Printing the web: making webpages look good on paper – Piccalilli

June 19, 2025

Printing the web: making webpages look good on paper" in large bold text. At the bottom left, it says "Piccalilli" and "From set.studio", and at the bottom right, the author "Declan Chidlow" and the date "05 June 2025" are listed. A bold yellow horizontal line separates the title from the footer information.

A huge part of building for the web is making experiences responsive. Usually, we think of responsive design in terms of making sites adapt to different viewport sizes, but what about being responsive to different mediums too?

Buried away within CSS lies potential for transforming a jumbled, ink-draining mess into a clean, sleek, readable document. But much like writing good error messages, print stylesheets are frequently a neglected afterthought, leading to frustrated users and wasted resources.

Source: Printing the web: making webpages look good on paper – Piccalilli

From just a bout the beginning CSS has supported styles for the media type of print, though browser support was at best patchy. Modern browsers though support print well (if not perfectly) and it’s something I’ve used for decades when create printed material for my in person workshops, and in situations where folks still prefer or require PDFs.

Here’s a great guide to get the most from print CSS.