Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

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spw24
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Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by spw24 »

I use a single source for both HTML5 and PDF outputs. I use a single stylesheet which includes the default mediums: (default), Tablet, Mobile, Print.
When I compare the style of my printed HTML5 (online using Default) and my PDF (using Print), I see subtle differences between them. The most obvious of which is my bullets - they are far larger on my printed HTML5 than in the PDF version.
Any advice on what I might be doing wrong?
SKamprowski
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by SKamprowski »

Hi,

I suggest that you compare default and print medium in your Stylesheet side-by-side in advanced view.
Kind regards,
Sabine Kamprowski
DocToHelp MVP (by ComponentOne)
Chicago_HPT
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by Chicago_HPT »

Also, different browsers commonly render bullet characters slightly differently. I think it may be safe to guess the same is true for browsers vs printer drivers vs PDF, unless you specify in your CSS exactly how the bullet characters should display for each medium.

Just an educated guess, though.

Cheers,
-jeff
Nita Beck
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by Nita Beck »

Be aware that the original purpose of the print medium in CSS is to control how content is rendered when printed from a browser. MadCap happened, then, to suggest that we use it for print output from Flare. In your case, there's no point in comparing the default medium to the print medium to see what's going because both your print-from-help and PDF output are using the print medium. (And sorry that I don't have an insight into why the size of the bullets look different, except to agree generally with what others have said about variations among browsers.)

My practice is that I reserve the print medium for printing from a browser and I create a wholly separate medium called something like "PDF" for my PDF output.

Why bother, you might ask?

Consider this scenario, which was an actual request from one of my clients:

We had a tastefully colorful online content design, with red text for headings and other selective bits of content and with content such as notes, best practices, cautions, and warnings having different lightly shaded color backgrounds. We used the same colorful design for the PDF output. My client specifically requested that content, when printed from the online help, was to make all the red-text content be changed to black and all of the notes, etc. to no longer have colored backgrounds but instead to have borders. Their reasoning was that they didn't want to waste color toner. (I'm not kidding... When I pointed out that a lot of printers allow one to print grayscale, they didn't budge. Still wanted me to control it via CSS.)

In order to satisfy the request, I changed font colors, removed background colors, and added borders in the print medium. I didn't need to do a thing for the PDF medium because it inherited from default.
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
spw24
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by spw24 »

Thanks for the replies. I'll take a look at the Print medium again and see how the output changes in each case.
spw24
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by spw24 »

Finally got time to look at this more closely again... SO I have a user guide with HTML5 being the primary format. I have a PDF output that some customers request and that looks fine (I use the Print medium from the stylesheet for this).
However, when I print from the HTML5 output in the browser, the formatting of a number of things just isn't the same and from all I have read I can't figure it out.

For example, I use div.warning for warnings we need the customers to see (the style is not that far from the div.note that it was based on).
In my HTML5 output I have an orange border around the div, an icon (done with a background image) and use autonumber to add "Warning:"
In my PDF output (using the Print medium), I remove the border (defined but 0px and in black), have an icon using list-image and use autonumber to add the Warning text again (as above), and make the text italic.
However, when I print my HTML5, I get an orange border (as per the HTML5), the icon seems to finally be working OK, the autonumber text works, but the text is not made italic.

Clearly still doing something wrong - I just want the output printed from HTML5 to look as similar to my PDF as possible!

All not helped by the PDF preview bug in build 7661, my admin hasn't been available to authorise the upgrade installer. :cry:

Any more ideas?
spw24
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by spw24 »

btw, I figured out the bullets thing... it was all down to the DPI setting for the bullets used when printing. The default stylesheet for Flare uses .eps files for the print medium, but I used .png for the same.
What I haven't figured out yet, is why Flare resized them in my PDF output, but the browser does not...?
lgarneau59
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by lgarneau59 »

I am having a similar issue--any updates I make to the PDF does not appear in HTML5 output, only in Print output. Does this have to do with Target settings, print medium, or the Print_TOC? Help!
Nita Beck
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Re: Print from HTML5 Output different from PDF Output

Post by Nita Beck »

lgarneau59 wrote:I am having a similar issue--any updates I make to the PDF does not appear in HTML5 output, only in Print output. Does this have to do with Target settings, print medium, or the Print_TOC? Help!
To help us help you find a solution, please be more specific. What are you making updates to? Are you making changes to the stylesheet? If so, are you making the changes in the correct medium? If you are making content changes in snippets and/or topics, are conditions coming into play anywhere? If you added a new topic and have put it on the Print_TOC, have you also put it on the TOC you use for HTML5 output, assuming it's different. In your HTML5 target, how have you set the option about what to include (e.g., topics directly only the TOC, topics linked directly [via the TOC] or indirectly [via links from other included topics, or all topics)?
Nita
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RETIRED, but still fond of all the Flare friends I've made. See you around now and then!
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