Many Web pages are too wide to print
on 8.5–by-11 (or A4) paper, resulting in the right sides of pages being cut off.
An easy solution is to install a free PDF utility such as PDF995 (www.pdf995.com), which
adds a simulated printer to your system. In the Printing Preferences section of
the PDF995 printer, set the paper dimensions to a large size, such as A3 or
tabloid. Doing this when there is no print job in progress lets you make this
the default for all future jobs.
When you want to print a Web page,
simply send it to the PDF995 printer. This creates a PDF file, which you can
then print from Adobe Acrobat Reader. When printing from Acrobat, be sure to
check the box labeled Shrink oversized pages to paper size. Acrobat will reduce
the Web page to fit your printer's paper size automatically. You'll never miss a
right-hand section of a page again—and you will be able to create PDF files
whenever you want! To use PDF995 without the display of ads requires
registration ($9.95), but try it for free first. - Conn Clissman
It's possible to design a Web page with
style sheets that will format it one way for display and another way for
printing, with each style optimized for its destination. Another common
technique is to provide a link to a printer-friendly version of a given page;
click the Print link on a PCmag.com article and you'll get the whole article on
a single page, formatted nicely for printing. But all too many pages are
designed with no thought at all for the possibility that someone might want to
print them.
PDF995 is one of many utilities, free
and otherwise, that create PDF files by means of a simulated printer driver (see
"PDFing Cheap," August 5). As noted, to turn any printable document into a
PDF file, you simply send it to the simulated printer. There's definitely extra
effort involved—in effect you have to print the page twice—so you may actually
want to try printing directly to your printer in landscape mode first. But the
result is much more useful than a printed page with the last half of each line
missing.
If you happen to have Adobe Acrobat
6.0, you can also use the Open Web Page command to convert the file to PDF. The
difference, which may or may not be an advantage, is that the page will be
captured exactly as it appears on screen. (IE tends to remove backgrounds and
change text to black to make pages print faster and more readable.) Acrobat
automatically scales pages and can even fit an entire Web page on one
sheet.
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