@rluncasu/react-to-print v2.11.1

ReactToPrint - Print React components in the browser

So you've created a React component and would love to give end users the ability to print out the contents of that component. This package aims to solve that by popping up a print window with CSS styles copied over as well.

Demo

Install

npm install --save react-to-print

API

<ReactToPrint />

The component accepts the following props:

PrintContextConsumer

If you need extra control over printing and don't want to specify trigger directly, PrintContextConsumer allows you to gain direct access to the handlePrint method which triggers the print action. Requires React ^16.3.0.

useReactToPrint

For functional components, use the useReactToPrint hook, which accepts an object with the same configuration props as <ReactToPrint /> and returns a handlePrint function which when called will trigger the print action. Requires React ^16.8.0.

Compatibility

react-to-print should be compatible with most major browsers. We also do our best to support IE11.

Known Incompatible Browsers

• Firefox Android (does not support window.print)

Known Issues

• onAfterPrint may fire immediately (before the print dialog is closed) on newer versions of Safari where window.print does not block

Examples

export class ComponentToPrint extends React.PureComponent {
  render() {
    return (
      <table>
        <thead>
          <th>column 1</th>
          <th>column 2</th>
          <th>column 3</th>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr>
            <td>data 1</td>
            <td>data 2</td>
            <td>data 3</td>
          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>
    );
  }
}

Calling from class components

import React from 'react';
import ReactToPrint from 'react-to-print';

import { ComponentToPrint } from './ComponentToPrint';

class Example extends React.PureComponent {
  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <ReactToPrint
          trigger={() => {
            // NOTE: could just as easily return <SomeComponent />. Do NOT pass an `onClick` prop
            // to the root node of the returned component as it will be overwritten.
            return <a href="#">Print this out!</a>;
          }}
          content={() => this.componentRef}
        />
        <ComponentToPrint ref={el => (this.componentRef = el)} />
      </div>
    );
  }
}

Calling from class components with PrintContextConsumer

import React from 'react';
import ReactToPrint, { PrintContextConsumer } from 'react-to-print';

import { ComponentToPrint } from './ComponentToPrint';

class Example extends React.PureComponent {
  render() {
    return (
      <div>
        <ReactToPrint content={() => this.componentRef}>
          <PrintContextConsumer>
            {({ handlePrint }) => (
              <button onClick={handlePrint}>Print this out!</button>
            )}
          </PrintContextConsumer>
        </ReactToPrint>
        <ComponentToPrint ref={el => (this.componentRef = el)} />
      </div>
    );
  }
}

Calling from functional components

import React, { useRef } from 'react';
import ReactToPrint from 'react-to-print';

import { ComponentToPrint } from './ComponentToPrint';

const Example = () => {
  const componentRef = useRef();

  return (
    <div>
      <ReactToPrint
        trigger={() => <button>Print this out!</button>}
        content={() => componentRef.current}
      />
      <ComponentToPrint ref={componentRef} />
    </div>
  );
};

Calling from functional components with useReactToPrint

import React, { useRef } from 'react';
import { useReactToPrint } from 'react-to-print';

import { ComponentToPrint } from './ComponentToPrint';

const Example = () => {
  const componentRef = useRef();
  const handlePrint = useReactToPrint({
    content: () => componentRef.current,
  });

  return (
    <div>
      <ComponentToPrint ref={componentRef} />
      <button onClick={handlePrint}>Print this out!</button>
    </div>
  );
};

Running locally

NOTE: Node ^10 is required to build the library locally. We use Node ^10 for our CLI checks.

FAQ

Why does onAfterPrint fire even if the user cancels printing

onAfterPrint fires when the print dialog closes, regardless of why it closes. This is the behavior of the onafterprint browser event.

Why does react-to-print skip <link rel="stylesheet" href=""> tags

<link>s with empty href attributes are INVALID HTML. In addition, they can cause all sorts of undesirable behavior. For example, many browsers - including modern ones, when presented with <link href=""> will attempt to load the current page. Some even attempt to load the current page's parent directory.

Note: related to the above, img tags with empty src attributes are also invalid, and we may not attempt to load them.

How do you make ComponentToPrint show only while printing

If you've created a component that is intended only for printing and should not render in the parent component, wrap that component in a div with style set to { display: "none" }, like so:

<div style={{ display: "none" }}><ComponentToPrint ref={componentRef} /></div>

This will hide ComponentToPrint but keep it in the DOM so that it can be copied for printing.

Changing print settings in the print dialog

Unfortunately there is no standard browser API for interacting with the print dialog. All react-to-print is able to do is open the dialog and give it the desired content to print. We cannot modify settings such as the default paper size, if the user has background graphics selected or not, etc.

Helpful Style Tips

Set landscape printing (240)

In the component that is passed in as the content ref, add the following:

@media print {
  @page { size: landscape; }
}

Printing elements that are not displayed (159)

Instead of using { display: 'none' }, try using { overflow: hidden; height: 0; }

Page Breaks

Pattern for Page-Breaking Dynamic React Content

Define a page-break class to apply to elements which could be sensibly split into a page.

<div className="print-container" style={{ margin: "0", padding: "0" }}>
  {listOfContent.map(yourContent => (
    <>
      <div className="page-break" />
      <div>{yourContent}</div>
    </>
  )}
</div>

In your styles, define your @media print styles, which should include setting your preference for CSS page-break- (see w3's reference for options) to auto, and ensuring that your page-break element does not affect non-print style.

@media all {
  .page-break {
    display: none;
  }
}

@media print {
  html, body {
    height: initial !important;
    overflow: initial !important;
    -webkit-print-color-adjust: exact;
  }
}

@media print {
  .page-break {
    margin-top: 1rem;
    display: block;
    page-break-before: auto;
  }
}

@page {
  size: auto;
  margin: 20mm;
}

Troubleshooting Page Breaks

If your content rendered as print media does not automatically break multi-page content into multiple pages, the issue may be 1) style incompatibilities with print media rendering, or 2) a need to assign CSS page-break- properties to define how your document should behave when printed

Common Page Break Pitfalls

• A style of overflow: scroll, when rendered to print, will result in cut off content instead of page breaks to include the content.
• A style of position: absolute, when rendered to print, may result in reformatted, rotated, or re-scaled content, causing unintended affects to print page layout and page breaks.