How do I print Confluence pages WYSIWYG?

[Randy O'Neal]

I have several dashboards in Confluence, and each of these dashboards contain several gadgets from various 3rd party providers.  I'm surprised to find that printing my masterpieces is less than optimal; I'm not getting anything approaching WYSIWYG.  Rather, in place of the attractive, comprehensive graphics, I'm getting plain text, or nothing at all.

I must be missing something here; what I've gathered is the printing options are:

• Using the browser's Print option
• Exporting to Word and printing there
• Exporting to PDF and printing there

The closest I seem to be able to get is with the browser's print option.  All the above result in less-than-desirable output... certainly not WYSIWYG.

Please tell me I'm missing something obvious.  While I largely live without the need to print Confluence pages, there are times when it's important... and not being able to print what I see on the screen is simply unacceptable.  Please enlighten me... and many thanks in advance!

[Hamza Chundrigar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Randy O'Neal 

I understand your frustration with trying to print Confluence pages and not getting the desired WYSIWYG output. This frustration has been shared and expressed by many others. Unfortunately, Confluence's built-in options for exporting and printing may not always produce the best results when it comes to complex pages with third-party gadgets or custom styling.

Here are a few suggestions to help you achieve better print results:

1. Browser's Print Option: As you mentioned, the browser's print option may provide the closest result to what you see on the screen. You can enter the presenter mode of the page and then use the system print application (Command+P or Ctrl+P) to print the dashboard. This method might provide a more visually appealing printout compared to the standard view.

2. Custom CSS for Printing: You can create custom CSS styles for printing in Confluence. This way, you can hide unnecessary elements, adjust the layout, and format the content to fit better on paper. To do this, you'll need Confluence administrator access and knowledge of CSS. Here's an Atlassian article on how to create a custom PDF stylesheet

3. Third-party Add-ons: There are several third-party add-ons available on the Atlassian Marketplace that can help improve the printing and exporting capabilities of Confluence. For example, Scroll PDF Exporter is a popular option that offers more control over the formatting and appearance of the exported content.

Best,

Hamza

[Randy O'Neal]

Thanks for the answer, Hamza.  I'll accept your answer, but this stinks.  I spent 26 years working for a major printer company, and this is just a terrible way to do things.

[lauren.pretre]

Internally at my company when I go to the 3 dots next to Share, then select Export > Export to PDF, it keeps the proper formatting.  The export to Word just keeps the basic format, drops the "prettiness" of the created report.