Browser Print Preview Options?

Me | 7/16/2023 | Paul R.

[Paul R.]

I do a lot of printing of receipts and such from the Web, and print previews become "an issue". I both screen capture them as png files, and of course often print them. Internet Explorer gives one a WYSIWYG preview / display, and the WYSIWYG includes a (roughly) std. 8-1/2" x 11" image to view or even screen capture and save. I really like that 8-1/2" x 11" image. But, of course, IE is old hat, doesn't work on many sites, and probably isn't what you want to use if paying some company via the Web, anyway. Chrome's security issues are of course well known, and it's print preview is much smaller - coming out at only 7" tall on my 24" 4:3 monitor. If there's fine print it can be hard for my aging eyes to resolve...

(Chrome does give the option of printing to PDF directly, which is sometimes useful. But a PDF as an intermediate step is unnecessarily tedious.)

I'm comparing alternate browsers anyway: Do any of the better ones with good privacy and security features consistently* provide a full size print preview as does IE?

*Brave has actually gone back and forth with this (might be a "chromium" related issue.) See https://community.brave.com/t/print-dialog-function/89309

(The OP's needs are very well described and virtually parallel mine.)

[Paul R.]

My ol' eyes thank you in advance. :-)

[plain talk]

Long ago I began using screen shot captures for receipts and saving as a file. No real reason to print it out on paper and I have a record of it.

[brookwood]

Try Mozilla Firefox. Seems to have no cookies or data collection (if you use privacy settings), I never get a popup ad for something I just bought or searched for.

[Vermont Lt]

First, stop using Chrome.

Second, use Adobe PDF. You can more easily archive receipts and make them searchable.

In addition, you may also redact information when you print stuff out.

[CarmichaelPatriot]

Safari on MacOS.....

[logi_cal869]

I’d like to help, but more information is required and I suspect your dilemma is self-imposed.

You have great advice in comments thus far.

But you fail to mention your OS platform.

I’ve been in tech/IT for decades, slow to adopt iOS, working primarily in MS, currently in Win11. I save ‘receipts’ in several formats, but it depends on the origin of the receipt.

Paper receipts: I prefer to scan or take a photo with the iPhone, ESPECIALLY the thermal receipts (which fade to nothing over time AND heat sensitive). Text searchable in iOS. I email them to myself.

Online purchases: ‘Receipt’ is a misnomer. I prefer to take ‘snips’ (MS Snipping tool) which are screenshots. I also email them to myself for a history/archive.

Admittedly, I’ve been slow to adopt digital storage, but that worm is about to turn fully digital.

I, too, have aging eyes and understand the issue, but don’t understand the unstated need to adhere to ‘printing’ (the presumption is PAPER).

I recommend moving forward - as I’m doing; that’s not just a metaphor - by focusing on digital archiving (conditional upon your OS platform, obviously), which offers you more options, including the ability to digitally zoom/enlarge.

To be frank, mention of IE is alarming. Choose a stable/secure browser, ensure your OS is modern/updated (please don’t share that you’re using Win7 as to why ‘IE’; NOT what we want to hear in this security environment, ESPECIALLY if you’re doing online purchases) and don’t get stuck on ‘print’ for browser usage.

[Paul R.]

I do plenty of those screen captures / saves for sure, in fact that’s what I use the “print” function for, many times - to generate a “cleaner” / less cluttered receipt, for example. I capture and save the “print preview”. But much like the poster whose comment I linked to, I also still often need or sometimes prefer to do printing of such pages too. Esp. if a customer or friend wants or needs a paper copy. Or I want a page to stuff in my pocket to take with me somewhere. (Even then, I often have to run the image IrfanView to darken up light print or what-not.)

[plain talk]

OK. Got ya. I’m probably not much help on this one. Wish you well Paul.

[Paul R.]

Well, yeah, obviously there are more reasons to get further away from Chrome than just the print preview issue. (!)

So, I have used Brave, some, but it has been subject to inconsistencies such as what it does with the print preview. Granted I’ve not used it / updated it recently. Torch is good for downloading media like YouTube vids (built in function) but otherwise seems to be a so-so browser when it comes to privacy and utility. This leaves me looking for recommendations / user experiences from privacy minded people, as I don’t have the time to try out the foibles of a dozen or more of the lesser browsers. If I had to just close my eyes and grab one, I guess it’d be Opera, or try Brave again.

