I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stumbled upon a great resource online, only to have tons of ads and images that clutter the page when printed or saved as a PDF. I searched for programs that would clean up those pages and found my savior, CleanPrint.
CleanPrint is a free browser extension that lets you save paper and ink when printing from the web. It also allows users to edit content before saving or printing the articles.
It’s pretty simple to use once you’ve downloaded the extension. When you’re on a website that you’d like to print or save as a PDF, click the CleanPrint icon in your toolbar. The article will open with a new panel and your mouse turns to an “x.” Click on the content you don’t want to keep, like images or links at the bottom of a page. You can also increase or decrease the font to help save some pages. Then select your desired output (print, save as PDF, Save to Google Drive, etc).
My favorite feature is the ability to see an estimate of how many pages you’ll be printing. In a time when we want to try to save money and the environment, we can use CleanPrint to help reduce our paper and ink costs.