[_] A list Apart: print to preview article
stefan burt
one.green.squirrel at gmail.com
Thu Nov 2 15:26:31 GMT 2006
It totally fails in the latest version of safari :( If it works across
all browsers it would totally rock, it's a really nice visual way to
demo a page before you waste any paper or ink which can only be a good
thing.
Stefan
On 11/2/06, Rick Hurst <rick.hurst at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/25/06, Iwein Dekoninck <iwein at 3sixty.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > http://www.alistapart.com/articles/printtopreview talks about using
> > javascript to put a print preview button on your web pages. It brings up
> > a print dialog. It also allows 'switching back' to web layout.
> >
> > It's advantages to doing the stylesheet switch server side (and
> > effectively going to a different page) seem to be: no page reload
> > required, and tying the print dialog.
> >
> > It's disadvantages seem to be visitors who browse javascript-less.
> >
> > Your opinion?
>
>
> (just catching up with underscore a bit)
>
> I've used various approaches to this before, but a technique we used
> recently was a request by the client and I was initally skeptical, but now I
> quite like it. The idea is that when you click a printer icon you get a
> preview of how the page looks using the print stylesheet, albeit with a
> links to print the page or go back to the screen version. These links don't
> actually show when using the print stylesheet for real (i.e. when printing).
>
> here's an example: http://www.ubiquitysoftware.com/company/about (click the
> printer icon)
>
> The downside is that it requires multiple clicks to actually get to the
> print dialogue, but it does manage the users expectations of what they will
> actually get when they print. non javascript enabled users would have to use
> the print function of their browser - I suppose I could have written the
> "print this page" link in using DOM to make it degrade more gracefully
>
> --
> Rick Hurst, Web developer, Bristol, England
> http://www.rickhurst.co.uk | http://www.netsight.co.uk
> --
> underscore_ list info/archive -> http://www.under-score.org.uk
>
all browsers it would totally rock, it's a really nice visual way to
demo a page before you waste any paper or ink which can only be a good
thing.
Stefan
On 11/2/06, Rick Hurst <rick.hurst at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 10/25/06, Iwein Dekoninck <iwein at 3sixty.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > http://www.alistapart.com/articles/printtopreview talks about using
> > javascript to put a print preview button on your web pages. It brings up
> > a print dialog. It also allows 'switching back' to web layout.
> >
> > It's advantages to doing the stylesheet switch server side (and
> > effectively going to a different page) seem to be: no page reload
> > required, and tying the print dialog.
> >
> > It's disadvantages seem to be visitors who browse javascript-less.
> >
> > Your opinion?
>
>
> (just catching up with underscore a bit)
>
> I've used various approaches to this before, but a technique we used
> recently was a request by the client and I was initally skeptical, but now I
> quite like it. The idea is that when you click a printer icon you get a
> preview of how the page looks using the print stylesheet, albeit with a
> links to print the page or go back to the screen version. These links don't
> actually show when using the print stylesheet for real (i.e. when printing).
>
> here's an example: http://www.ubiquitysoftware.com/company/about (click the
> printer icon)
>
> The downside is that it requires multiple clicks to actually get to the
> print dialogue, but it does manage the users expectations of what they will
> actually get when they print. non javascript enabled users would have to use
> the print function of their browser - I suppose I could have written the
> "print this page" link in using DOM to make it degrade more gracefully
>
> --
> Rick Hurst, Web developer, Bristol, England
> http://www.rickhurst.co.uk | http://www.netsight.co.uk
> --
> underscore_ list info/archive -> http://www.under-score.org.uk
>