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Thursday 20 February 2014

http://goo.gl/X7TQN7 Print Edit add-on Mozilla Firefox

Print Edit  add-on  Mozilla Firefox

Adds private tabs.
Print Edit allows editing of the web page content while in Print Preview mode. Editing the web page prior to printing can compact the layout and remove unwanted content such as adverts, sidebars and blank pages.

In Print Edit mode, any of the displayed content elements can be formatted, hidden or deleted, prior to printing in Print Preview mode. It is possible to switch repeatedly between Print Edit mode and Print Preview mode.

Any "active" elements (such as animated graphics) are disabled on first entry into Print Edit mode, and are shown as grey vertically striped blocks.

CSS Print Stylesheets are applied on first entry into Print Edit mode, so that the editable page looks similar to the print pages displayed in Print Preview mode. CSS Print Stylesheets can be removed, using the Web Style feature, so that both the editable page and the print pages looks similar to the web page displayed in normal browsing mode.

Normally, editing changes are applied to whole elements and where appropriate to their nested sub-elements. However, using the Text Pieces feature, it is possible for individual pieces of text within elements to be hidden, deleted or formatted, without affecting any nested sub-elements.

Print Edit now includes a feature to fix the pagination problems (blank pages and truncated pages) that exist in Firefox's print and print preview functionality. This feature can be used even if web page editing is not required.

GETTING STARTED

To get started with Print Edit, try the following steps:
  1. Start Firefox and load the web page to be edited into a tab as normal.
  2. If the Firefox main menu bar is visible, select File and then select Print Edit. Otherwise, click the orange Firefox button, select Print and then select Print Edit. The print edit toolbar will be displayed at the top of the window with the web page to be edited beneath.
  3. Move the mouse over the web page contents and a red box will highlight the element that the mouse is over. Click to select the highlighted element. Move the mouse to highlight another element and click to select that element.
  4. Click the Delete button on the toolbar and the two selected elements will be deleted. Click the Undo button to restore the deleted elements
  5. Click the Delete Except button on the toolbar, then select Restricted, and everything except the two selected elements will be deleted.
  6. Click the Preview button to see how the page will look when printed. Click the Print button to print the edited web page.
  7. Click the Edit button to return to print edit mode and continue editing the web page. Click the Close button to end editing and return to normal browsing mode.
THINGS TO TRY

A common requirement is to print one block of text or one section of a document. The simplest way to do this is to select the block of text or the section, then click on Delete Except, and then click on Restricted. To see if Without Float or Unrestricted would give better results, click on Undo, then click on Delete Except again, and then click onWithout Float or Unrestricted

Another common requirement is to expand text blocks to fill the full width of the page. The simplest way to do this is to select the whole page, then click on Format, then click on Fit to Content, then tick Apply to sub-elements, and then click on OK.

LATEST UPDATES

The important changes in Print Edit 11.0 are:

    • Compatible with new Firefox Australis user interface.
    • Works with <frameset> and <frames> tags (pre HTML 5) that are used on older websites.
    • Hold down Alt key when starting drag capture select to allow capture outside starting <frame>/<iframe>.
    • Save As command now works with Firefox 27.0 and later.
    • Note: Save As command will not work with UnHMT 6.5.* (but does work with UnMHT 6.3.3, 6.4.5 and 7.0.0b1).
    • Access keys for SelectDelete Except and Format buttons now work.
    • Restrict to: menulist in Format panel no longer shows ununecessary vertical scroll bar.
    • Selecting Print Edit or Print Preview from menu when in print edit mode now works correctly.
    • Updated language translations.
    • Updated to be compatible with Firefox 29.*.

The important changes in Print Edit 11.2 are:

    • Fix Pagination feature fixes Firefox print preview pagination problems (blank/truncated pages).
    • Fix Pagination menu item added to Select menu.
    • Updated language translations (will need further updating).

USER REFERENCE

Initiating Print Edit

Print Edit is initiated from Print Preview by clicking on the Edit button next to the Close button on the toolbar.

