printing background images

[ALKateb]

Hello everybody!
i am building an article directory and i added the feature where u can open a printable edition of the article .. but the problem is i'm having an image as a background for the printable edition (as a watermark)

i had my css code like this:

@media print {
body {
background-image: url(../images/water_mark.gif)!important;
}
}

but this doesn't work! well it does but what i mean is it will still be the same .. the watermark wont be printed until the user change the page setup in his browser settings

is there any way to work around it? a way to have the background printed along with the content without any action taken by the user
is this possible anyway!
thanks in advance

[Leosghost]

Use pdf.

[D_Blackwell]

I assume that the purpose of not wanting to give up the watermark is to ensure 'branding' of the printed document?

You can't do it with an image, as you know, because the end user can disable the printing of images, which probably most people do because ink is expensive and images are demanding.

We offer 'print ready' pages or PDF depending upon the situation, importance, need for control...

As recommended, PDF is probably best and easiest for what you describe.

If you can live with text, then you can add text that won't display on the live page but bring into play with the print stylesheet. Maybe www.example.com along all four margins. A strip across the top and bottom,and a vertical strip left and right. A light grey perhaps, though will still print solid black for some users.

Our problem is that PDF does not help with our current issues. On one of our sites we have a competitor that cracks the PDFs and rebrands the color charts. Our articles are rebranded and handed out at workshops. This person does a lot of shows and one of our customers tipped us (with documentation) that they are handing out our rebranded materials. We are still talking with our attorney about our options, and they aren't good. i.e., expensive. The only inexpensive option is the threat of action. Public embarrassment or humiliation, the least that is deserved, is being discouraged. Seems that being 100% in the right counts for very little without a lot of cash to invest. Because we did a DMCA on them last year for ripping content straight from our website to theirs this person has a lot of ill will already. It's a backwards world. Don't know what we will end up doing, if anything. Karma doesn't come around fast enough. Watermark wouldn't have helped in this case because they could lift the text and create a new document even more easily than cracking the color chart PDF and replacing the branding and contact information.

[ALKateb]

Thank you guys for the advice

D_Blackwell

well i'm having completely different situation .. actually i'm not having the watermark for those who are willing to rebrand my materials! cos if someone want to do so! they will do it one way or another!
but all i wanted is when someone print the page he gets this watermark in case he wanted to distribute it or give it away. it's more like an advertisement than a copyright cos where i am from : ) there are no copyrights! u can always go and buy a DVD of bunch of programs that costs thousands of dollars only for 50 cents!

so i guess the PDF is the best option for me!
thanks a lot again
and good luck :)