JavaScript provides a convenient way to generate a physical copy of a document. You can print your web page just by calling a method globally available in the window object.
There is also a way to print a specific part of your webpage. You can extract the necessary portion and get the print of it.
In this tutorial, we'll explore various techniques for printing a webpage or specific sections using JavaScript. You can do it by clicking on a button.
But that's not all. We'll also learn how to customize the print output with CSS styling to ensure a professional look and feel.
Printing a web page or a specific part of a web page can be accomplished by calling the window.print() method in JavaScript. This method opens a print dialog box where users can select different options to generate a printed copy of the content easily.
How to Print Entire HTML Web Page Using JavaScript
Printing an entire webpage using JavaScript is a straightforward process. All you need to do is call the print() method on the window object.
This method is available in all modern browsers and is specifically designed to print the current window's contents.
<button id="btn">Print Page</button>
I have a button on my page. It will print the page whenever I click this button. For that, you need to set up a click event listener on this HTML button element.
const btn = document.getElementById('btn')
btn.addEventListener('click', () => {
window.print() // Print the entire webpage
})
Here, I am listening to the click event on this button. If you click this button, it will execute the callback function which calls the window.print() method.
It will open a print dialog box, allowing you to select appropriate options for printing the current document.
Also Read: Mastering JavaScript Media Queries For Responsive Web Design
How to Print a Specific Part of a Web Page in JavaScript
So far you have seen the technique to print a full page. Often we want to print part of a page using JavaScript. You can get it using this window.print() method.
Printing a specific section of a page is a little complex. But don't worry I will explain each step in detail so that you understand the process.
Step 1: I am selecting the button element that will trigger the click event. I am also selecting the section that I want to print and store in the sectionToPrint variable.
const btn = document.getElementById('btn')
const sectionToPrint = document.getElementById('section-to-print')
btn.addEventListener('click', () => {
// Select and print a section of a webpage here
}
Step 2: Inside the event callback function, open a new browser window by calling the window.open() method. I am not specifying any URL, so it will open a blank page.
The second parameter of this method sets the name of the new window to "Print Window". The printWindow variable now holds a reference to this new window.
// Create a new window with only the section to print
const printWindow = window.open('', 'Print Window')
Step 3: As you already know, it will open a black window. Therefore, you need to write an HTML markup for this printWindow window using the printWindow.document.write() method.
First, add different HTML tags like html, head, title, body etc. You also have to link an external CSS stylesheet using the link tag. Because this window won't have any style by default.
printWindow.document.write('<html><head><title>Print Section</title>')
// Link to the CSS stylesheet
printWindow.document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" href="./print.css" type="text/css" />')
printWindow.document.write('</head><body>')
Step 4: Add the section you want to print to the body of this new window. You can get the HTML content of that section from the innerHTML property.
I will also add a button element with an ID print-btn to this window. Because I will trigger a click event to print my printWindow window by clicking this button.
// Add the section you want to print
printWindow.document.write(sectionToPrint.innerHTML)
// Add a button to the new window and listen for the click event
printWindow.document.write('<button id="print-btn">Print this section</button>')
Step 5: I am selecting this button using its ID and listen to the click event. When I click this button, the event callback function will execute.
The function removes that button using the remove() method. Because I don't want to keep it in my print. Then it will call the print() method on the printWindow object.
This method will open the print dialog box to select options and print it. Finally, you will close this printWindow window by calling printWindow.close() method.
const printBtn = printWindow.document.getElementById('print-btn')
printBtn.addEventListener('click', () => {
// Remove the print button
printBtn.remove()
// Print the new window
printWindow.print()
printWindow.close()
})
By following these 5 steps, you can print any section of your webpage. You just have to open a new window with that section and add necessary elements like buttons, CSS styles, etc.
Here is the complete code:
const btn = document.getElementById('btn')
const sectionToPrint = document.getElementById('section-to-print')
btn.addEventListener('click', () => {
// Create a new window with only the section to print
var printWindow = window.open('', 'Print Window')
printWindow.document.write('<html><head><title>Print Section</title>')
// Link to the CSS stylesheet
printWindow.document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" href="./print.css" type="text/css" />')
printWindow.document.write('</head><body>')
// Add the section you want to print
printWindow.document.write(sectionToPrint.innerHTML)
// Add a button to the new window and listen for the click event
printWindow.document.write( '<button id="print-btn">Print this section</button>')
const printBtn = printWindow.document.getElementById('print-btn')
printBtn.addEventListener('click', function () {
// Remove the print button
printBtn.remove()
// Print the new window
printWindow.print()
printWindow.close()
})
printWindow.document.write('</body></html>')
})
Also Read: How to Get Screen Size/Browser Window Size With JavaScript
Conclusion
Printing web pages or sections of them using JavaScript can be a useful feature for a variety of applications. You can enhance the user experience and provide your users the ability to print your content.
Using the window.print() method, you can quickly and easily print the entire web page. To print a specific section of a web page, create a new window with that desired content.
This also allows you to customize the styles, remove unnecessary elements, and ensure that the content is being printed exactly as you want.
