Printer Friendly Web Pages
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With most web users preferring to take prints of the pages they read, the importance of creating printer friendly web pages is being recognized. Printable web pages make it possible for online users to read the information off line on their convenience. Quite often, online users have difficulty in getting print friendly web pages as the page copy tends to get cropped out. With a printer friendly web page, this would not happen. If the web page is not a printer friendly web page, the copy will not fit well on the printed page.
Tips on how to create printer friendly web pages:
Limit Web Pages
It is vital to limit one’s web pages to a width spanning 600 pixels. This is because a great majority of online web users have 800x600 or higher screen resolutions. Another option to create printer friendly web pages is to precisely indicate the page width in terms of percentage, namely 100%. The advantage is that then the web page would simply adapt to the width of the user’s printer and not crop off the important parts of the copy.
Create Link
A link may be created to a printer-friendly web page version. To make a web page printer friendly in this context, the page width must be in percentage. The document may comprise only text that would be left justified for reading. On the top left corner, a hyperlink to the homepage must be provided to let visitors revert to the website after they have printed the required web pages. The websites original page must have a link pointing to the printer-friendly page placed visibly. The current standard practice is to provide a text link right near to a printer like icon.
Small graphics
To make print friendly web pages, it is important to ensure that the graphics are small. Over-sized graphics make the pages load slowly and may turn away online users to other sites. Therefore, it is best to ensure that graphics are not more than 10-12KB per image.
Avoid ‘Blinking’ Graphics
For ensuring that you have printer friendly web pages, it is best to avoid graphics that rotate, blink or flash on the web page because online users find it extremely disturbing and even annoying. Distracting blinking graphics can actually persuade the browsers to physically cover up flashing graphics so that they can read the rest of the page and finally move on to another sight friendly website.
Insert Three Column Standard Layouts
Three column layouts are popular as they work for readers in terms of navigation and visual ease. A user friendly balanced layout is far better than using fancy, cute layouts.
Minimize number of windows
For printer friendly web pages, it is necessary to minimize the number of windows that a user can open at the same time. That is, there should not be continuous opening of windows at the same time. The online web resources should also not cause several windows to stay open at the same time.
Fonts for printer friendly web page
Last but not the least, to ensure that the site has printer friendly web page that are easy to read, it is best to use standard fonts like Geneva, Verdana, Arial or Helvetica than fancier fonts like Sans-serif. This is because fancy fonts can be easier to read on the computer but not when it is printed.
By following these tips to make print friendly web page, it would be possible for you to make your pages look great on the monitor and also in print.
