iosswiftprintingairprint

Printing the view in iOS with Swift


I am developing an app which requires visitor passes to be generated and printed directly from an iPad over AirPrint.

I have looked everywhere to find out how to print a view but I can only find how to print text, webKit and mapKit.

Is there a way of printing an entire view? If not, what would be a good solution to print a visitor pass which will be plain text, boxes and a photograph. Thanks.


Solution

  • I have found the answer to my question by modifying the code found here: AirPrint contents of a UIView

    //create an extension to covert the view to an image
    extension UIView {
     func toImage() -> UIImage {
        UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(bounds.size, false, UIScreen.mainScreen().scale)
    
        drawViewHierarchyInRect(self.bounds, afterScreenUpdates: true)
    
        let image = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext()
        UIGraphicsEndImageContext()
        return image
     }
    }
    
    //In your view controller    
    @IBAction func printButton(sender: AnyObject) {
    
        let printInfo = UIPrintInfo(dictionary:nil)
        printInfo.outputType = UIPrintInfoOutputType.General
        printInfo.jobName = "My Print Job"
    
        // Set up print controller
        let printController = UIPrintInteractionController.sharedPrintController()
        printController.printInfo = printInfo
    
        // Assign a UIImage version of my UIView as a printing iten
        printController.printingItem = self.view.toImage()
    
        // If you want to specify a printer
        guard let printerURL = URL(string: "Your printer URL here, e.g. ipps://HPDC4A3E0DE24A.local.:443/ipp/print") else { return }
        guard let currentPrinter = UIPrinter(url: printerURL) else { return }                     
    
        printController.print(to: currentPrinter, completionHandler: nil)
    
        // Do it
        printController.presentFromRect(self.view.frame, inView: self.view, animated: true, completionHandler: nil)
    }