Thread: Page printing in pdf format

Hi

I am involved in building a site where one of the requirements will be an ability for a visitor to print off some of the information pages. I have scoured the forums on this and there seems to be only two options mentioned, either making the page "printer friendly" or embedding a PDF document on the required pages. The first option limits the amount of text and having seen some examples of pdf embedded pages I feel, in my case, they would look out of place or balance with the layout of the rest of the site

I have seen on other sites a "pdf Button" which allows a visitor to print off the page by this method, I had on a site which used joomla 1.5. So I am wondering if a way around this is to do the following:-

1. Create a normal page on the site which is what the visitor will see.
2. Create a second identical page in pdf format.
3. Publish both pages on the site, the first as www.site.com/page.html
and the second a www.site.com/pagepdf.html with a link from a pdf button on the first page to the pdf page.

As the pdf page will not be visible unless linked to by the link in the button it will not normally appear in the site and using this, if it is an option, would seem to enable pages of more than one webpage to be printed off at the same time.

I would appreciate any observations on this and any other suggestions if this idea will not work in BV.

Thanks

Adrian

I'm not sure I really know what you mean, but if you name the second page www.site.com/page.pdf, upload it in cPanel to your public folder and put a link to it on your .html page, when your reader clicks on the button, the pdf page will download on his computer. If this is not what you mean, please disregard my answer.

Hi Adrian,

Try to make things as simple as possible.

Pdf is not everybody's cup of tea and I for one dont enjoy Pdf tea.

Make your webpage as long as you want it to be and make it printer friendly.

Give the reader another option of downloading a zip file whiich is much faster and simpler to excute.

Hi Dovid.....yes you did understand that was what I wanted to do and I am happy to say it works fine. I just tested it out with a page on my own site and using a pdf icon linked to an uploaded pdf printable copy of the page it works fine. Thanks. I wasn't sure if just having a pdf extension to the page was correct or not.

Zuriatman thanks also for the suggestions but there is a reason for using pdf in this case so that what is written, if downloaded, cannot be changed. We know there are programmes to convert pdf into word, to edit, but that signifies immediately that the information provided has been altered from the original. The pdf will also enable us to condense information which may be spread over 2 or 3 pages on the site to be available in one download rather than 2 or 3 and will keep the web pages shorter and quicker to download.