The hard facts about hard copy
Regardless of whether you believe that one day we'll all have PDAs that will do away with the need for paper, right now, the printed article is still of paramount importance to web users. E-commerce sites regularly tell you to print out your invoice record, cookery sites let you print recipes for use in the Kitchen (still, a largely PC-free zone in most households) and travel sites require that you print tickets and itineraries. However, printing seems almost an afterthought on most web sites, even though it may be the visitors' only permanent reminder of your company or brand. Still think print is dead?
The way in which the pages of a web site are printed is often overlooked. This is an important issue, as web pages are frequently printed for future reference, comparison with other pages, and so that they can be taken away from the home or office. Often this will be a permanent record of the site long after is has been visited, and so it is important that this lasting impression is a good one.
When printing a web page, a browser will render (draw) it very differently from when it is on the screen. Any background colour or image is not printed, and any text will be printed in black. This is to ensure that the page is readable when printed. This however, can dramatically change the way a printed page looks. Also, although most pages appear on screen designed to an 800 pixel width, browsers will print the page at around a 700 pixel width. The effect of this is that if a page has a wide graphical header, footer or image, it can mean the part of the right hand side of the page is not printed.
Some graphics can also print differently. Where light images with a transparent portion are placed on a dark background, the background does not print. This means that the image is printed as a light colour (or white) on a white background, either causing it to disappear completely, or to appear in a ragged outline form.
Also, if an image is not present on the page, some browsers will render it invisibly on the screen, but as a bordered box when printed. This is a technical error as the image should be present.
Thought should also be given as to what should be printed on a web page. Whilst the navigation of a web site and information commonly included in page footers is important on screen, it is usually redundant when printed. If this is removed then the printed page not only looks much better, but is much more readable as it will conform to the norms of print, rather than the norms of the web.
There are three approaches to overcoming these limitations. An alternative, printable, page can be produced for all pages on the site. This is generally not recommended as it can require additional work to develop and maintain the site, and some users will just print the web page directly anyway without clicking on the 'printer friendly' link. A much better option is to use CSS (style sheets) to modify the way a page prints. With some care in the initial design and creation of the page, this can overcome all the issues described above. The final alternative is to provide a PDF (portable document file) for download. This will give a very good print quality with full control over the design of the page. Since this is a separate download, it should be used only where information is highly likely to be printed and is graphical or tabular in nature. Examples of this would be maps, charts, reports and complex diagrams.
Good page titles are also important, as these are printed at the top of the page and are much more evident than when displayed in the title of the browser window on screen.
To talk to a new media company that doesn't disregard old media call experience engine on 01992 500990 or e-mail us.