Alternatively, Print Edit can be initiated from the Print Edit button drop-down menu on the main toolbar, or from the File menu on the main menu bar, or from the Print... submenu on the app menu, or from the Print... submenu on the context menu (after right-clicking the web page).

The Print Edit button can be added to the main toolbar by right-clicking the toolbar and selecting Customize. The default action for the Print Edit button can be changed.

Mode Buttons

There are three mode change buttons:
    • Edit - enters Print Edit mode from Print Preview mode.
    • Preview - exits Print Edit mode and returns to Print Preview mode.
    • Close - exits Print Edit mode and returns to normal browsing mode.

Feature Buttons

There are two feature toggle buttons:
    • Text Pieces - allows selection and editing of individual pieces of text.
    • Web Style - alternately removes or applies CSS Print Stylesheets.

When the Text Pieces feature is toggled off, any individual pieces of text that have been edited will be remain selectable and editable.

There are options to enable these features of first entry into Print Edit mode.

Edit Buttons

There are nine edit command buttons:
    • Select - selects all elements or all graphic elements.
    • Deselect - deselects all currently selected elements.
    • Hide - hides the currently selected elements (will not affect the position of other elements).
    • Delete - deletes the currently selected elements (will affect the position of other elements).
    • Hide Except - hides all elements except those currently selected.
    • Delete Except - deletes all elements except those currently selected.
    • Format - formats the currently selected elements (may affect the position of other elements).
    • Undo - undoes the affect of the last edit command.
    • Undo All - undoes the affect of all previous edit commands.

The Select and Deselect commands are mutually exclusive. The Select button is displayed when no elements are selected and has a drop-down menu with four items: Select AllSelect GraphicsSelect Again and Fix Pagination. TheDeselect button is displayed when one or more elements are selected. 

The Delete Except command has a drop-down menu with three menu items:
    • Restricted - retains position and size restrictions from higher level elements.
    • Without Float - retains position and size restrictions but removes float from higher level elements.
    • Unrestrictedt - removes position and size restrictions and removes float from higher level elements.

The Hide command can use either of two techniques to hide elements. Using the normal technique, elements cannot be selected after being hidden. Using the alternative technique, elements can still be selected after being hidden, but may not always be fully hidden.

The Undo command normally reinstates the select boxes that were displayed prior to the 'undone' command, but this behaviour can be turned off.

Other Buttons

There are two other buttons:
    • Save As - saves the edited web page as a file (see Saving Edited Pages below).
    • Options - shows the Print Edit Options dialog box (see Options below).

Keyboard Shortcuts

Four of the edit command buttons have keyboard shortcuts:
    • Deselect - Return key.
    • Hide - Insert key.
    • Delete - Delete key.
    • Undo - Backspace key.

Fixing Firefox's Print Preview Pagination Problems

Firefox's print preview and print functionality has several long standing problems that cause unwanted blank pages and truncated pages. In most cases, it is possible to fix these problems in Print Edit mode by selecting Fix Paginationfrom the Select button menu.

Applying Format Properties and Using Quick Styles

The Format command allows up to twenty-four format properties to be applied to the selected elements. These format properties affect both the layout of the content and its appearance, and can be used to reduce the space that the content occupies on the printed page and to improve its readability. The format properties correspond to similarly named CSS properties (Table Border corresponds to border-collapse). The Format popup panel can be dragged to a new position so that it doesn't obscure important parts of the web page.

The format properties can be applied individually by ticking the checkboxes in the Properties section, or in groups by using the buttons in the Quick Styles section. The values of some format properties can be changed by clicking on the small arrow buttons next to the property name. The Width: auto and Height: auto properties also remove any corresponding min/max width and height properties. The Properties section can be shown or hidden by clicking the "chevron" button.

Each Quick Style button applies several format properties and the currently active Quick Style buttons will be colored green. If any of the format properties applied by an active Quick Style button are subsequently un-ticked, then the Quick Style button will be colored amber to indicate it is only partially active. Clicking a partially active (amber) Quick Style button will make it fully active (green). Clicking a fully active (green) Quick Style button will make it inactive (not colored). 

The format properties can be applied to just the selected elements or to their nested sub-elements as well, and can also be restricted to specific content types (e.g. Blocks or List Items). The Format command can be applied multiple times to the same element.

