Printing a .PRN file

Category: Windows

"If I'm using my laptop away from the office and I choose to print something and select "print to file" (since I don't have a printer with me) it creates a .PRN file, but how can I print that file later?"

Okay, let's say you're home or back at the office, and you now have a printer attached to your laptop. Or maybe you copied that .PRN file to your desktop system. It should be easy to print that file now, right? WRONG!

My first guess was to open Windows Explorer, right-click on the .PRN file, then select Print. But there is no Print option in the dropdown menu.

Well then, I'll just go to My Computer, open the Printers folder, then drag and drop the .PRN file on the printer icon. Bzzzt... wrong again. Windows returns an error message that says "File cannot be printed. Open the file with the correct application and print from there." Just for jollies, I created a .PRN file with Word, then tried to open it with Word. Total gibberish, won't print.

Okay, So What DOES Work?

It turns out you have to resort to the DOS Prompt and enter some arcane command string to find true .PRN file happiness. To open a DOS prompt, you can click on Start / Run, then enter CMD.EXE and press enter. Now use the CD (change directory) command to navigate to the folder where the .PRN file is stored. For example,

CD \MYSTUFF

But wait, there's more... the format of the print command depends on the type of printer you have.

If you have an older printer that's connected via the parallel port (it will have a 1/4-inch cable with large connectors on both ends), then here's the command to use. (Substitute your actual print file name for TMP.PRN below.)

COPY /B TMP.PRN LPT1:

If you have a printer that's connected via the USB port (thin wire with small connectors) then here's the command to use.

COPY /B TMP.PRN \\computer_name\printer_share_name

What? You don't remember your computer name? You don't know the printer share name? Here's how to find them.

To find your computer name go to Control Panel, open the System folder, then click on Computer Name. The info you want is shown after the tag "Full computer name". If there's a period at the end of the name, ignore it.

To find your printer share name, go to Control Panel, open the Printers folder, then right-click on your printer and select Sharing. The share name will appear there. If your printer is not shared, select the Share this printer radio button and enter a share name.

Okay, let's assume your computer name is Zippity and your printer share name is Doodah. That would make the print command as follows:

COPY /B TMP.PRN \\Zippity\Doodah

Note there are TWO backslashes before the computer name. Easy, right? Sheesh...


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Posted by Bob Rankin on July 15, 2005 10:32 AM


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Related Keywords: Windows   print to file   print file   PRN file   parallel port   USB printer  

Most recent comments on "Printing a .PRN file"

(See all 53 comments for this article.)

Posted by:
David Mckenzie
29 Oct 2007

Hi Bob
I get the same error as Gene when attempting to print a spl (spool) file directly:-
C:\>copy /B check.spl \\DAVES\Epson
The network path was not found.
0 file(s) copied.

I also get it with a PRN file, so its not just the format (copy /B test.prn \\DAVES\Epson)
I wanted to do this so I could print the printer cleaning file automatically from a VB script rather than manually through the printer preferences. I presume when it works, you can use a quoted network name like "\\DAVES\Epson Stylus Photo 830U Series"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Yes, a quoted name should work. Can you navigate to that printer through My Network Places?


Posted by:
David Mckenzie
31 Oct 2007

Aha, I found this solution (since it wasn't a network place):-

1) Install the Microsoft Loopback Adapter
a) In Control Panel, double click on Add Hardware.
b) Click Next
c) When the scan finishes, select "Yes, I have already connected the hardware"
d) Click Next
e) Scroll to the bottom of the list and select "Add a new hardware device"
Click Next
f) Select "Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced)"
g) Click Next
h) Select "Network Adapters"
i) Click Next
j) Select "Microsoft" under the Manufacturer list.
k) Select "Microsoft Loopback Adapter" in the Network Adapter list.
l) Click Next
m) Click Next
n) Click Finish
o) Ignore the limited connectivity message

2) Configure the Adapter
a) The loopback adapter is a virtual network adapter and can be configured the same as a regular network card. Thus Open the device manager and browse to the network card
b) Set the adapter to have a static IP address such as 192.168.1.1 or 255.255.255.0

3) Share the printer (go to the printer properties/sharing and select share this printer (give it a name to be your printer_share_name).

Now I can print spl (spooled files using the address:
COPY /B TMP.PRN \\computer_name\printer_share_name

Cheers for the original tip...
Davi


Posted by:
Clay
14 Dec 2007

You could always download and install the free Adobe Generic PostScript Printer drivers then "print to file" with the "Generic PostScript Printer" selected as your printer. Then you can use the Open Source program GhostScript combined with the Open Source program GSView, a GUI interface for GhostScript, to view and convert the .prn file to many other file formats including pdf. You may also print directly from GSView.


Posted by:
Jose
10 Jan 2008

Hi bob,

This tip solve me a lot of problems. It work perfectly.

Many thanks for it.


Posted by:
Ashley
06 Feb 2008

I have tried everything on this website and no luck! I am trying to print a prn file that was e-mailed to me, and I keep getting No Network found. I tried David Mckenzie 31 Oct 2007, because I don't have a Network printer and it still came up with the same error message. Is there anything else I should try?? Thanks

I typed in Copy /B mychart.prn \\computer_name\printer_share_name

EDITOR'S NOTE: I assume you entered the actual computer name and share name above, right? Can you navigate to that printer through My Network Places?


Posted by:
sham
05 Mar 2008

It did not work for me. I am still getting:
The network path was not
0 file(s) copied.
I installed Microsoft loopback adapter.


Posted by:
DarthKane
06 Mar 2008

Referring Post: AV 10 Oct 2007

If the "Access Denied" occured, check the printer properties. Under "Advanced" tab, make sure that to select the radio button "Spool print documents so program finishes printing faster".
Do not select "Print directly to the printer" as it will send the PRN file to the printer directly (which will caused the Access Denied problem)


Posted by:
George Glynos
28 Mar 2008

Here is a solution i found! Go to File, Print..., and choose as printer the "Microsoft Office Document Image Writer" then tick the "Print to file" option and press "Preferences". Choose "Advanced" tab and in the "Output format" section choose "TIFF-Monochrome fax". Press "OK" and then "Print", choose a name for your file and you are done. You can open the file saved with "Windows picture and fax viewer" in any computer and print it. I hope this helps!!


Posted by:
Dennis
16 May 2008

Bob, Your tip worked great from the DOS prompt. I'd like to do this from a batch file, using an input parameter (for the file name to be printed).

So I created the batch file with the line:
copy /b %1%.prn \\JD214DESK\ip4300
in it.

It works if I manually (from DOS) run the batch file followed by a space and followed by the FILENAME to be printed. My question is is there a way to create an icon on the desktop to this batch file THAT WILL TAKE THE INPUT PARAMETER (for the filename to be printed?) I'd appreciate your ideas how to do this.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Put that command in a file called C:\PRINTME.BAT, then create a desktop icon with the command specified like this: C:\PRINTME
Now you can drop the file you want to print on the icon.


Posted by:
Brenda
11 Jun 2008

In my case I had to make sure I was using the computer name of the computer the printer was attached to, not the computer the files were stored on. Once I did that it worked great!


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