4 ms·

It's too bad browsers don't have an easy way to print to browser-page-sized PDF. Standard 8.5x11/A4 paper sized PDFs of webpages tend to look pretty terrible.

It's too bad browsers don't have an easy way to print to browser-page-sized PDF. Standard 8.5x11/A4 paper sized PDFs of webpages tend to look pretty terrible. I used to use the Scrapbook plugin for Firefox but I realized for the most part just plaintext might be best. So I'm in the process of setting up a workflow that will save article in markdown in one click and sync between my phone and my computer.

fit2rule 6y ago
Reader View is the solution to the A4- problem, imho. But I honestly don't mind the rendering issue - this is just a reference repository, after all. If I really need the cleaner page, I either Reader-View it beforehand, or just open it up on the Web again - links are preserved in PDF.
- jannes 6y ago
  Links are only preserved if you use Chrome's PDF export... This is not true for Firefox. (At least on Windows. I haven't tried Firefox on macOS.)
  - fit2rule 6y ago
    Safari for the win! ;) (Seems like a bug in Firefox to me.. maybe this should be a config option..)
jannes 6y ago
You could try the awesome SingleFile extension: https://github.com/gildas-lormeau/SingleFile https://github.com/gildas-lormeau/SingleFile It might be a good compromise between PDF and plain text. It's pretty nice because it essentially serialises a snapshot of the current DOM tree, so it works with all kinds of JS-generated pages. The files should be relatively grep-able, because it's normal HTML. Of course, you might want to strip HTML tags for more sophisticated searching.
- ropeladder 6y ago
  SingleFile is a really great extension, but I wanted something a bit more pared down that I could easily use on both mobile and desktop and sync between them using Syncthing. So I'm trying to copy some of SingleFile's UI and graft it on to Markdown-Clipper.[1] And also add the ability to save the images that get picked up by Readability (which Markdown-Clipper uses). [1] https://github.com/enrico-kaack/markdown-clipper https://github.com/enrico-kaack/markdown-clipper
  - rpdillon 6y ago
    FWIW, I use SingleFile on mobile and sync with NextCloud. Works beautifully.
    - OkGoDoIt 6y ago
      How do you use singlefile on mobile? Android or iOS? Is there some sort of userscript or browser extension on mobile?
      - ropeladder 6y ago
        It works in Firefox for Android.
  - gexla 6y ago
    Joplin already has this feature via browser extension. It has a mobile app, but never tested it myself.
    - dyukqu 6y ago
      Thank you for this! I've just tested it on desktop and I think it's wonderful.
wlesieutre 6y ago
Safari on iPhone can do this: https://images.macrumors.com/t/zbOsBhKGQj6VvA9oq8KaZkLxXUc=/800x0/article-new/2019/06/ios13safarisavefullpage.jpg https://images.macrumors.com/t/zbOsBhKGQj6VvA9oq8KaZkLxXUc=/... (note the scrollable preview at right edge of screen, the main preview is only showing a small fraction of the document)
- mattalbie 6y ago
  Yeah, but there’s a length limit. And I hit that limit frequently, so it’s only usable (for me) about 50% of the time. Bug? Not sure.
gexla 6y ago
> So I'm in the process of setting up a workflow There shouldn't be a need to setup a process. This functionality exists in many places. For example, I use Joplin to save articles in Markdown format. It's the best web to markdown conversion tool I have found. Then at some point later, I'll pick what's still interesting to me and export from Joplin to PDF if I like. Insapaper is $3 / month and is a save for later tool. You can then export all your articles in Epub and other formats. I'm sure there are loads others.

fit2rule 6y ago

Reader View is the solution to the A4- problem, imho. But I honestly don't mind the rendering issue - this is just a reference repository, after all. If I really need the cleaner page, I either Reader-View it beforehand, or just open it up on the Web again - links are preserved in PDF.

jannes 6y ago
Links are only preserved if you use Chrome's PDF export... This is not true for Firefox. (At least on Windows. I haven't tried Firefox on macOS.)
- fit2rule 6y ago
  Safari for the win! ;) (Seems like a bug in Firefox to me.. maybe this should be a config option..)

jannes 6y ago

You could try the awesome SingleFile extension: https://github.com/gildas-lormeau/SingleFile https://github.com/gildas-lormeau/SingleFile It might be a good compromise between PDF and plain text. It's pretty nice because it essentially serialises a snapshot of the current DOM tree, so it works with all kinds of JS-generated pages. The files should be relatively grep-able, because it's normal HTML. Of course, you might want to strip HTML tags for more sophisticated searching.

ropeladder 6y ago
SingleFile is a really great extension, but I wanted something a bit more pared down that I could easily use on both mobile and desktop and sync between them using Syncthing. So I'm trying to copy some of SingleFile's UI and graft it on to Markdown-Clipper.[1] And also add the ability to save the images that get picked up by Readability (which Markdown-Clipper uses). [1] https://github.com/enrico-kaack/markdown-clipper https://github.com/enrico-kaack/markdown-clipper
- rpdillon 6y ago
  FWIW, I use SingleFile on mobile and sync with NextCloud. Works beautifully.
  - OkGoDoIt 6y ago
    How do you use singlefile on mobile? Android or iOS? Is there some sort of userscript or browser extension on mobile?
    - ropeladder 6y ago
      It works in Firefox for Android.
- gexla 6y ago
  Joplin already has this feature via browser extension. It has a mobile app, but never tested it myself.
  - dyukqu 6y ago
    Thank you for this! I've just tested it on desktop and I think it's wonderful.

wlesieutre 6y ago

Safari on iPhone can do this: https://images.macrumors.com/t/zbOsBhKGQj6VvA9oq8KaZkLxXUc=/800x0/article-new/2019/06/ios13safarisavefullpage.jpg https://images.macrumors.com/t/zbOsBhKGQj6VvA9oq8KaZkLxXUc=/... (note the scrollable preview at right edge of screen, the main preview is only showing a small fraction of the document)

mattalbie 6y ago
Yeah, but there’s a length limit. And I hit that limit frequently, so it’s only usable (for me) about 50% of the time. Bug? Not sure.

gexla 6y ago

> So I'm in the process of setting up a workflow There shouldn't be a need to setup a process. This functionality exists in many places. For example, I use Joplin to save articles in Markdown format. It's the best web to markdown conversion tool I have found. Then at some point later, I'll pick what's still interesting to me and export from Joplin to PDF if I like. Insapaper is $3 / month and is a save for later tool. You can then export all your articles in Epub and other formats. I'm sure there are loads others.