Printing a Page

Tips on printing web pages

When printing pages from this web site you should always use the “Print Preview” feature of your browser before printing. The following are options that you should consider. None of the options or browsers will print the pages as you see them in your browser

"Print Background" option
If you wish to print any page with the background texture you should enable the “print background” in your browser. The results will be different whether you use a laser or an ink jet printer. All of the background will print with the ink jet printer (and consume a lot of ink), but the laser printer may only shade the flat background, not the parchment backgrounds.
If the background option is not enabled, the main banner photo on the front page will print, but no banner photos will be printed on the sub-pages unless that option is enabled.

In IE6 it is under "Tools / Internet Options / Advanced/printing".
In Opera it is under "File / Print options".
In Firefox it is under "File / Page Setup / Format & Options".

“Landscape/Portrait” option
When printing a page, set the Landscape mode, otherwise the right side of the pages will be truncated. In IE6 there seems to be no way to get the full page, a slight amount of the right side will be truncated. See below for Firefox and Opera. Changing the scale (eg. 75%) will only change how you see the preview, not the final result.

In IE6 it is under “Files / Page Setup”
In Opera is is under “File / Print Options”
In Firefox it is under “File / Page Setup”

“Fit to Page” option
Only Firefox and Opera have this option, which will squeeze the page to fit in portrait mode, but the pages will look better in landscape mode. Normal text pages all will size properly on a printer without this option enabled.

In IE6 there is no option.
In Opera is is under “File / Print Options”
In Firefox it is under “File / Page Setup”

Printing the Gazette
If you are printing the Gazette, you will get better results with the “Portrait mode” page orientation. Do not use the “Print Background” option if you use an ink jet printer. You will just waste ink. The columns on each printed page will run from one page to the next, as if the Gazette was one long vertical sheet of paper. My suggestion, just cut the bottom margins and tape the pages into one long newsletter. The columns will be of various lengths according to your browser and may not line up like the web page. Opera appears to be the most faithful.

Printing the Calendar
Printing the calendar requires previewing the pages before printing. Some months will require two vertical pages. Each browser is a little different on printing tables.

For IE6, in print preview the page will usually default to 75%. Change this to 100% before printing. The day borders will print on your calendar page.

For Firefox, go to print preview. Once in “Print Preview”, set the Scale menu to “Shrink to Fit “. Alternately you may change the size to the largest size that has all the text properly spaced on the page. This probably will be 90%. The day borders may be too faint to print. Note the day columns will not be of equal width.

For Opera, go to print options and check the “Fit to Paper Width” and/or set the Scale to 80%. Go to print preview (shift-p) and check that the formating is OK. The day borders will print on your calendar page.
Note: My HP 720C deskjet printed the calendar properly, but a Brothers laser printer did not. Sometimes a page failed to complete and started feeding blank sheets of paper, so test your printer if using Opera 9. If trying to stop a laser printer from feeding blank sheets, do not turn the printer off. Pull out the page tray. Wait until the printer "out of paper" comes on, then turn off the printer to clear the memory. That way the printer will properly feed the current page from the printer.