Inspecting Format Properties

The current format properties for an element can be displayed in the Inspect popup panel. This is displayed by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the element, and then right-clicking the mouse. The Inspect popup panel can be dragged to a new position so that it doesn't obscure important parts of the web page.

The format property values are simplified versions of the full CSS property values, but should be sufficient to determine which format properties to apply with the Format command.

Selecting and Deselecting Individual Elements

Individual elements can be selected (or deselected) using a highlight box.

An individual element is selected by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the element, and then clicking the mouse. The highlight box then changes to a selection box (dashed border). Any number of elements can be selected, one after another, before applying an edit command.

Any selected element can be deselected by moving the mouse, so that the highlight box (solid border) is positioned over the selected element, and then clicking the mouse. The selection box (dashed border) then disappears.

All selected elements can be deselected by clicking the Deselect button.

The border color and border width of the highlight box and select boxes can be changed.

Selecting and Deselecting Multiple Elements

Multiple elements can be selected (or deselected) together using a draggable capture area.

Multiple elements can be selected together by dragging the mouse to draw a rectangular capture area which encloses the elements. When the mouse is released, all of the elements within the capture area are selected.

It is also possible to only select the graphic elements within the capture area by holding down the Shift key before dragging the mouse.

Multiple elements can be deselected together by holding down the Ctrl key, then dragging the mouse to draw a rectangular capture area which encloses the elements. When the mouse is released, all of the elements within the capture area are deselected.

If the start point of the capture area is close to the edge of the web page, then the start point will snap to the edge. While drawing the capture area, the web page will be automatically scrolled as required.

If the start point of the capture area is within a nested document, then normally the capture area can only be dragged within the boundaries of the nested document. However, by holding down the Alt key before dragging the mouse, the capture area can be dragged outside the boundaries of the nested document.

All selected elements can be deselected by clicking the Deselect button.

The border color and area opacity of the capture box can be changed. 

Saving Edited Pages

An edited web page can be saved as a file by clicking on the Save As button.

The save page feature provides access to all of Firefox's standard save methods. It is also compatible with the Mozilla Archive Format (MAF) add-on and the UnMHT add-on. The MAF add-on provides access to MAF's own save methods and to the UnMHT add-on's save methods.

Note that saving as "Web Page, complete" always uses Firefox's standard save method, and ignores MAF's "When saving complete web page contents" option.

The best results are obtained by using the UnMHT add-ons's save methods, but the other methods also usually give good results.

The save page feature will not work with UnHMT 6.5.*, but does work with UnMHT 5.7.7, 6.0.0, 6.3.3, 6.4.5 and 7.0.0b1.

When closing Print Edit, there is an option for the user to be asked whether to close without saving the edited web page.

When re-editing a saved edited web page, the user will be asked whether to retain or discard the edits from the previous session.

Notes for Mac Users

The Portrait and Landscape buttons (available on other platforms) are not available on the print preview toolbar. Instead, on Mac OS X, the orientation can be changed by clicking on the Page Setup button and then selecting Portrait or Landscape.

The Scale button on the print preview toolbar works the same for all platforms. In addition, on Mac OS X, the scale can be adjusted by clicking on the Page Setup button and then entering a value in the Scale box. The value entered in the Scale box acts as a multiplier for the scale set by the Scale button.

Options

The Options Dialog can be accessed by clicking the Options button, or by selecting Tools | Add-ons on the Firefox main menu.

The Options Dialog allows the user to:
    • Choose the default action for the Print Edit toolbar button.
    • Choose the original toolbar layout (text labels) or a more compact toolbar layout (icons).
    • Choose that elements can still be selected after Hide.
    • Choose to reinstate the select boxes after Undo.
    • Choose not to ask about saving on Close.
    • Choose to enable the Text Pieces and Web Style buttons on first entry.
    • Set the border color and border width for the highlight box.
    • Set the border color and border width for the select boxes.
    • Set the border color and area opacity for the capture box.
    • Set the distance within which the capture box start point will snap to edge.
http://goo.gl/X7TQN7

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