I need to be able to print out a web page that has a wide table. When
I print this page with Internet Explorer, it cuts off the right side.
Is there any utility or any other way to provide "fit to page"
functionality in IE, similar to how it works in Mozilla? I have to use
IE for Windows. Thanks! |
Clarification of Question by
jkraft2-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 09:40 PDT
I've already tried landscape mode without margins, this particular
page is probably about 2 pages wide, so it still cuts it off. I've
also already read Microsoft's KB article 260642, in which their
helpful response is "This behavior is by design".
Some people who are trying to print this page do not have Excel, so
exporting the table to Excel wouldn't work. The ideal solution would
be some kind of add-on utility or browser plug-in that gives IE the
"fit to page" functionality it should have had in the first place.
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Request for Question Clarification by
hammer-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 10:16 PDT
JKraft2,
Can you provide a link to the web page in question, so we can look at its source?
- Hammer
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Request for Question Clarification by
hammer-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 10:29 PDT
Also, do you have control over the page, or do you have to live with
it as it currently is?
- Hammer
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Clarification of Question by
jkraft2-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 11:01 PDT
I can't provide a link since the page is on an intranet, behind a
firewall. I do have control over the page.
The main part of the page is basically a huge table, with about 30
columns. You can reproduce this yourself by creating a simple HTML
file containing a table with one row and lots of cells with the word
"Testing". IE will cut off the right side of the table if it extends
beyond the page.
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Request for Question Clarification by
sldreamer-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 12:43 PDT
Click the Properties button in the Print dialog box. Is there
anything that lets you adjust the Scaling?
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Request for Question Clarification by
feilong-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 12:53 PDT
Could you please tell us the exact printer model you use to print the page?
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Request for Question Clarification by
hammer-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 13:02 PDT
As far as I know, this can't be done. You do have some options:
1. Make another "Formatted For Print" page that has the data set up in
a narrower format.
2. Put it up as a PDF. Acrobat Reader is free and can scale pages to
fit.
- Hammer
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Clarification of Question by
jkraft2-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 13:30 PDT
There are a number of different printers that people are trying to
print this page to. The printer I am using is a HP LaserJet 2100, and
there are no options for scaling in the Print Properties dialog box.
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Clarification of Question by
jkraft2-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 13:34 PDT
I'm increasing the price of this question to $150, as it seems to be
more complicated than I originally thought. I know this can be done,
as there is a "fit-to-page" feature in Mozilla...perhaps there is a
way of adapting that code into some kind of plug-in?
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Request for Question Clarification by
feilong-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 13:49 PDT
Hi Jkraft2,
I can provide you with a direct guide on how to print "fit to page"
for the HP 2100. I intend to help you with the other printers so could
you please tell me the name of the other printers? Thanks.
-Feilong
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Clarification of Question by
jkraft2-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 14:30 PDT
This page will be viewable by a large number of people with a variety
of different printers. I have no way of knowing which printers people
are using to print this page, so as a result, solving this problem on
a printer by printer basis is not an option. (Unless you want to
provide a guide for every possible printer out there that works with a
PC.)
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Hi Jkraft2-ga,
In my experience before as a graphic artist I was able to use various
printer brands -- HP, Lexmark, Epson, Canon, etc. So far, I have not
used one that has no "fit to page" feature. I've seen your question
been locked and unlocked many times by different researchers that I
was wondering, "how hard could that be?" The solution you are seeking
is already built-in with your printer's software and you don't need
any kind of special software or any other add-on utilities nor any
kind of file format to do this. I believe that all current printer
software of any brand has this feature built-in, but the term fit to
page may come in a different form depending on the brand.
Remember this: fit to page is the same as...
zoom to page
scale to page
scale to fit
fit in paper
The terms above depends on what brand of printer you are using. This
is probably the reason why Microsoft refers to it as being "by
design".
Now, I understand that you are used to Mozilla's built-in "fit to
page" feature but unfortunately, IE doen't have it. However, do you
know that your HP LaserJet 2100's printer software has a feature
called "ZoomSmart" with which you'll be able to "fit to page" a larger
page to a smaller size paper? You can find the explanation on how to
use this feature through the link below. Simply press the "Shift" key
before clicking on a link so it will open a new window or right-click
on the link and choose "Open in New Window" for your convenience.
HP LaserJet 2100 and 1100 Product Families - Explanation of ZoomSmart
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=bpl08047&locale=en_US
Since you said that the document you want to print is wide, I suggest
you set the paper orientation to "landscape" or horizontal before
using ZoomSmart.