Acrobat Reader (and FoxIt Reader too) I use a LOT, but, compared to a screen capture and processing with IrfanView, those are weak — very, very weak. Say, if I need to darken the light print of a section of a document...

[Paul R.]

Not to worry, IE doesn’t even work on most of these sites. It hasn’t for quite a while.

I do not have and do not care to have a “smart” phone. They are too dang big and fragile to carry around, for one thing. Plus, they add a whole ‘nother myriad of security concerns / issues that I have no interest in adding to my plate.

OS is Win 10 Pro on my desktop with my laptop already Win 11 Pro.

The eyes issue applies to both printing to paper or saving to file. Yeah, I could capture & save a small print preview as, say, a png, resizing it first if there’s that small print, but resizing often results in kinda crappy “image” quality (like crappy looking print characters). Other hoops can be jumped through, but a full page “preview” just makes things quicker and easier.

[Paul R.]

Gee, I’d be dead 15 years by the time I could switch over to Mac... And that’s assuming I follow my parents’ pattern (lived into their late 80’s). :-)

[Paul R.]

Ok, I have a recommendation for Firefox, which I think I can look at on my wife’s computer where she works.

Outside of that, uh, does anyone here have relevant / current experience with other browsers? Brave? Opera? Others?

For now, at least, it’s Windows 10 / 11 as the OS.

[Paul R.]

Thanks!

[Vermont Lt]

Ah..there is the issue. Instead of taking a screen grab, print the page to a PDF file. On my Mac that is a button on the bottom of the print menu.

I do this with every receipt I pay online. The dialogue box allows me to name and organize the pdfs as I want/need.

PNG files are OK for some things, but as image files go…they are pretty thin. PDFs are better for printing and sending via email.

Try it…I think you will quickly find it is an easier and more robust solution.

[moviefan8]

This is what I do.

Go to your the Print section in your web browser.

Select Microsoft Print to PDF.

Click on the print button and save where you want to save the file.

All you are doing is creating a PDF file of the webpage.

[Paul R.]

Yes, but, for example, I can use IrfanView to darken light print in a PNG image, or, for that matter, light print in the screen capture itself before it ever becomes a file of whatever type. Or crop the page. Or use IrfanView to remove un-necessary graphics. Etc.

So, it’s Alt - print-screen - paste into IrfanView (which I likely have open already, I use it so much) edit-image - save. (Later versions of IrfanView will save to PDF too, for that matter.) The issue of what format to save to is virtually* irrelevant so long as the saved image can be reopened by most computers and is clear & undistorted*.

*BMP’s and TIFF’s use up too much file space, of course, and text from webpages does not save well to jpg’s.

MANY pages I do simply save to PDF directly, just as you say, but for many others that “siomply” doesn’t work out well. That especially in a business situation where sometimes printed copies are still very useful, such as when info is desired by customers, but too often the displayed page itself is just crap (some print virtually unreadable, extraneous matter on the page, etc.)

[Paul R.]

“simply”

“siomlpy is in my spell check??? How’d I do THAT??!! (eye roll!)

And, to be precise:

So, it’s:

Alt - print-screen - paste into IrfanView (which I likely have open already, I use it so much) - edit-image - save file.

Now... if only we could simply get back to the question of which browsers with good privacy & security offer an at least 8-1/2” x 11” print preview on a 24” 4:3 monitor...

Thanks.

[Paul R.]

Please see my post #16.

[powerset]

I use Firefox (with NoScript) in any situation where I worry about privacy or security. I only use Chrome for things like video streaming, and I only do that on a separate computer!

That being said, I use Firefox’s ability to “print” to a PDF file to save receipts etc. Also, the Print Preview function is pretty useful before actually outputting the PDF file. I would not save receipts etc. as images unless I had no other choice.

Depending on the exact PDF display software, you can often copy the text part of the displayed PDF file and paste it as text into a spreadsheet, email, etc. This can be handy for financial purposes. And, of course, you can print it on paper.

P.S. Adobe turned the PDF standard over to ISO in 2007, so now there is lots of good PDF software available.

[daniel1212]

Why are you using Chrome? Firefox is still better, even though losing functions with its Quantum version. Ctrl+p or File>Print brings up:

You can also hack FF to enable multiple tab rows.