How to Use Your System's Default Print Dialog Instead of Chrome's Crashy Print Preview
Chrome has implemented a built-in print dialog that, by default, gives you a preview of your print job in a new tab and handles all of your printing needs without going through your operating system's default print dialog. It's a nice feature when it works, but in practice, the preview crashes—a lot—and when it does, the Print button is disabled. Here's how to work around Chrome's crashy print dialog so you can still get your print on when necessary. More »
How to Enable/Disable Google Chrome Print Preview Feature
One of the feature that Google Chrome has added to its recent release is the Print Preview feature, which as its name implies, allows you to preview the page before the actual printing. This feature is still in beta and is not available for selection in the Wrench menu yet. For those who are unhappy with the ways that Google Chrome handles your printing, here’s how to enable/disable the Google Chrome’s print preview feature.
On your Google Chrome address bar, type “about:flags” (without the quote) and press Enter.
Scroll down the list until you see the option “Print Preview”. Click the Enable link.
Now restart your Google Chrome. Go to Print option and you will see the print preview.
Similarly, to disable the Print Preview feature, go to “about:flags” and click the Disable link.
One thing to note is that the Print preview feature is still in experimental stage and is not ready for general use. I have tried it on several occasion and it doesn’t load the preview correctly.
In addition, if you are using Linux and often using the print feature to convert webpage to PDF file, then this Print Preview will not work as it doesn’t detect the postscript driver as a printer.
Google Chrome's in-tab print preview feature begins taking shape
Right now, enabling Preview has no effect on functionality. Flipping the switch does, however, provide a partial glimpse of how the feature is shaping up. Entering chrome://print in your Omnibar will load the page you see above, minus the TSN page, of course. I composited that in to provide some idea how the preview might actually appear with content -- right now, chrome://print just displays the word main in all caps.
Once again, Google is eschewing additional application windows in favor of an in-tab display. As with the bookmark manager and the tabbed options feature in about:flags, building print preview into a tab should simplify deployment of the feature across different OSes.
It seems likely that chrome://print will also feature ties to Cloud Print -- so that you can easily fire off your document to any printer you've connected to the service.
Snippet: How to Print Files Remotely Using Dropbox
HP and other manufacturers are gearing up to release a set of new printers that will allow the user to remotely print document. If you are using Dropbox you can have this same functionality now.
Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration has written a simple VBS script that allows files uploaded to Dropbox to automatically print.
To set-up the remote printing function you must do the following
2. Download the zip file
3. Double-click the eprint.vbs file. A sub-folder (PrintQueue) will be created inside your main Dropbox folder.
Now any file that is placed inside the PrintQueue folder will automatically be printed. There is no need to run any additional commands or navigate any dialog boxes.
I have tested this with a variety of files, including txt, doc, xls, and jpg and they all print without any problems. Of course if you require any specific formatting you will have to manually do this before uploading the file into the PrintQueue folder.
Google's Cloud Print takes shape in recent Chromium OS builds
While I can't tell you precisely when you'll be able to monkey around with Cloud Print, I can tell you this: it's continuing to take shape in Chromium OS. Tap Ctrl-P or hit the print option in the wrench menu, and a dialog appears which allows you to select a cloud-enabled printer. Unfortunately, without a way for me to proxify a printer right now my list is a bit barren.
You'll also be able to quickly search for other people's printers you've installed. Need to fire off a physical copy of a document to Sebastian at his office in England? No problem. Search for his email, pick his printer, and send it off (provided you've got permission, of course).
With Chrome's preferences headed to your Google Dashboard, I expect you'll see Cloud Print options appearing there, too. There won't be a way to manage printers locally in Chrome OS -- and you'll have to be able to do it from somewhere...