Create a long, single page pdf from a web article

Question

Level 1

1 points

Create a long, single page pdf from a web article

How to print a webpage onto a long, single page PDF file? I know there's a lot of apps that can generate a PDF, but all I found until now separates the article in multiple pages, which makes things like this a mess - the photos are splitted in half, or the pages have huge empty spaces.

I'm looking for a solution to this. ANY solution. Could be an app for iOS or OS X, an website, anything that can generate a single page PDF quick and easy.

iPad 2, iOS 5.1

Posted on Apr 4, 2012 4:17 PM

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Answer 1

ddkilzer

Level 2

344 points

Apr 4, 2012 11:13 PM in response to Pixelboxer

Is there any particular reason you want to do this? If you want to save the web page for viewing offline, the webarchive format might work better (File > Save as... > WebArchive in Safari for OS X). I think there are apps on the iOS App Store that help with this as well.

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Answer 2

Chris CA

Level 10

82,719 points

Apr 4, 2012 4:44 PM in response to Pixelboxer

Use the Safari extension Awesome Screenshot.

Go to Safari menu Safari > Safari Extensions to download it.

Puts an icon in teh Safari toolbar and lets you capture one long page (or other ways) as well as annotate.

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Answer 3

leekatt

Level 1

4 points

May 11, 2012 12:00 PM in response to Pixelboxer

Acrobat (full version) has a "create PDF from web page" feature that does a decent job of taking a long-scrolling web page and slicing it into a paginated PDF. The page divisions are really pretty good.

As for why you might want to do this, I've used it to create a document out of a web form so I can distribute it to others. I needed to do this because access to the form is limited, but I need information from others to complete it.

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Answer 4

Menneisyys

Level 4

1,300 points

May 11, 2012 5:01 PM in response to leekatt

There are several Web services that do this.

Of them, I've tested http://www.pdfonfly.com on my iPad 3 and it worked just flawlessly. The generated PDF can, then, be sent to other PDF-enabled apps (GoodReader etc.), from where you can also post / send it further via the "Open In" menu.

That is, go to http://www.pdfonfly.com , paste (enter) the address of the URL to convert, the catcha and, then, tap the link under the ad in the next page.

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Answer 5

Pixelboxer Author

Level 1

1 points

May 11, 2012 5:34 PM in response to leekatt

Leekatt, are you saying that Adobe Acrobat is actually useful for something?! O.o

Jokes aside, I really wanted one long page. The reason for that is that pagination breaks the flow, and even pictures, making for a bad read. Also, there's the issue of having to pay for Acrobat - it's an overkill for such simple task. Thanks anyway.

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Answer 6

Nov 15, 2012 10:55 PM in response to Pixelboxer

Stumbled across this thread while looking for an iOS web-to-PDF (non-paginated) solution. There are several that I'm aware of for OS X:

SnapWeb

The horribly out-of-date web page states the current version works on Snow Leopard; I can confirm it works on Lion, but didn't test Mountain Lion.

Saft

Whoops, no, sorry -- this one is no longer available. The Export PDF command provided a non-paginated PDF.

Skitch

Download version 1.0.12 -- do not use 2.x, which removes the web capture feature.

WebSnapper

I love TastyApps apps. The "Save to Multipage PDF" button is misleading; the app will save either a paginated PDF or a non-paginated one.

Paparazzi!

Like SnapWeb, this one's been around a while and isn't polished. But it works.

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Answer 7

Pixelboxer Author

Level 1

1 points

Apr 4, 2012 7:07 PM in response to Chris CA

Thanks, but the extension doesn't works. It only captures whats on the screen, leaving the rest out, and creates a jpeg file.

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Answer 8

Pixelboxer Author

Level 1

1 points

May 11, 2012 5:29 PM in response to ddkilzer

This was actually the best solution so far: clean the site with instapaper text then save the webarchive in Mercury for iPad. It takes a little work, but it works. Thanks!

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Answer 9

Pixelboxer Author

Level 1

1 points

May 11, 2012 5:35 PM in response to Menneisyys

I tested many services, and unfortunately all of them gibes me a paginated PDF. Thanks anyway.

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