All of the Swing and Java 2D™ graphics, including composited graphics and images, can be rendered to a printer by using the Java 2D Printing API. This API also provides document composition features that enable you to perform such operations as changing the order in which pages are printed.

Rendering to a printer is like rendering to a screen. The printing system controls when pages are rendered, just like the drawing system controls when a component is painted on the screen.

The Java 2D Printing API is based on a callback model in which the printing system, not the application, controls when pages are printed. The application provides the printing system with information about the document to be printed, and the printing system determines when each page needs to be imaged.

The following two features are important to support printing:

• Job control – Initiating and managing the print job including displaying the standard print and setup dialog boxes
• Pagination – Rendering each page when the printing system requests it

When pages need to be imaged, the printing system calls the application’s print method with an appropriate Graphics context. To use Java 2D API features when you print, you cast the Graphics object to a Graphics2D class, just like you do when you are rendering to the screen.