VNC User Guide - RealVNC

Chapter 5: Exchanging Information
Printing host computer files to a local printer
If you are connected to VNC Server (Enterprise) or VNC Server (Personal), you can print host computer files
directly to the default printer attached to your client computer (that is, to a local printer).
A. Local printer. B. Client computer running VNC Viewer. Printer A must be the client’s default printer. C. Host
computer running VNC Server, and storing the files to print.
Note: To see how to make a printer the client computer’s default, consult its operating system
documentation.
This powerful feature is ready to use out-of-the-box. Open a host computer file in the VNC Viewer window
and print in the expected way for the application, for example by selecting File > Print. The local printer is
automatically shared with the host computer and made its default while the connection is in progress, so the
correct device should already be selected. Your request is added to the printer’s queue and executed in turn.
A best possible quality print finish is attempted. This may mean the contents of the file are scaled to fit the
dimensions of the local printer’s paper. If the results are unexpected, see Manipulating the quality of the print
finish on page 60.
If the host computer file does not print to the local printer, start with Troubleshooting printing on page 61.
Disabling and enabling printing
You can disable printing providing you do so before you connect. Open the VNC Viewer - Options dialog
and, on the Printing tab, choose Don’t share a printer. More on this dialog.
You can still print but choose not to change the host computer’s default printer. To do this, turn off Make it
the default printer on VNC Server. This means you will have to explicitly select the local printer when you
print. The local printer will have a name of the form via VNC from , for example HP Color LaserJet CP2020 via VNC from Neptune.
Manipulating the quality of the print finish
The quality of the print finish is determined by the characteristics of the local printer. For example, if the host
computer file is a color photo but the local printer only prints in black and white, then color will be lost.
You may be able to configure printer options in order to achieve a better quality print finish. You should do
this before you connect in the way expected for the operating system of the client computer, for example by
selecting Control Panel > Devices and Printers under Windows 7.
If you are already connected, then you may be able to configure some printing preferences for the
application you are printing from. This may include rotating pages, changing the page order, choosing a
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