Printer-Friendly Web Page

Web pages are getting more and more complex with images, ads, and links all over the place, they become harder and harder for people to read. Combine that with the eye-strain caused by most monitors and you create an environment where people want to print out Web pages.

What Makes a Printer-Friendly Page Printer-Friendly?

There are some disagreements about how to write a printer-friendly page. Some people feel that only the article content and title, should be included on the page. Other developers just remove the side and top navigation or replace them with text links at the bottom of the article. Some sites remove advertising, and still others leave all of the advertising intact.

Below are some simple guidelines, you can create printer-friendly pages for your site that will have your customers happy to use and return to.

Print-Friendly Pages

Change colors to black on white.
Printer-friendly page should be black text on a white background.
Change the font to a serif face.
When moving to print, serif fonts are easier to read.
Watch the font size.
Increase the font size for printing. It was recommend 12pt text or larger, depending upon your audience.
Underline all links.
Make it obvious that they are links will clarify the page information.
Remove non-essential images, navigation, advertising.
These don't print out well, and in some cases can cause problems printing Web pages.
Include a by-line.
Customer can quickly find who wrote it later without having to return to your Web site.
Include the original URL.
Include the original URL, so that your Customers could get back to the exact page online if they need to get more information from your site.
Include a copyright notification.
What you write on the Web is your writing. Just because a customer can print it out or copy and paste the text does not mean that it is public domain. It won't stop the determined thief, but it will remind casual users of your rights.

How to Implement a Print-Friendly Solution

Use CSS media types to create print friendly pages. Yes, it's possible to write scripts to convert your Web pages to print friendly, but why use them when you can just write a second style sheet for when your pages are printed.

Resources taken: http://webdesign.about.com/od/printerfriendly/a/aa041403a.htm