In the noble intention of not wasting resources and therefore wanting to save paper and ink, you may decide to print only the portion of text (coming from e-mails, documents and web pages) that really interests you. In this article we will address different methods to be able to print only the text that we have selected in a web page, a document or an email, on both macOS and Windows systems. The printing options available vary from time to time, depending on the application you are using. As this may sometimes be a limitation, you will find out how to solve the problem by converting web pages, text documents and emails to PDF files.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Print a Portion of a Text Document
Step 1. Try printing the selected piece of text or an image
This feature is available in the version of Microsoft Word for macOS and Windows systems. Instead of proceeding normally and printing the entire document, highlight only the portion of text or image that you need to print on paper. Remember that, most likely, you will only be able to make one selection at a time.
Step 2. Use the mouse pointer to select the text area or image you want to print
Step 3. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while users of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 4. Choose the "Selection" print option
Users of macOS systems can find the item "Selection" in the "Pages" section in the "Print" window, while users of Windows systems will find it in the "Pages to print" section of the homonymous window. The print preview box, located to the right of the "Print" dialog box, should only show the selected text or graphic element.
Step 5. Press the "Print" button
The item you selected will print as usual.
Step 6. Now try to print only the page currently displayed on the screen
This feature is also available in Microsoft Word, both in the version for macOS systems and in the version for Windows.
Step 7. Scroll the document to the page you want to print
Step 8. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 9. Choose the "Current Page" option
Users of macOS systems can find the item "Current page" in the "Pages" section in the "Print" window, while those of Windows systems will find it in the "Pages to print" section of the homonymous window. Inside the box relating to the print preview, only the page currently shown on the screen will be displayed.
Step 10. Press the "Print" button
The page currently displayed within the Word window will be printed on paper.
Step 11. Now try to print a set of non-consecutive pages of a text document
This print option is available in Microsoft Word and Google Docs for both macOS and Windows systems. This feature is very useful when you need to print several non-consecutive pages of a text document (for example, a thesis or a manual).
Step 12. Scroll through the entire document to identify and make a note of the number of pages you want to print
In this case, the pages need not necessarily be consecutive.
Step 13. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 14. If you are using Microsoft Word, choose the "Page Range" (on macOS systems) or "Pages" (on Windows systems) option
If you are using Google Docs, select the radio button next to the text field that contains the words "eg 1-5, 8, 11-13".
Step 15. Enter the numbers of the pages you want to print in the text field in question
Separate each page number or page range with a comma, while in the case of a group of consecutive pages, separate the first from the last using a hyphen "-".
For example: "1, 3-5, 10, 17-20", "5, 11-12, 14-16" or "10, 29"
Step 16. Use the print preview to make sure all the pages you need have been included in the selection range
Step 17. Press the "Print" button
All the pages indicated (and only these) will be printed.
Step 18. Print a series of consecutive pages
This print option is available in Microsoft Word and Google Docs for both macOS and Windows systems. This feature is very useful if you need to print a range of consecutive pages of a text document.
Step 19. Scroll through the entire document to identify and make a note of the number of pages delimiting the set you wish to print
In this case, the pages must necessarily be consecutive.
Step 20. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 21. If you are using the Windows version of Microsoft Word, select the "Pages" print option
- If you are using Google Docs, select the radio button next to the text field that contains the words "eg 1-5, 8, 11-13". Within this text field, type the starting page number followed by the minus sign (or a hyphen "-") and the ending page number of the range to be printed.
- If you are using the version of Microsoft Word for macOS systems, select the radio button next to the "From:" text field. Type the starting page number of the set, then type the ending page number into the "to:" text field.
Step 22. Use the print preview to make sure all the pages you need are included in the print selection
Step 23. Press the "Print" button
All the indicated pages will be sent to the printer for printing.
Method 2 of 3: Print a Selection of Web Pages Using Chrome, Safari, Firefox and IE
Step 1. Try to print a specific range of web pages using Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox
Rather than forcing the user to print the entire content of a text document, PDF file or web page, these browsers allow you to select the set of pages to print.
Step 2. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 3. Choose the "Pages" print option
Step 4. Type the range of pages to print
Separate the starting page number from the ending page number by using a dash "-". Use commas to separate single numbers or multiple sets of pages.
Step 5. Use the print preview to make sure all the pages you need are included in the print
Step 6. Press the "Print" button
All the indicated pages will be printed.
