HTML pages for printing only

I need some suggestions

[dragonlady7]

I'm trying to make HTML "forms" --printed, not using the <form> element-- for a program my company is making. They're intended to be printed out, not viewed on the screen. I need to make nicely formatted pages for printing, with the following:

A border around them.
A nice heading style.
A table at the bottom with text that will be dynamically replaced with input data. I don't have to worry about that, I just need to make the space there.
They should "look real nice"...

How do I even start?

How many pixels is a printed page? (Height, width, how do I figure this out?)
The forms have to print with a header at the top and a footer at the bottom. I lack programming expertise and time to do anything elaborate with includes. I also lack time for anything but the most basic CSS. Also, we can't use PDFs for some reason.

So, any suggestions for a basic, simple, printed HTML form? I'm just trying to figure out where to start.

[korkus2000]

>>we can't use PDFs for some reason.

I would recommend the PDF format, because that is its intended purpose. HTML was not really intended for printing. PDF has the document structure needed for printing needs. I here the same restrictions all the time and don't understand why people don't want to use the right tool for the job.

You could also use other formats that are more proprietary like doc, but you need to make sure people have the capability of reading them.

HTML will be a big pain in the rear and will not print the same across platforms, printers, and browsers. It really is the worst choice for printing.

[dragonlady7]

>It really is the worst choice for printing.
I know, thanks... I've tried and tried to convince them, but HTML is the only thing that will work with the program. RTF will work too, but the table with the text to be replaced screws up, so we can't use it.
So it has to be HTML.

So, yes, I really, truly, honestly have to do this using HTML.

[korkus2000]

>>HTML is the only thing that will work with the program

Is this a client side application?

[dragonlady7]

>is this a client side application

Yes. It's something that was programmed in, i think, Delphi 7. It has nothing to do with the Web or browsers at all. It's downloaded and installed on the client machine and does not interface to the Web at all.

They just need HTML as the markup language for the documents the program contains because it's the only thing that works with the program. This is something I am not at all involved in. They've just come to me for the HTML forms.

[dragonlady7]

More information:
1) This is not something that will be displayed in a browser. This is something that will be printed directly from a program running in windows: Thus, I have tentatively concluded, it will probably follow similar rules to IE's printing.

2) If I style it in HTML with fixed-width and fixed-height tables, and fix the font sizes, then it should work, right?

3) What, doesn't anyone relish a really stupid challenge like I do? Come on, this is what I do for a living. My job is awesome.

[korkus2000]

What browser is it based on? What version? Is it for reports or help? You need more info on this to make it work. So why can't they use crystal or some other tool? Is it legacy software that noone can code on?