Websites Should Be Printable

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Many developers argue that websites presenting information — from blogs and recipes to shopping carts, tickets and legal pages — should render cleanly when printed or saved to PDF, both for offline reading and for reliable record‑keeping. Others counter that printing is increasingly rare, poorly supported by modern OSes and browsers, environmentally questionable, and technically fiddly due to weak CSS print support and inconsistent pagination. A recurring theme is that basic print stylesheets are relatively cheap to add, improve accessibility and archival use (including e‑ink and “print to PDF”), and can sometimes replace bespoke PDF generation, even if not every highly interactive “web app” needs a polished print output.

Use cases and motivations for printing

  • Many commenters still print or “print to PDF” for: careful reading, annotation, side‑by‑side comparisons (cars, properties), TTRPG materials, sewing patterns, resumes, tickets, labels, legal/bureaucratic documents, signatures, and offline reading on trips.
  • Printing (or PDFs) is used for durable records: purchase confirmations, bills, banking, recipes, and policies/ToS for future disputes.
  • Some see printing as an accessibility aid: easier on tired eyes, better for dyslexia, spatial memory, and distraction‑free deep reading with highlighters and pens.

Skepticism about printing

  • Several rarely or never print, viewing it as outdated or environmentally wasteful, especially when content can be read on devices or via outsourced print shops.
  • Some argue only certain content should be printable (puzzles, tickets, documents with legal/financial relevance), not marketing pages or highly visual experiences.
  • Others emphasize that “printing” often really means exporting to PDF/ePub rather than paper.

Arguments for printable websites

  • Making sites basically printable with CSS (@media print) is described as easy if planned early: hide navigation/ads, simplify layout, tweak colors, add page breaks.
  • Good print styles can replace bespoke PDF generation for invoices, tickets, etc., and delight users who test printing demos.
  • Printability is tied to better structure and usability, and is important where people still rely on paper workflows (schools, audits, meetings, high‑stakes purchases).

Technical obstacles and browser issues

  • Printing often breaks due to: infinite scroll, scrollable sub‑panes, vh layouts, huge images, bad page breaks, missing backgrounds, or mangled React/SPA output.
  • Browser print engines are inconsistent and under‑maintained; some note better luck with certain browsers, but overall printing is described as buggy and tedious to debug.
  • Advanced print CSS (paged media, fragmentation) exists but support is partial; projects like Paged.js and various tools/extensions (reader modes, PrintFriendly, SingleFile, markdown/epub flows) are used to work around poor native printing.

Broader design and philosophy

  • Some see HTML as an inherently multi‑target format that should render well to paper, screen, voice, braille, etc.
  • Others argue the web’s primary purpose is interactive, navigable content, and that separate formats (LaTeX/PDF) are more appropriate for high‑quality print.
  • Consensus leans toward: not all sites, but many information‑heavy and transactional sites should at least print “not horribly.”