Re: CSS for print (was: Microsoft has now joined the HTML Working Group)

I think it is great that CSS is improving its layout capabilities, 
as there is far too much hacking of the markup today to achieve 
layout effects that should really be handled by the style sheet.
For instance the use of tables to place form fields in columns and 
ensure that the labels line up nicely with the fields. Tables are 
often needed to center content vertically due to limitations with 
current implementations of CSS (apart from Opera that is). The CSS 
Zen Garden provides an example of where superfluous markup is needed 
in order to achieve stylistic effects that CSS should have catered 
for directly. It is therefore great to hear that browser vendors are 
willing to give CSS the capabilities it deserves.

However, that doesn't take away the flexibility that before/after 
print events provide, and Chris has already mentioned the issues 
that arrise when plugins/browser extensions are involved.

  Dave Raggett <dsr@w3.org> http://www.w3.org/People/Raggett

On Fri, 6 Apr 2007, Håkon Wium Lie wrote:

> Also sprach Dave Raggett:
>
> > Whilst the CSS print media solves certain problems, it doesn't solve
> > others. CSS allows you to alter the styling and to show or to hide
> > content, but what if the document content and structure needs to be
> > changed for printing, such as may be the case for applications where
> > the paper user interface is very different from what is offered on
> > screen.
>
> The CSS WG is hard at work to improve printing of web content. One of
> the drafts addresses the need for "generated content for paged media":
>
>  http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-gcpm/
>
> It describes functionality that makes it possible to change the
> presentation in more radical ways than CSS has normally provided for.
> For example, named flows allow you to flow an element into a different
> container.
>
> Prince has implemented some of the proposed functionality -- here's a
> demo document:
>
>  http://www.princexml.com/howcome/2007/magic/magic.pdf
>  http://www.princexml.com/howcome/2007/magic/magic.xhtml
>
> Cheers,
>
> -h&kon
>              Håkon Wium Lie                          CTO °þe®ª
> howcome@opera.com                  http://people.opera.com/howcome
>
>
>