As a web designer, developer, or website owner, you rarely need to print website pages. However, if there is a need and you have to send web pages to the printer, you want to make sure that they look as good on paper as they do on screen. If your website is not ready for printing, your pages will not only look messy on paper, but they may also show low-quality prints.
Obviously, this is not what you or your visitors want to see. Remember, not all web visitors read content online. In this article, we will discuss how to make a WordPress site ready for printing so that any printed page looks clear and orderly on paper. You will learn about some of the reasons why your website might benefit from the print button.
Website Features to Consider
Most Internet users use digital devices to go online, you might ask why you need to make your website print-ready. The truth is, you should not make assumptions about how people read your website content. The truth is that most website visitors read content directly online, but it is best to cater to the few who might print out your page.
Considering that there is not much work to prepare the website for printing, there is no reason not to. Essentially, you want to be prepared for anything that your web visitors might want to use your content for. For example, if readers find a post related to their work and decide to use it as a reference point in a presentation, they will want to print it out. You never know who will visit your website and how they will use the content.
If you are running a new website, posting mouth-watering recipes, or writing technical articles, there will always be someone who wants a printed version of your article. Not only that. Having a printer-friendly website can increase its usability and make it easier to access. The only problem is that not all WordPress themes support that.
Normally, the necessary information on the website pages needs to be printed or converted to PDF format. Of course, you can use the browser’s internal tools, but in this case, on the printed paper, you will see a lot of unnecessary information, such as printed buttons, links, and possibly advertising banners. To avoid this, you need to install a plugin that will add buttons for printing and converting pages to page PDFs, and add this important feature to your site. As you would expect from a WordPress platform, there is always a plugin that can save you.
Printer-friendly design is to remove some unnecessary elements from your web pages, that are obsolete for readers. In order to get a good user experience, there are many important network elements on your website. The problem is that they are useful on the web, not in print. Just to name a few:
- Navigation elements
- Advertisements
- Hyperlinks
- Buttons and icons
- Contact forms
- Sidebars
There are also some elements that you might want to keep intact, such as brand elements, copyright notices, and the URL of your website. And that’s only the beginning. Designing for the web and designing for print are two very different things. For example, once the page is printed, the layout you choose for the web page may not look good. And print-optimized designs are almost always black and white, rather than a color palette because color ink printing can become very expensive. More importantly, what looks good on the web may not look as good on paper.
PDF & Print WordPress Plugin
PDF & Print is BestWebSoft’s powerful plugin. Using that tool, you can print pages easily and quickly, and create PDF files in a couple of clicks. As well as add PDF and Print buttons to WordPress website widgets, posts, pages. With highly customizable settings it is possible to generate documents with useful data for archiving, saving, or sharing.
Moreover, Pro version even fixes some troubles, other plugins might stumble upon. Like compatibility with top plugins like WooCommerce. It also features several functions to boot, like preventing content from copying, watermarks, custom images, and optionally more thorough editing of resulted PDF files.
1. To begin setting up the plugin open Dashboard, click “Plugins” -> “Installed Plugins”, search for PDF & Print by BestWebSoft in the list and click “Settings”.
2. You can add PDF & Print buttons to posts, pages, search results, archives. Check the box (es) where necessary.
3. Choose the button position in the content (default is Top Right).
4. It is possible to turn of the button images by choosing it in settings or set the custom image (only with Pro version).
5. Customize the button title by inputting text in those fields.
6. If you want to display a print preview window with advanced settings just check this box.
7. The next option allows you to enable/disable printing shortcodes with data generated by other plugins.
8. You can include or remove hover link styles in PDF documents in this checkbox.
9. Select the PDF button action (open or download).
10. Choose which users can use PDF & Print buttons.
11. Don’t forget to save your setting click “Save Changes” button.
That’s how PDF & Print buttons may look on a page.
The resulted PDF file’s look depends on the settings used. Here is one example:
Conclusion
Many people do not consider preparing the site for printing when they start building it. However, it is important to design for the Web and print from the beginning. Still, if you didn’t do this and you feel stuck now, it’s an easy thing to fix. In fact, considering how simple it is to implement print styles in a theme, most people, even WordPress novices, should be able to make these changes themselves, especially when using one of the recommended plugins above.
Even if most readers of your site choose to consume content through their computers and mobile devices, it’s important to provide printable versions of content to those who insist on printing content.
Also, we are obviously promoting our plugin.
