Printing - Simple Print

Simple Print is our original-style printing method. We've retained it for members who prefer to:
- print in black and white
- conserve space so the checklist fits more easily on one page
- conserve ink

With Simple Print, some of our more recently added features, such as Backgrounds, Icons and the Notes section do not appear on the printed page.

You may find the following tips useful.

1) Shaded boxes instead of X's

If your browser has "background images" turned off, your checklist will show X's on days where no activity is required. The Checklist will look a lot better with shading, as you can see on the right.

To do this, you'll need to turn background images on. See sections below (Turning Background Images "On") to learn how.

Turning Background Images "On" - Windows Browsers

Internet Explorer: choose "Tools -> Internet Options..." and select the "Advanced" tab. Scroll down to the "Printing" item, and select "Print Background Colors and Images."

Firefox: File-->Page Setup and select "Print Background (colors and images)"

Turning Background Images "On" - Mac Browsers

Firefox: Select File-->Print. Choose Firefox, then check the two Background boxes

Safari: Select File-->Print. Choose Safari, then check the Print Background box.

2) Scaling the page

There are two reasons you might want to scale a Checklist page. Both use the same approach:

a) Font size: You may find the font size too small. By scaling the page, you increase it.

b) Fit to one page: We find it's easier for families (although not absolutely necessary) when it fits onto just one page. If you find your printout is flowing onto a 2nd page and want to change it, you can scale the page in your browser.

Scaling the Checklist - Mac Browsers

On a Mac, go to Page Setup and change the scale to something different than 100%; for example try 90% to see if it now fits on 1 page. Or 120% to make the font size bigger to suit your taste

Scaling the Checklist - Windows Browsers

On a Windows computer, there are different solutions, depending on which browser you're using:

• Internet Explorer 7 - select File-->Print Preview and choose your preferred percentage

• Firefox - select File-->Page Setup and change the scale

• Internet Explorer 6 - doesn't have an easy-to-use way to scale a Web page; it may be time to upgrade to version 7.