How Can CSS Enhance Printing Efficiency by Controlling Print Behavior?

CSS for Selective Printing

Printing extensive web pages can be cumbersome, requiring the inclusion of unnecessary elements. CSS provides a solution through its "@media print" feature. Understanding how it works can help you streamline your printing process.

Browser Support

Most modern browsers support "@media print." It's widely adopted in popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. This feature has become a reliable standard for controlling print behavior.

Displaying Specific Elements

To selectively display elements during printing, you can utilize one of two approaches:

1. Whitelisting Approach (display: block):

   • Create a CSS class (e.g., "printable").
   • Apply "display: none" to all elements within the media print query except those with the "printable" class.
   • This will ensure that only elements with the "printable" class remain visible during printing.

2. Blacklisting Approach (not):

   • Apply "display: none" to all elements within the media print query.
   • Use the "not" selector to exclude elements with the "printable" class from the "display: none" rule.
   • While this approach seems logical, it may not work in all browsers due to limitations in CSS support.

Example Code

Using the whitelisting approach:

@media print {
    * {display:none;}
    .printable, .printable > * {display:block;}
}

Hiding Elements During Browsing

To hide specific elements during browsing but display them during printing, you can use the following code:

@media print {
  .noPrint {
      display:none;
  }
}
@media screen {
   .onlyPrint {
       display: none;
   }
}

This code will hide elements with the "noPrint" class during browsing and display elements with the "onlyPrint" class during printing.

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