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Why Can't Firefox Properly Print Articles from Support.Mozilla.Org?

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Printing your Web pages doesn't work right. When I use Firefox "Quantum" to print articles from support.mozilla.org (e.g., "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-older-version-of-firefox"), it usually cuts off lines at the bottom of each page. The settings I'm using are "Shrink to Fit," which appears necessary, and either "Portrait" or "Landscape" with an HP printer in PCL6 under Windows 7 (x64).

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but it does seem that your own browser should be able to print your own Web pages correctly! -- jclarkw

Printing your Web pages doesn't work right. When I use Firefox "Quantum" to print articles from support.mozilla.org (e.g., "https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/install-older-version-of-firefox"), it usually cuts off lines at the bottom of each page. The settings I'm using are "Shrink to Fit," which appears necessary, and either "Portrait" or "Landscape" with an HP printer in PCL6 under Windows 7 (x64). Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but it does seem that your own browser should be able to print your own Web pages correctly! -- jclarkw

All Replies (8)

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Does nobody else have this problem? I have to copy the part of the Web page that I want and paste it (HTML) into MSWord before I can print it correctly. -- jclarkw

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Mkll said

Hello, try this add-on: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/print-edit-we/

Mkll -- This add-on certainly looks useful, but it doesn't really address my question. I'm not trying to edit the page before printing. I just want to print what shows up on the screen. Why won't Firefox correctly print Mozilla's own Web pages? Is this a design problem in Firefox or in Mozilla's Web pages (in which case you should fix it)? Or is there some setting that I need to change? -- jclarkw

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I suspect the AMO pages weren't created with printing to paper in mind. There is no @media=print css file which web pages usually use to format the page for printing to paper. Search the Source Code to see the lack of a css file for "print" formatting.

And Firefox ESR 38.5.0 shows the same very truncated Print Preview (basically nothing at all) for - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ - as Firefox 57 does.

And Print Preview in Google Chrome shows basically the same limited version of the "screen" view of that page.

IMO, it's the way the web site is made, or not made for being printed.

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the-edmeister said

IMO, it's the way the web site is made, or not made for being printed.

Thanks -- This helps a lot! I can't really say that it solved my problem, because I still can't print the page, but at least it's a useful explanation.

A lot of Web sites, even those where you would expect people to need a printed copy of instructions to work from, seem to have the same problem. And a lot of other people seem to prefer reading from the screen over paper these days -- not me. Fortunately for me, copying them into MSWord usually solves the problem, if tediously. Go figure... -- jclarkw

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If you gotta have a copy of a web page that won't print correctly or completely you can take a screenshot thru the operating system or by using a Firefox screenshot extension that can capture the entire webpage - the whole page, not just what's showing on the monitor with an OS "print screen" process.

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the-edmeister said

...a Firefox screenshot extension that can capture the entire webpage - the whole page, not just what's showing on the monitor with an OS "print screen" process.

Great! Another useful trick that I didn't know about. Thanks again!

I see there are lots of screen-shot extensions available. Any particular preference for this capability? -- jclarwk

Modified by jclarkw

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Sorry, I haven't looked for a screenshot extension or application since the last century. I have been using Parsons Screen Shot program since 1999 - paid like $50 for it - when I was using Win98. It has continued working thru Windows 2000, WinXP, and now on Windows 7. And I have never really needed a screenshot of a whole webpage, although do I recall a few times years back where I did a paste-up multiple screenshots, like a centerfold from a magazine - if you get my drift.

Quick search for AMO for Fx57 extensions came up with this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot/ User reviews don't look good though: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot/reviews/ But the first one is from a dunderhead who misused the reviews process to lodge an unrelated complaint about the new WE version not being backwards compatible, when the older versions of that extension are still available here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fireshot/versions/ A real dumb-ass, as Red Foreman would say!