Just in case your printer's software doesn't have this feature, you
can download the appropriate drivers/software for your Laserjet 2100
Series Printer through the following links:
HP LaserJet 2100 Printer Drivers and Downloads
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps/Hub?h_tool=software&h_lang=en&h_cc=all&h_product=hplaserjet8887
HP LaserJet 2100m Printer Drivers and Downloads
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps/Hub?h_tool=software&h_lang=en&h_cc=all&h_product=hplaserjet8888
HP LaserJet 2100se Printer Drivers and Downloads
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps/Hub?h_tool=software&h_lang=en&h_cc=all&h_product=hplaserjet8890
HP LaserJet 2100tn Printer Drivers and Downloads
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps/Hub?h_tool=software&h_lang=en&h_cc=all&h_product=hplaserjet8889
HP LaserJet 2100xi Printer Drivers and Downloads
http://productfinder.support.hp.com/tps/Hub?h_tool=software&h_lang=en&h_cc=all&h_product=hplaserjet8891
Some printer software also has a feature called "tile page". It's
different from fit to page in that it doesn't zoom the pages for the
print output. Instead, it will print the actual size of the document
by "tiling" or using as many paper as required. fo for example, if the
document you want to print is 6 pages big (3 vertical pages on top and
3 vertical pages below), it will do this process without giving you
extra effort or any hassle in the process.
If however, you feel that the answer above has given you enough idea
on how to do this, please feel free to post any clarification you may
still have before rating this and I'll attend to you as soon as
possible. Thanks for asking.
Search strategy:
Personal knowledge + 2100 search in HP's website
Best regards,
Feilong |
Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
24 Apr 2003 19:14 PDT
Here's a workaround in case the above solution doesn't work:
1) In IE, go to "File" > "Save As..."
2) Choose "Web Page, complete (*.htm,*.html). Save this file in your
selected folder.
You can then open the htm/html file using MS word or any other program
that can open this type of file and has the fit to page option. MS
word has that "Scale to paper size" option in the Print settings,
aside from the "print to page" feature available in many printer
software.
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Request for Answer Clarification by
jkraft2-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 07:59 PDT
I checked the documentation on ZoomSmart, and it does look like that
feature would be perfect. However, my LaserJet 2100 driver does not
have that feature. The print dialog box only has the tabs General,
Options, Layout, and Paper/Quality. There is also an Advanced Options
screen, which does not have any settings for ZoomSmart.
Unfortunately, I am in a corporate managed environment, so I cannot
install new drivers for this printer.
I have already tried saving the page and opening it in Word, it does
not display correctly, it might be too complex.
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Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 08:33 PDT
Thanks for making a clarification. Your question has been researched
by a number of researchers and like them, I too haven't found a
plug-in for IE that will add the fit to page option so your option is
to rely on a workaround solution. Besides, you said that you are in a
corporate managed environment and relying on a plugin, if there is
one, would require you to make an installation. I'll try to look for
other workaround solutions to your problem. It could help me if you
can tell me what you are allowed to install and not to install in your
computer. Also, since you say you can't give us the link to the html
file, would it be possible for you to post in the Internet the html
page that you want to print? If you can, please do so I can work
better on the problem.
Meanwhile, the incorrect display of the html file in Word may be
caused by incompatible page settings. It could be that you only need
to adjust the paper size and margins in MS Word and set the headers
and footers to zero so that the page will display correctly.
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Request for Answer Clarification by
jkraft2-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 09:44 PDT
I apologize for the confusion. In our environment, we are allowed to
install traditional software programs on an individual basis, but we
are not allowed to modify the system architecture, such as network
drivers, printer drivers, etc. Printer drivers have been set up by a
centralized I.T. department and pushed out to all computers in the
organization, so we have no control over that.
If additional client-side software can provide this functionality, we
can provide a link to the install package on our internal web site (if
it must be installed explicity) or, preferably, the software would be
set up as an ActiveX control that would automatically install.
Unfortunately I am not able to post this particular HTML file, as the
content and structure of the file is confidential. You can reproduce
this problem by creating an HTML file with a table with a single row,
and about 30 cells, each containing text.
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Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 10:49 PDT
Thanks for the clarification. Please give me some time to search for a
software solution and/or another workaround solution to your problem.
I have a question some question to ask:
• What is the current OS and MS Office or MS Word version you are
using?
• Why isn't it possible for you to install Mozilla if it's a ready
made solution in the first place? I reckon that since you could use
another software to solve this problem, why can't you just use Mozilla
to print that particular page. Isn't it possible for you to coordinate
this with your I.T. department?
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Request for Answer Clarification by
jkraft2-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 11:28 PDT
We can't use Mozilla (or anything besides IE, for that matter), since
this page is part of a secure web site that uses NTLM
(challenge-response) authentication.
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Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
25 Apr 2003 22:07 PDT
Thanks for the info. Please tell me your Operating System, MS
Office/Word and IE versions so I can look for an appropriate software
solution. Thank you.
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Request for Answer Clarification by
jkraft2-ga
on
26 Apr 2003 07:12 PDT
We are using Windows 2000 SP2, IE 5.5 SP2, and Office 2000.
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Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
26 Apr 2003 10:27 PDT
Thanks for the info. I have simulated the html file as you suggested.
Each cell has the words "alphabet" inside so this is a pretty wide
page. I'm still looking for the correct software solution for you.
Please give me some time to work on this. I shall report to you
whether I found something or not.
