The Browser as a Document Composition Engine

Abstract

Printing has long been a neglected aspect of the Web, and the print function of browsers, when used on documents designed for on-screen consumption, often leads to a poor result. Whereas print CSS goes some way towards optimizing the paper experience, it still does not enable full control over the page layout, which is necessary to obtain a publication-quality print result. Furthermore, its use requires web authors to invest additional resources for a feature that might only be used infrequently. This paper introduces a framework designed to alleviate these issues and improve the print experience on the Web. We describe the technologies that enable us to automatically compose and optimize the layout of a document, and generate a high quality PDF fully within the browser. This functionality can be offered to web publishers in the form of a print button, enabling content to be simultaneously delivered in screen and print formats, and ensuring a publication-quality result that adheres to the publisher's design guidelines.