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Print Edit for Firefox lets you easily format Web pages for printing
Some Web pages are easier to print than others. Some provide printer-friendly versions, or printer-friendly CSS, but what do you do when you need to print out a page that isn't so friendly? What if a Web page, printed as-is, would use up a ton of toner or would spread across multiple pages in a confusing hodgepodge of menu items, superfluous banners, and useless navigation links?
Well, Print Edit is one option. This Firefox add-on hooks into the Print Preview mode, and it adds an Edit button. Once you click Edit, you're returned to Firefox (i.e., it seems like you've exited Print Preview mode), but now, a red frame appears around any page element that your mouse hovers over.
You click all of the elements that you wish to hide or delete, and then you click Hide or Delete. You can also choose to Undo, Hide All Except, or Delete All Except.
The difference between "deleting" and "hiding" is that hiding does not affect page layout. You basically get a blank spot where the element used to be. Deleting an element does impact page layout – so if you delete a banner ad, you could make the rest of the page use that space for text (and thus require less paper for printing).
Once you're done formatting the page, click Preview to see the result. If you're happy with it, print away. If not, you can always click Edit again and continue tweaking it.
The fastest way to use this add-on is to just select the content area you want to keep and click Delete All Except. I tried this with its own add-on page at addons.mozilla.org, and I could get just the add-on's description – with no images, menu items, or anything else. It was very clean and useful.
Comments
4
Subscribe to commentsEric CSep 24th 2010 7:23PM
Nice find - I've been using a bookmarklet to do this across all browsers called printliminator - although it doesn't tie into print preview mode it does do a fantastic job. (http://css-tricks.com/examples/ThePrintliminator/)
SilverWaveSep 24th 2010 8:54PM
Hmm sounds like Platypus which is based on Aardvark... i'll go take a look as Platypus is abandonmentware .
SilverWaveSep 24th 2010 9:34PM
Nice but not what I was looking for :-)
Anyone know of a Platypus clone?
liamknujrpSep 24th 2010 11:22PM
I use a bookmarklet printwhatyoulike that basically does the same thing.. works well for me. This sounds marginally easier. Thanks, I'll check it out.