print-button

Web Component to print only a specific element instead of the whole page (which is what window.print() does by default).

CodePen Demo

Examples

Print a specific element on the page:

<print-button print-target=".element-to-print">
    Print
</print-button>

Print the whole page:

<print-button>Print</print-button>

Multiple print buttons on the same page:

<print-button print-target="#table-1">
    Print the 1st table
</print-button>
<table id="table-1">...</table>

<print-button print-target="#table-2">
    Print the 2nd table
</print-button>
<table id="table-2">...</table>

Just the icon:

<print-button print-target=".element-to-print"></print-button>

Attributes and Content

• print-target attribute: CSS selector of the element to print. By default (if not provided), it prints the whole page except for the button itself.
• disabled attribute: setting it on the custom element will disable the button inside.
• Content: The text content of the button. If left empty, aria-label="Print" is added to the button (which will be a simple icon button).

Including the script

From a local file

Download the print-button.js file and include it in your project.

As a module:

<script type="module" src="print-button.js"></script>

Or as a non-module script tag:

<script defer src="print-button.js"></script>

From a CDN

You can also include the script from a CDN:

<script type="module" src="https://unpkg.com/print-button/print-button.js"></script>

Or, for non-module usage:

<script defer src="https://unpkg.com/print-button/print-button.js"></script>

How it works

The printOnly() method:

• starts at the target,
• adds a .dont-print class to its siblings,
• moves to the parent and adds the class to its siblings,
• and continues up the DOM recursively adding the .dont-print class to all of the "uncles" (non-ancestors) of the target element.

Other notes

The setTimeout(()=>{...}) wrapping the insides of the connectedCallback() lifecycle method allows the script to be used as a non-module script tag (in addition to the module option) from anywhere on the page, including the header, by adding a ~4ms delay which should be enough for the DOM to be ready.
Increase the delay if needed (if your print-target takes longer to load), e.g:

connectedCallback() {
    setTimeout(() => {
        //...
    }, 150);
}

Credits

• Print icon from Ionicons 5: print-sharp.