Subject: Directory path for 'Print to file' ?
With IE4 and IE6 the default directory is DESKTOP.
(The last place I usually look for missing files.
[more below]
Knack said:
A web site provided a receipt for my payment; not as a file but just a
link to click if I want to print the receipt (receipt was not yet
displayed). Now I want to store that receipt on my computer rather than
having to print it and then scan it.
It is not clear what happened with that web site. Was the receipt displayed
at some point? If so, a simple FileSaveAs in your Browser, with SaveAsType
"Web Archive, single file (*.mht)", would store a copy in whatever folder
you choose. You could then open that file anytime in your browser and print
it. If you did indeed save a print format file, possibly with PRN file
extension, then Windows "Search files and folders" should turn it up
somewhere. I assume that you were probably on a secure (https) website, so
possibly the file may have been saved with "hidden" attribute checked, or
maybe saved to a hidden folder - in which case, in Search files, click
Advanced Options, and check "Search hidden files and folders." If you still
cannot find the file, then it looks like no file was saved.
I just did a "Print to file" with IE6. The file name box had "*.prn"
selected, I typed "test", and clicked Print. As I suspected, the file
extension ".prn" was NOT added, and in the folder the file appeared as
filename "test", with no extension. A second test, instead of over-typing
"*.prn", I press HOME-key, to position the insertion point before the
asterisk; pressed DELETE once to erase the asterisk; typed "test" before the
".prn" and in the folder it appeared as "test.prn". Then I tried the
FileSaveAs, with SaveAsType "Web Archive, single file (*.mht)". The dialog
filename box already had the title of the web page, "Start up page", as the
filename, without an extension, and it appeared as "Start up page.mht".
Summary: (1) With Print to File you need to include the .PRN extension with
the filename, (2) but with FileSaveAs, the standard extension is added
automatically. When saving as .htm, you can add the alternate ".html"
to the filename, and it will not change that to the default ".htm".
Back to the website receipt situation, it seems odd that you would only be
given a filename entry box, unless that was a webpage script controlled FORM
box. If that is the case, instead of choosing Print to file on the webpage,
choose Print, and let the browser print dialog appear, and choose Print to
file from there. All of this assuming you are using Internet Explorer, where
you always have the option of choosing which drive\path\folder to save the
file to. The "Print to file" option, formats the data according to whatever
your default printer is expecting, as set up in the printer Preferences
(Properties) dialog.
With my Windows XP pro setup, besides printers, there is a "Microsoft XPS
Document Writer" option to print to. With XPS selected, rather than a
printer, when you choose Print to file, the file is formatted for the
XPSViewer, which is the same thing that happens if you don't Print to file,
but simply choose Print. A file save dialog appears in either case - the
only difference is one dialog "suggests" a ".prn" extension (and does not
add ".prn" if you overtype it,) but the other dialog adds the ".xps"
extension for you, even if you over type the "*.xps" in the filename box.
(The XPSViewer opened within Internet Explorer.)
BTW, this anomaly with the PRN dialog not adding the extension has been
around at least since Windows 95, so don't hold your breath waiting for a
simple patch for that dialog box to be available in Windows Update.
Other possibilities for the Phantom Receipt mystery: You might check your
Temporary Internet Files folder for the file or web page that displayed the
receipt. You might try finding the website in your browser History and
returning to the page that provided the receipt, and try the print again, if
that was not a temporary page that has ceased to exist. It may be that the
record of the transaction is stored in a Cookie from the website in your
Cookies folder. You may need to go back to the website, and find a way to
inform the company of your problem and seek a solution. (Maybe check the
Better Business Bureau website?
Don't forget the option of making a graphics copy of anything that appears
on your monitor, (whether a web page, or a Windows error notice/etc., or a
web form you just filled out,) by pressing your "Print Screen" key, (usually
located either to the right of your backspace key or to the right of the F12
key.) A graphics copy of everything appearing on your monitor, including
taskbar and clock will be copied to the clipboard, and you can then paste
from the clipboard into any graphics application, (like Windows Paint,) or
some word processing applications that allow embedded graphics, like Windows
WordPad. You can also hold ALT key when you PrintScreen, and it usually only
captures the application window or dialog box or error message, not the
whole screen. The advantage of using Paint is that you can trim the graphics
to a smaller size showing only the part you need to keep. The advantage of
using Wordpad is that you can add text comments relevant to what you were
doing when an error message appeared, or whatever you feel like saying.
(Dear Microsoft, e pluribus stupidos! @#$%&!
ALSO, if you position your mouse pointer over the clock in the taskbar, the
tool tip displaying the date will appear, and if you press PrintScreen quick
enough, the screen capture will include the complete date and time when
captured. If you are capturing an application failure message, the taskbar
will also show what other applications or folders were opened at the time,
which is useful information in some cases. With Paint, you can paste 3 (or
4?) screen captures, one after another, and then use ctrl+Z (undo) and
ctrl+Y (repeat) to switch forward and backward to view them. (If you edit
any of them, you can't ctrl+Y to see those pasted after the one you edited.
Paint only allows 3 undo operations.)
With WordPad with embedded graphics, the filesize will be very large, but
with Paint, you can save in a compressed JPEG or GIF format. With WordPad
you can paste several captured screen shots, and later select and copy the
individual pictures and paste and edit in Paint (or other graphics program)
and save in compressed JPEG or GIF format, (to a known/remembered folder.)
Then delete the picture in WordPad and in WordPad menu:
Choose: Insert> Object
Check: Create from File
Check: Link
Browse to folder\file location of JPEG or GIF graphics
Select the file and click: Open
[you are then returned to Insert Object dialog]
Click: OK.
The object package takes up only about 2.5KB in document. Double-click to
view object (or see right-click options) That is not quite as convenient as
having the full size graphic in the WordPad document, (saved as RTF,) but
the file sizes of both the graphics and RTF document are much smaller.
Also, in both WordPad and Internet Explorer, if you want to print part of a
document or web page, select the part, press ctrl+P, and in the Print dialog
"Page Range" area, check "Selection" to only print the part you selected.
You can also use the "Print to file" option with partial selections.
The default right-click menu for PRN files has no option to Print, and
double-click gave me a "Windows cannot open this file" message, with option
to choose a program to open it, and no printer among the choices. The only
way I know to print PRN files is to drag and drop the file onto a Printer
shortcut icon on the desktop - the default directory for PRN's.
(Triple-Click here to: Have a nice day! --Richard
