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So far I have found the best way to save a webpage with many pictures as a PDF file is to use Safari, switch to reader mode then "export as pdf", much better than using Chrome and print to "Save as pdf", which doesn't work well.

But it does not always work. If a web page contains too many pictures, the pdf exported by Safari will contain some empty spaces, which should be the pictures on the webpage. But it still works better than exported by Chome. I also tried Edge and Firefox, basically the same as Chrome.

Using the page https://mspoweruser.com/best-midjourney-prompts/ as an example you can clearly see the result.

So it there any way to fix those empty spaces ?

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2 Answers 2

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After some trial and error, I find Opera works the best! In my original test, I already found that Opera can export a PDF file with all the pictures in it, just that it leaves too wide left margin and right margin on each page. So I realized if I could make Opera show reader mode it should work. And it turns out Opera has reader mode, just disabled by default.

So turn on the reading mode (as Opera calls it) and I can export to PDF with it!

Opera reading mode

Then I found that a plugin called Reader View works even better. It has a narrower side margin compared to the default reading mode.

With this plugin, I get a good PDF for https://mspoweruser.com/best-midjourney-prompts/

Since I have resorted to a plugin I then decided to try the Chrome extensions for the reader mode. I have tried 4 reader mode extensions, according to their rating and user counts.

  1. Reader viewer (the same developer for Opera ), 939 reviews 300,000+ users

  2. Clearly Reader, 1045 reviews, 90,000+ users

  3. Just Read, 858 reviews, 200,000+ users

  4. Reader Mode 92 reviews 300,000+ users

They all do a decent job. So I will further test them.

BTW, the answer by Gilby said he found FF works well. But that was not my case. I always find FF does not work well when exporting page to pdf. Maybe someone else can verify that.

--- update ---

I have been testing the 4 reader mode plugins for Chrome. Now I am inclined to use Clearly Reader.

This web page can explain why https://www.npr.org/2021/12/19/1062091832/flying-tigers-americans-china-world-war-ii-history-japan

Both Reader viewer and Reader Mode plugins show each picture in the article twice! Only Clearly Reader and Just Read handle them correctly and Clearly Reader is better.

I only use this web page to highlight the problems these reader plugins have and I have tried many other pages.

--- update2 ---

I am ruling out Just Read now, because even for some simply page(without many pictures) it will layout ugly just like Safari read mode, e.g. try https://huggingface.co/blog/llama2

So this leaves me Clearly Reader, although it does not almost get me the best result.

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With your particular link and Safari, I can reproduce your problem. And I have seen it on other web sites.

Try using Firefox. For me, your link loaded quickly and File > Print and Save to PDF worked perfectly.

My version of Firefox is 117.0.1

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  • Before I asked the question I already tried FF 117. But no it doesn't work well. Using the link I listed as an example, FF exported 48 pages, with last 4 pages empty and many pages without pictures.
    – Qiulang 邱朗
    Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 6:50
  • Actually, I also tried Opera. Opera can export a pdf file with all the pictures in it. But sadly it leaves too many empty spaces (page margins) in each page.
    – Qiulang 邱朗
    Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 6:52
  • For me FF did not miss any photos. There were some pages where the text at the top pushed the photo down onto the next page - but nothing missing. If keeping the text and associated picture on the same page is important, you will need to cut and paste from web page to a document creation app where you can control the layout - quick and easy (if tedious) in MS Word.
    – Gilby
    Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 7:34
  • I tried FF again but it did miss several pictures in my version. But anyway I found a solution. Will provide an answer.
    – Qiulang 邱朗
    Commented Sep 27, 2023 at 9:08

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