[GRLUG] print to file from web page inconsistent results

[Adam Tauno Williams]

On Thu, 2011-03-24 at 08:19 -0400, Eric Beversluis wrote:
> Here's something that I've wondered about for a while:
> (Using Linux and Firefox):
> I often like to use the print to file option to capture webpages as pdf
> or ps

I do the same thing.  Find a useful web-page [oh,how rare they are these
days], print to PDF into ~/Documents/Library.  Then let Tracker index
the contents of ~/Documents/Library.  Want to know something?  Right
click tracker, enter a few keywords, and BAM - Results.  Local, Fast,
Reliable, and pre-filtered [only the good stuff].

> But while everything normally works nicely, with some webpages only the
> first (print) page or so of the web page gets printed to file. What I'm
> wondering if this is just something flukey that happens (it seems
> consistent--if I try again to print that webpage I get the same result)
> or if there's something in how the webpage is coded that's causing that.
> (I'm talking about printing the actual webpage as it appears, not the
> sometimes-available 'formatted for printing' option.)
> Does anyone else have this experience or happen to know the reason why?

It does happen.  Some webpages won't print to file *or* to paper on any
OS from any browser.  Or you get varying mangled results.  I just chalk
it up to web-developers being too cutesy [they, as a breed, have a real
weakness for cutesy].  If the content is really worth it cut-n-paste
into Open Office / Libre Office almost always produces grousable
results.


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