disabling Print function?

[sKYkat]

I have a client who is offering an extensive Study Guide for free on his website. He will eventually charge for this Guide but in the meantime, he wants to prevent the user from printing.
I believe that once available on the web, it's impossible to prevent printing (ie the browser window offers the ability to print). Am I correct in this assumption? If so, is there any other way of reconifiguring the data so that if the User wants to print the Guide, it'll be unformatted and not necessarily 'User-friendly'.

Thanks for your input!

sKY::

[DrDoc]

Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to stop it. The user might as well select the text, copy, and paste into a word processor. Or, the user may capture screen shots and print those.

Whatever you would consider doing to prevent printing, or make it hard for the user, is more likely to backfire than to work the way you hope.

[Krapulator]

I agree with Doc - however a way to deter the less technically savvy users would be the following two css methods (which I used for a site who wanted to protect some content in a similiar way to what you describe):

1. Create an invisible layer using css to sit over the top of your content thus preventing selection and subsequent copying of the text.

2. Using css, create a stylesheet for print only which either hides all of the content completely - or ruins the formatting.

These methods will not stop someone with even a little know-how - but they add a small amount of extra protection.

[saoi_jp]

Perhaps not the answer you want, but I've seen PDF-format materials that could not be printed. Generally academic books -- if you pay, you got access to the printable version.

[DrDoc]

That still doesn't prevent copy-and-paste or screen captures.

[encyclo]

I've seen PDF-format materials that could not be printed.

As I understand it, the print function can be disabled if you create the file in Adobe Acrobat and then view it in Adobe Acrobat Reader. However, if you view the file in a third-party PDF viewer (of which there are loads - PDF is an open format), then you can still print it, because such readers don't understand the embedded instruction to disable the print function. So much for that copy-protection idea.

If you put it online, it can be copied. No exceptions. Simple as that.

[R1chard]

I'm sure I've had a PDF that was impossible to print or select/copy. It was a year or two ago, but I tried every reader under the sun to no avail...

Interesting, Krapulator, but as you say, it won't stop anybody looking at the source. Or those with stylesheets disabled.