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Clarification of Answer by
feilong-ga
on
28 Apr 2003 06:12 PDT
Hi Jkraft,
In the past few days I have dedicated my time to search for a software
solution for your problem. With the help of my coleague, techtor, we
were able to search a lot of sites in the Internet in the hope of
finding the correct software solution. Since I work more than 16 hours
a day in front of my computer as a researcher, I was able to sift
through more than a thousand links reading, downloading, and testing
hundreds of available programs. With the result of my search I can
confidently confirm the comment of my good colleague, Hammer, that no
external program exists as of now that will enable MS IE 5.5 or any
version, that will enable it to print with page scaling. This is the
limitation of this program and you can't do anything about itbecause
you are using a pseudo driver for the printer you use.
Regarding the ability of MS Word and other Office programs to open
HTML files, you are absolutely correct about the page not being
displayed properly. I think this is another limitaion of MS Office.
There are a lot of programs out there that will enable you to view
HTML files but unfortunately all of them have the same familiar print
option interface of MS IE, which means no page scaling. Aside from
Mozilla, there is only one program that will enable you to accomplish
your intended task -- Opera 7.10. It is also a web browser but, since
you can't use another browser in your system, you can install it and
make it function simply as an HTML viewer -- with the fit to page
printing function of course. Compared to Mozilla which is 11Mb (and
more) in size, Opera has a small version which is just enough to let
you print fit to page. Remember, you don't need to make this version
of Opera as a browser. Since you are going to save the page first as a
separate HTML file, there's no need for Opera to be declared as a web
browser and thus, won't be affected by the security of your corporate
environment. You just need this as an HTML viewer. I've tested this
and it worked perfectly with my simulated 30-column test page that you
suggested. My settings were 1.5 cm margin all around, shrunk to 50% of
its original page size. Here's what you should do:
1) Save the page in question as an HTML file.
2) Download the small version of Opera here:
Opera 7.10
http://www.opera.com/download/index.dml?opsys=Windows&lng=en&platform=Windows
Select "Non-Java 3.2 MB" and "Download Now". Install the software
after download. It will create a shortcut on your desktop.
3) Since Opera is originally a browser, it will ask you if you want it
to be the default browser once you click on the link. Check "Do not
show this dialog again", and click "No".
4) Another pop-up will appear. Again, check "Do not show this dialog
again", choose "Start with no pages", and click "Start". The program
will open.
5) Press Ctrl+O or go open the File through the File menu.
6) Go to File > print setup. Choose your printer, paper sizen and page
orientation. I suggest you use "Landscape".
7) After that, go to File > Print options. Check "Print page
background" in case the cells or background of the table is colored.
You can correct color grayscaling if you have that option available in
your printer software settings.
8) Scale print to is the size you want the table to fit in your paper.
I used 50% for my simulated table that I printed on an 8.5 x 11 paper.
So the scaling you'll declare depends on the size of the paper and the
size of the table that you want to print. I guess at this point, trial
and error is necessary although Opera has that Print preview option.
The page may be displayed innacurately in print preview that's why I'm
saying that trial and error is necessary. To escape from print
preview, just click on the small printer icon before the address bar.
9) Once you set correctly set the options, including the margins, you
can now print the page.
The other option you have is one that has been suggested by Hammer --
convert the page to PDF. You will need a specialized software to do
this. You can download this kind of software through this link:
ActivePDF.com
Active PDF - HTML to PDF on the fly
http://www.activepdf.com/AdTracking/overture/html$pdf.asp
Or find other similar programs through this link:
HTML to PDF Converters
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22html+to+pdf%22+free+download+%22windows+2000%22
Once converted, you can use the free Adobe Acrobat reader which you
can download here:
Adobe Systems Incorporated - Adobe.com
Download Adobe Acrobat Reader
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
You can then print the PDF file using the page scaling option of
Acrobat Reader.
Just a suggestion, so that other users won't need to download Opera,
is to update the page in question by changing it to PDF file. That
way, anybody can just use Adobe Acrobat to print the page.
With regards to other workaround or other software solutions, believe
me I tried, but Opera is the only program that worked perfectly and
hopefully will work fine in your corporate environment. Other than
that, I believe there's no other convenient solution -- unless of
course you use other programs thatcan open the file and print it fit
to page.
Search strategies:
"fit to page" download "internet explorer"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22fit+to+page%22+download+%22internet+explorer%22&num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&start=100&sa=N
"html viewer" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22html+viewer%22+download
"print add-in" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22print+add-in%22+download
"fit to page" "add-in" download
://www.google.com/search?q=%22fit+to+page%22+%22add-in%22+download&cat=&hl=en
"fit to page" "activex" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22fit+to+page%22+%22activex%22+download
"fit to page" download
://www.google.com/search?q=%22fit+to+page%22+download&sa=Google+Search&cat=&hl=en
"shrink to page" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22shrink+to+page%22+download
"virtual printer" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22virtual+printer%22+download
"internet explorer" printing "add-on" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22internet+explorer%22+printing+%22add-on%22+download
"internet explorer" "fit to page" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22internet+explorer%22+%22fit+to+page%22+download
"scale to page" download
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22scale+to+page%22+download
"html to pdf" free download "windows 2000"
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22html+to+pdf%22+free+download+%22windows+2000%22
Thorough search of Download.com and other download sites for any
program that will enable fit to page capability for IE and other
programs with fit to page capability hor html documents - negative
result
Best regards,
Feilong
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