Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Chapter 36. Printing from the Web

The Web is undeniably an amazing resource for information, but it’s not the most comfortable or portable of reading environments. For this reason, many people print web pages to read away from their desks or to file for later use.

The ability to print the contents of the window has been built into browsers from the beginning. The real breakthrough in controlling printed versions of web pages is the use of Cascading Style Sheets to customize the presentation of the document for the printed page. This alleviates the need for separate HTML documents or templates that provide “printer-friendly” versions of every page on a site.

The Web has proven to be an effective delivery device for printed documents in the form of PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Flash movies also offer some interesting possibilities for printing . This chapter explores all of these methods for bringing content from the Web to the printed page.