Printing from SWF files at runtime using ActionScript 2.0

You can add printing functionality to Flash documents that lets users print from Flash Player. You can use the ActionScript™ PrintJob class, or you can use the print() or printAsBitmap() ActionScript functions. Users can also access the Flash Player context menu and select the Print command there. Additionally, users can print from a browser, rather than from Flash Player, by selecting a command such as File > Print from the browser window. However, printing from Flash Player directly, rather than from a browser window Print menu, offers several advantages, including the following:

• Users can print all frames or certain frames that you’ve labeled as printable from Flash Player. Additionally, you can set the print area of a frame.

• You can specify that content print as vector graphics (to take advantage of higher resolution) or as bitmaps (to preserve transparency and color effects).

• The ActionScript PrintJob object improves upon the print() and printAsBitmap() functions by adding the ability to print dynamically rendered pages as a single print job. The PrintJob object also provides the user’s printer settings, which can be used to format reports specifically for the user.

• Flash Player versions earlier than 4.0.25 (Windows) or 4.0.20 (Macintosh) do not support printing frames directly. Flash Player 7 and later supports the PrintJob class.