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We have all been there… you find a great article online, but when you print it, it’s cluttered with ads and links! The Google Chrome extension ‘PrintFriendly and PDF’ is a great tool for creating and sharing clean, print-ready resources with your students. In this blog post, we'll show you how to access and use this extension, including creating print copies of short stories like Owen Marshall’s Freefall from Newsroom.
What is PrintFriendly and PDF?
This Chrome extension lets you simplify web pages by removing ads, navigation menus, and other fluff, leaving you with a clean, reader-friendly format. With options to print, save as a PDF, or email the cleaned-up page, it’s great for both digital and physical resources.
Simplify web pages to get a clean, reader-friendly format!
How to Access the Extension
ONE:
Open the Chrome Web Store.
TWO:
Search for ‘PrintFriendly and PDF’ in the search bar at the top of the page.
THREE:
Click on ‘Add to Chrome’ and confirm by clicking ‘Add Extension’.
FOUR:
Once you have it installed, click the puzzle piece icon in the top-right corner of your Chrome browser.
-> Find ‘PrintFriendly and PDF’ and click the pin icon to make it easily accessible
Using PrintFriendly
ONE:
Open the web page you want to simplify. As you can see in the example below, this short story has ads, links to other stories and more. I only need the story!
TWO:
Click on the PrintFriendly icon in your browser toolbar and select ‘PrintFriendly page'.
THREE:
The extension will automatically create a simplified, printer-friendly version of the page. As you can see in the image below, all the unnecessary elements have been removed. You can still remove anything else you don’t need, for example, to remove the image you just need to click on it.
FOUR:
Hover over any other unwanted elements until a yellow bar with a trash bin appears, then click to remove them.
FIVE:
Adjust the font size, if necessary, by using the settings icon in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
SIX:
In the toolbar at the top, choose ‘Print’ to get a physical copy or ‘PDF’ to save a digital version. I prefer to save the PDF and print from there, as I can save it to my OneDrive/Google Drive. This also means it can be added to Google Classroom.
Ways to use PrintFriendly
Simplify and print the stories for our short story units for class discussions and analysis.
Save a PDF version of resources and annotate them digitally using tools like Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft OneNote. Share these annotated copies with students to guide their reading.
Clean up web pages containing essays, news articles, or literary analyses and print or save these resources for class activities.
The PrintFriendly and PDF Chrome extension is a useful tool for teachers. By allowing you to create clean, distraction-free resources, it saves time and improves your teaching materials. Whether you’re printing a short story or sharing a literary analysis, this extension is a must-have for any teacher looking to integrate digital tools into their teaching practice and save time too.
The stories for our resources below can all be found online! We link them from the product descriptions so you can check them out first. Use PrintFriendly to print your students lovely 'clean' copies!
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