Printing PDFs from Windows Command Line

Question

I\'m trying to print all pdfs in current dir. When I call this bash script in cmd (singlepdf.sh): \'\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Adobe\\Reader 10.0\\Reader

Answer 1

The error message is telling you.

Try just

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" /t "$pdf"

When you enclose the string in single-quotes, this makes everything inside a valid string, including the " chars. By removing the single-quotes, the shell will process the dbl-quotes as string "wrappers".

I would also wrap the filename variable in dbl-quotes so you can easily process files with spaces in their names, i.e.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 10.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" /t "$pdf"

IHTH

Answer 2

Here is another solution:

1) Download SumatraPDF (portable version) - https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/download-free-pdf-viewer.html

2) Create a class library project and unzip the SumatraPDF.exe to the project directory root and unblock it.

3) Inside the project Properties, go to the Resoruces tab and add the exe as a file.

4) Add the following class to your library:

public class SumatraWrapper : IDisposable
{
    private readonly FileInfo _tempFileForExe = null;
    private readonly FileInfo _exe = null;

    public SumatraWrapper()
    {
        _exe = ExtractExe();
    }

    public SumatraWrapper(FileInfo tempFileForExe)
        : this()
    {
        _tempFileForExe = tempFileForExe ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(tempFileForExe));
    }

    private FileInfo ExtractExe()
    {
        string tempfile = 
            _tempFileForExe != null ? 
            _tempFileForExe.FullName : 
            Path.GetTempFileName() + ".exe";

        FileInfo exe = new FileInfo(tempfile);
        byte[] bytes = Properties.Resources.SumatraPDF;

        using (FileStream fs = exe.OpenWrite())
        {
            fs.Write(bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
        }

        return exe;
    }

    public bool Print(FileInfo file, string printerName)
    {
        string arguments = $"-print-to \"{printerName}\" \"{file.FullName}\"";
        ProcessStartInfo processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(_exe.FullName, arguments)
        {
            CreateNoWindow = true
        };
        using (Process process = Process.Start(processStartInfo))
        {
            process.WaitForExit();
            return process.ExitCode == 0;
        }
    }

    #region IDisposable Support
    private bool disposedValue = false; // To detect redundant calls

    protected virtual void Dispose(bool disposing)
    {
        if (!disposedValue)
        {
            if (disposing)
            {
                // TODO: dispose managed state (managed objects).
            }

            // TODO: free unmanaged resources (unmanaged objects) and override a finalizer below.
            // TODO: set large fields to null.
            try
            {
                File.Delete(_exe.FullName);
            }
            catch
            {

            }

            disposedValue = true;
        }
    }

    // TODO: override a finalizer only if Dispose(bool disposing) above has code to free unmanaged resources.
    // ~PdfToPrinterWrapper() {
    //   // Do not change this code. Put cleanup code in Dispose(bool disposing) above.
    //   Dispose(false);
    // }

    // This code added to correctly implement the disposable pattern.
    public void Dispose()
    {
        // Do not change this code. Put cleanup code in Dispose(bool disposing) above.
        Dispose(true);
        // TODO: uncomment the following line if the finalizer is overridden above.
        // GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
    }
    #endregion
}

5) Enjoy printing pdf files from your code.

Use like this:

FileInfo file = new FileInfo(@"c:\Sandbox\dummy file.pdf");
SumatraWrapper pdfToPrinter =
    new SumatraWrapper();
pdfToPrinter.Print(file, "My Printer");

Answer 3

I know this is and old question, but i was faced with the same problem recently and none of the answers worked for me:

• Couldn't find an old Foxit Reader version
• As @pilkch said 2Printer adds a report page
• Adobe Reader opens a gui

After searching a little more i found this: http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/pdftoprinter.html.

It's a simple exe that you call with the filename and it prints to the default printer (or one that you specify). From the site:

PDFtoPrinter is a program for printing PDF files from the Windows command line. The program is designed generally for the Windows command line and also for use with the vDos DOS emulator.

To print a PDF file to the default Windows printer, use this command:

PDFtoPrinter.exe filename.pdf

To print to a specific printer, add the name of the printer in quotation marks:

PDFtoPrinter.exe filename.pdf "Name of Printer"

If you want to print to a network printer, use the name that appears in Windows print dialogs, like this (and be careful to note the two backslashes at the start of the name and the single backslash after the servername):

PDFtoPrinter.exe filename.pdf "\\SERVER\PrinterName"

Answer 4

Looks like you are missing the printer name, driver, and port - in that order. Your final command should resemble:

AcroRd32.exe /t <file.pdf> <printer_name> <printer_driver> <printer_port>

For example:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 11.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" /t "C:\Folder\File.pdf" "Brother MFC-7820N USB Printer" "Brother MFC-7820N USB Printer" "IP_192.168.10.110"

Note: To find the printer information, right click your printer and choose properties. In my case shown above, the printer name and driver name matched - but your information may differ.

Answer 5

Today I was looking for this very solution and I tried PDFtoPrinter which I had an issue with (the PDFs I tried printing suggested they used incorrect paper size which hung the print job and nothing else printed until resolved). In my effort to find an alternative, I remembered GhostScript and utilities associated with it. I found GSView and it's associated program GSPrint (reference https://www.ghostscript.com/). Both these require GhostScript (https://www.ghostscript.com/) but when all the components are installed, GSPrint worked flawlessly and I was able to create a scheduled task that printed PDFs automatically overnight.