iPrintPage Help

iPrintPage is a utility that allows printing in text mode. It's especially useful for printing on continuos paper on Dot Matrix Printers. Also, it converts HTML to plain text, preserving the formatting as much as possible (it achieves this by using the third party w3m text browser). This allows easy printing of HTML reports (or snippets of them) loaded in your browser (i.e. Safari, Firefox).


Advantages of printing in text mode on Dot Matrix Printers:

  • Faster printing. You can select the print speed option on printer's control panel (i.e. Epson FX 890 has the following options: NLQ, Draft, High Speed Draft, Ultra Speed Draft).
  • Always legible printing using the integrated printer's font. You can select the font size (or pitch) on printer's control panel.
  • A gapless printing on continuos paper. Also, printing will stop immediately after the last line. Optionally, iPrintPage can feed the paper forward to the tear-off position. This feature will reduce paper waste dramatically.

Current disadvantages of printing in text mode:

  • The whole text is printed with a constant font and size. This means that original font properties are not preserved.
  • HTML to text conversion excludes images. You may always print in Graphics mode if you want to preserve images or exact formatting.
  • HTML to text conversion has very limited CSS support.

How to use iPrintPage?

  • You can navigate Safari to an HTML report that you want to print. Start iPrintPage (if it's already started, use the "Get (Cmd+R)" function). Safari's topmost page will appear in iPrintPage ready for printing (or file saving).
  • Alternatively, in Safari or Firefox, you can navigate to an HTML report. Then copy some snippet or the whole web page (Cmd+A, Cmd+C). In iPrintPage use the "Paste (Cmd+V)" function.
  • You may edit the text or insert another snippet using Cmd+L Paste command. To select a vertical block of text (such as a column), hold the Option key then select the text.
  • Choose document and printer encodings as well as Characters Per Line (cpl) and End Lines options. iPrintPage will save these options for the next usage.
  • Finally, select a printer and use the "Print (Cmd+P)" function. You can turn off "Text mode" option if you want to print on Non-Dot Matrix Printers or export to PDF.
  • If you find iPrintPage useful, please consider making a donation.


Here is detailed explanation of all functions:

  • Print (Cmd+P) - use this function to start printing. In Text mode printing will start immediately, without additional dialogs.
  • Text mode - If on, print job is send to selected printer as plain text. This is useful for printing on continuos paper on Dot Matrix Printers.
    If off, printer will print in Graphics mode that works on all printers, but without the advantages that text mode provides. Also, in Graphics mode you can export to PDF.
  • Characters Per Line (cpl) - this value depends on printer's model (i.e. 80 or 136 columns) and printer's PITCH option (cpi) selected on printer's control panel:
    80 col.
    Printer    		136 col.
    Printer
    cplcpi
    8010
    9612
    12015
    13717
    16020
    cplcpi
    13610
    16312
    20415
    23317
    27220
  • End Lines - If you want to feed the paper forward to tear-off position, enter the number of blank lines (i.e. 14) that will be added at the end or 0 if you don't want to feed the paper forward.
  • Printer encoding - Select printer's encoding. If you print Non-ASCII characters (i.e. Cyrillic CP1251), you need to set that encoding in your printer as well. Search printer's manual for a "Character table" option in "Changing the Printer's Default Settings" chapter.
  • Document encoding - Select document's encoding. This is the encoding of the original HTML page (i.e. UTF-8).
  • Paste (Cmd+V) - You may copy some part of a web page in your browser (i.e. Firefox, Safari) and then use this function to convert the snippet to plain text. Operation replaces any existing text in the view. If you want to paste without replacing then use Cmd+L.
  • Get (Cmd+R) - Safari's topmost web page will appear converted in plain text with preserved formatting. Operation replaces any existing text in the view.