the Windows API calls to print the RichText to a PDF
file... or are they?
Thank you,
Jeff Guidotti
fields. I am also experiencing this problem and have a question.
Somewhere one of the responses said that the problem lies in the Windows API
where it passes rendering of the RichText field to the printer and that the
majority of printers do not support or handle RichText transparency very
well.
I also have the Pragnaan Export component and experience the same problem
when exporting to a PDF file.
Basically what I am doing is alternating a background color in the detail
section of my report to increase readability. There are two fields that are
RichText fields and in the preview they properly show the transparency,
however in both the printout (on several printers) and when exporting to a
PDF using the Pragnaan component - they both do not show the transparency on
these RichText fields.
My question is this, is this really a Windows API issue or does the problem
lie elsewhere? I could be wrong, but I wouldn't assume that the Pragnaan
component is using the Windows API calls to print the RichText to a PDF
file... or are they?
Thank you,
Jeff Guidotti
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Usually the issues with transparency does not have much to do with the API
but rather with the printer and printer driver you are using. Some printers
simply do not handle transparent images very well (or at all). The reason
you probably saw much about the API in previous posts is that ReportBuilder
uses it to communicate with your printer driver which then prints to your
printer.
As far as Pragnaan goes, I am unsure how they process a RichText
drawcommand, but I assume they convert it to a bitmap and draw it to the PDF
canvas. Since bitmaps do not natively support transparency and PDF did not
support transparent graphics until version 1.4, it is highly unlikely the
Pragnaan supports this.
Note: ReportBuilder 9 currently supports PDF version 1.3 exporting. I will
look into supporting transparent graphics for the next release of RB.
--
Regards,
Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com
Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com