This article shows you how to print a web page and how to format the web page to get the printout you want. By formatting your printout before printing, you can save money and help reducing waste.

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How to print and optimize the print layout of a web page

This article is part of the Printer and Printing Troubleshooting Guide

Printing a web page is easy as long as it’s formatted for printing. Unfortunately, this is not always the case which means that paper and printer ink are wasted on printing blank pages, ads, background colors and other things not necessary in your printout.

Below are the general steps needed to print a web page:

» 1. Format the print layout of the web page
» 2. Print the web page

1. Format the print layout of the web page

So, how can you modify a web page to get the layout you want? Apart from using the web browsers Print Preview functionality this is not supported in a good way. Many people try using MS Word or Wordpad  instead which often leads to more frustration since the layout and font sizes/types often changes when copying/pasting from the web page.

The easy way is to use PrintWhatYouLike! instead. With this free online service, you can easily remove text and graphics from the web page you want to print. To see how the PrintWhatYouLike service works, launch this web page or go directly to PrintWhatYouLike and enter your URL in the green box in the center of the page.

If you move your mouse over the different objects of the page you will see that red boxes will be outlined. By clicking on the object you want to remove or modify, the box will get a yellow background indicating that it is selected. The menu on the left will now let you do several things with the object you have selected:

• changing font type/size (text objects)
• removing background colors and images (all objects)
• removing or isolating a specific object like a text box, a picture or a frame (all objects)

After you are done remaking the page, hit the “Print” button in the left menu and the printer dialogue of the browser will be launched.

2. Print the web page

Printing a web page when your print layout is ready is very straight forward. Note: If you have problems getting the printer to start or have problems with the printout quality, please refer to our general guide on how to solve printer problems! If you have a Mozilla FireFox browser, read their page on Problems Printing Web Pages.

To print in Internet Explorer

Go to “File” in the browser menu and choose any of the available commands:

• “Page Setup” – to select paper source, orientation, paper size etc when printing.
• “Print” – for printing the web page immediately.
• “Print Preview” – to get a preview of what the printout will look like before printing.

To print in Mozilla FireFox

Go to “Archive” in the browser menu and choose any of the available commands:

• “Page Setup” – to select paper source, orientation, paper size etc when printing.
• “Print Preview” – to get a preview of what the printout will look like before printing.
• “Print” – for printing the web page immediately.