Print Hint Extension for Firefox

Download and Install

You can download and install the Print Hint extension from the Mozilla/Firefox extension website: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/700/

Firefox is a free and open-source web-browser for Windows, Linux, Mac and other platfoms which can be downloaded at: http://www.mozilla.org/firefox

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About the Print Hint extension for Firefox

Print Stylesheets (Green Icon)

The primary purpose of this Firefox extension is to indicate when the webpage you are visiting has a 'Print' stylesheet attached to it.

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An icon in the status-bar (bottom-right of the browser) turns green when the extension detects that there is a print stylesheet linked to the webpage. Click on the green icon to print the page.

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In the latest version (0.3) of the extension, the icon is integrated with the browser's print button. A small green icon is added to the print button indicating that the page can be printed directly. Click on the green icon to print the page.

Print Button

Please note: If the print button is not included on your address toolbar, right-click on the toolbar, click 'customize' and then drag the icon labelled 'print' to the toolbar.

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Webpages with a print stylesheet have been specifically formatted for printing. The webpage designer eliminates many unnecessary sections of the webpage, such as logos, navigation toolbars etc, leaving just the essential information and a cleaner layout for the print version.

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Linked Print Versions (Orange Icon)

Sometimes web sites provide a completely separate page for printing. If the extension detects a link to a 'print version', the print icon will change to have an orange background.

If you click on the orange icon, the 'print version' of the page will be loaded, allowing you to check that it is indeed the same as the original page before you print it.

 

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In the latest version (0.3) of the extension, the icon is integrated with the browser's print button. A small orange icon is added to the print button. Hover over the icon to see the address of the linked-print version. Click on the icon to go to the print version (which may open in a new tab, window or pop-up, depending on the website and your browser settings). Click on the print icon again to print the page.

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Please note: the extension is only designed to detect the most typical text for linking to print versions. It would be impossible to detect all the variations in wording that the multitude of websites use.

 

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Examples of websites with print stylesheets / print versions

The Wikipedia encyclopedia (www.wikipedia.org) uses print stylesheets. Visit this site to test this extension.

The Economist magazine (www.economist.com/) and UK Guardian newspaper (www.guardian.co.uk) are examples of websites that provide print versions of their articles.

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Rationale for the extension

• This extension makes it easier to see when the page is printable, as a web visitor does not have to search the page to find a print version
  
• It is easier to print a webpage that has been formated for printers using a print stylesheet (just click the print icon, or 'File, Print'), as compared with a webpage with a link to a separate print version
  
• Unfortunately print stylesheets are not used extensively by website developers. It is hoped that this extension will encourage their greater use. Using print stylesheets also has other benefits in terms of adherence to web standards, and for future website maintenance. Read the articles listed at the bottom of this page for further information.

 

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Advantages of this extension

• Web visitors can save time trying to look for 'print version' of a webpage - just print
• Webpages that have been properly formatted for print, can save extensively on use of paper and ink (with more text per page, and less images).

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Disadvantages

• Language: The extension cannot detect linked print versions of web pages where the link text is written in a different language. (The extension searches for keywords such as 'Printer Friendly Version', 'Print this page' etc..
• While print versions of webpages can reduce the amount of pages printed out, print versions may encourage more quantity of printing and thus deplete a scarce and valuable resource.
  Tips of paper saving:
  • print only essential articles
  • reuse paper or use recycled/sustainably produced paper
    
  • use old paper (e.g. offcuts of business paper)
  • learn how to print double-sided
  • recycle used paper (encourage your local authority to facilitate paper recycling)

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Changes between version 0.3 and 0.2

Version 0.3 of Print Hint is designed for Firefox version 2 and introduces many improvements:

• The print-hint icon is now merged with the print button on the toolbar
• If the print button is not included on your address toolbar, right-click on the toolbar, click 'customize' and then drag the icon labelled 'print' to the toolbar. If the button is not included, then the extension's icon is displayed in the browser status bar, similar to previous versions of the extension
• The algorithms for detecting print versions of webpages have been improved
• Looks for print stylesheets as the page is loading.

Changes between versions 0.2 and 0.1

• Added more keywords
• Added extension preference to preview a page rather than printing
• For linked printer-friendly pages, the tooltip shows the destination address.

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Future development

• Include more keywords for finding linked print version (e.g. 'print the webpage')
• Different languages - currently only searches for english keywords such as 'Printable version'
• Investigate possible benefits/application for the visually impaired (because print versions are simpler to read and/or easier to have read aloud using text-to-speech software).

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Comment/Suggestion form:

If you have a comment about the Print Hint extension or you have a question or suggestion, please use the form below.

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