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Server-side PDF Printing SaaS Idea

I've been trying to figure out a solution to a problem related to my day job. (and I did)

The Chrome printing feature is great. With window.print(); you can print whatever is on the page and style it with the print CSS media query.

Problems

  • Chrome is not always an option.
  • Browser API is not always an option.
  • Server-side printing is a lot of work and doesn't allow for fully dynamic content. It allows for dynamic data — but layout, sorting, dynamic styling, etc are a lot of work.

SaaS Idea

What if you could copy-paste a short script into your website (think Google Analytics) that generates a Print button.

Once you press that Print button a real PDF (not a Screenshot) is generated from whatever content you have in front of you. Basically the Chrome PDF print feature as a server-side service.

I'm just throwing it out there... what do you think?

on July 9, 2020