How do I print part of a rendered HTML page in JavaScript?

user_125857 0
Viewed 151926

The JavaScript code window.print() can print the current HTML page.

If I have a div in an HTML page (for example, a page rendered from an ASP.NET MVC view), then I want to print the div only.

Is there any jQuery unobtrusive JavaScript or normal JavaScript code to implement this request?

Making it more clear, suppose the rendered HTML page is like:

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

    <head id="Head" runat="server">
        <title>
            <asp:ContentPlaceHolder runat="server" ID="TitleContent" />
        </title>
    </head>

    <body>
            <div id="div1" class="div1">....</div>
            <div id="div2" class="div2">....</div>
            <div id="div3" class="div3">....</div>
            <div id="div4" class="div4">....</div>
            <div id="div4" class="div4">....</div>
        <p>
            <input id="btnSubmit" type="submit" value="Print" onclick="divPrint();" />
        </p>
    </body>
</html>

Then I want to click on the Print button, only printing div3.

jquery javascript
5 Answers

I would go about it somewhat like this:

<html>
    <head>
        <title>Print Test Page</title>
        <script>
            printDivCSS = new String ('<link href="myprintstyle.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">')
            function printDiv(divId) {
                window.frames["print_frame"].document.body.innerHTML=printDivCSS + document.getElementById(divId).innerHTML;
                window.frames["print_frame"].window.focus();
                window.frames["print_frame"].window.print();
            }
        </script>
    </head>

    <body>
        <h1><b><center>This is a test page for printing</center></b><hr color=#00cc00 width=95%></h1>
        <b>Div 1:</b> <a href="javascript:printDiv('div1')">Print</a><br>
        <div id="div1">This is the div1's print output</div>
        <br><br>
        <b>Div 2:</b> <a href="javascript:printDiv('div2')">Print</a><br>
        <div id="div2">This is the div2's print output</div>
        <br><br>
        <b>Div 3:</b> <a href="javascript:printDiv('div3')">Print</a><br>
        <div id="div3">This is the div3's print output</div>
        <iframe name="print_frame" width="0" height="0" frameborder="0" src="about:blank"></iframe>
    </body>
</html>
user_1307180

Along the same lines as some of the suggestions you would need to do at least the following:

  • Load some CSS dynamically through JavaScript
  • Craft some print-specific CSS rules
  • Apply your fancy CSS rules through JavaScript

An example CSS could be as simple as this:

@media print {
  body * {
    display:none;
  }

  body .printable {
    display:block;
  }
}

Your JavaScript would then only need to apply the "printable" class to your target div and it will be the only thing visible (as long as there are no other conflicting CSS rules -- a separate exercise) when printing happens.

<script type="text/javascript">
  function divPrint() {
    // Some logic determines which div should be printed...
    // This example uses div3.
    $("#div3").addClass("printable");
    window.print();
  }
</script>

You may want to optionally remove the class from the target after printing has occurred, and / or remove the dynamically-added CSS after printing has occurred.

Below is a full working example, the only difference is that the print CSS is not loaded dynamically. If you want it to really be unobtrusive then you will need to load the CSS dynamically like in this answer.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
    <title>Print Portion Example</title>
    <style type="text/css">
      @media print {
        body * {
          display:none;
        }

        body .printable {
          display:block;
        }
      }
    </style>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.3.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
  </head>

  <body>
    <h1>Print Section Example</h1>
    <div id="div1">Div 1</div>
    <div id="div2">Div 2</div>
    <div id="div3">Div 3</div>
    <div id="div4">Div 4</div>
    <div id="div5">Div 5</div>
    <div id="div6">Div 6</div>
    <p><input id="btnSubmit" type="submit" value="Print" onclick="divPrint();" /></p>
    <script type="text/javascript">
      function divPrint() {
        // Some logic determines which div should be printed...
        // This example uses div3.
        $("#div3").addClass("printable");
        window.print();
      }
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
Zack_Mulgrew_182650

You could use a print stylesheet, but this will affect all print functions.

You could try having a print stylesheet externalally, and it is included via JavaScript when a button is pressed, and then call window.print(), then after that remove it.

alex_316710
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