Step 7. Print a single page using Safari
This browser provides users with the ability to print a single page.
Step 8. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 9. Select the "Single" option located within the "Pages" section
Step 10. Type the number of the page you want to print or use the control bar below the print preview to scroll to the desired page
Step 11. Press the "Print" button
The selected page will be sent to the printer for printing.
Step 12. Print a piece of text using Internet Explorer
Windows system users who use this browser have the ability to print a portion of the text present within a web page simply by selecting the text to be printed.
Step 13. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Alternatively, you can use the hotkey combination Ctrl + P.
Step 14. Choose the "Selection" print option from the dialog box that appeared, then press the "Print" button
Step 15. Print an image of your choice using Internet Explorer
Windows system users who use this browser have the ability to print an image from a web page.
Step 16. Select the desired image with the right mouse button
Step 17. At this point, choose the "Print" option from the context menu that appeared
Step 18. Press the "Print" button located inside the dialog box that appeared
The selected image will be sent to the printer chosen for printing.
Method 3 of 3: Print a Portion of Text from an Email
Step 1. Print an email received through Gmail
Instead of having to print all the emails you've sent to a recipient about a specific topic and their replies, Gmail offers the ability to print a single message from the entire email conversation.
Step 2. Log into your Gmail inbox
Step 3. Click one of the emails that are part of the conversation containing the message to be printed on paper
Step 4. Scroll through the entire list of messages that make up the conversation to locate and select the email to print
Step 5. Press the "More" button, located in the upper right part of the box containing the selected message
It has a down arrow and is located next to the "Reply" button.
Step 6. Choose the "Print" option from the drop-down menu that appeared
A new dialog will appear.
Step 7. Press the "Print" button
The selected message will be sent to the printer for printing.
Step 8. Export a Google Docs document in Microsoft Word format for printing
If you want to have more printing options than Google Docs offers, convert the document to a format suitable for opening with a text editor (Micrsoft Word, Open Office, etc.).
Step 9. Access the "File" menu
Mobile device users will need to access the main menu of the application by tapping the icon characterized by three vertically aligned dots.
Step 10. Place the mouse cursor on the "Download as" item to display the menu containing the export options
Users using the mobile version of Google Docs should choose the "Share and Export" option.
Step 11. Choose the "Microsoft Word (.docx)" export option
A system dialog will be displayed. Users of Android or iOS devices will have to choose "Save as Word" instead.
Step 12. Rename the file as desired, then choose the folder to download to
Step 13. Press the "Save" button
The chosen document will be saved in the indicated point in DOCX format.
Step 14. Once the download is complete, double-click the file to open it
Step 15. At this point, you can use the print options provided by Microsoft Word to print the content of the document
Step 16. Print a single page of an email using Mail or Outlook
Step 17. View the contents of the email you want to print
Step 18. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 19. Select the "Single" (in the case of Mail) or "Pages" (in the case of Outlook) print option
- If you are using Apple's Mail client, select the "All" radio button next to "Pages" to access the drop-down menu for the "Single" option.
- If you are using Outlook, locate the "Pages" item in the "Page range" box.
Step 20. Choose the page you want to print
- If you're using Mail, you can use print preview to scroll directly to the page you want to print.
- If you are using Microsoft Outlook, click inside the text field next to "Pages:", then type the number of the page you want to print.
Step 21. Press the Print button
The indicated page will be sent to the printer for printing.
Step 22. Print a set of pages that make up the content of an email using Mail or Microsoft Outlook
Step 23. Open the email message you want to print
Step 24. Access the "File" menu, then choose the "Print" item
Users of macOS systems can use the hotkey combination ⌘ Command + P, while those of Windows systems will use Ctrl + P.
Step 25. Choose the "Page Range" (Apple Mail) or "Pages" (Microsoft Outlook) option
- If you are using Mail, choose the "All" option placed next to the "Pages" item, to be able to select the "Page range" printing feature.
- If you are using Outlook, locate the "Pages" item in the "Page range" box.
Step 26. Enter the range of pages you want to print
- If you are using Apple Mail, enter the number of the initial page in the text field on the left of the "a:" and that of the final page in the text field on the right of the "a:"
- If you are using Microsoft Outlook, click inside the text field to the right of "Pages", then type the numbers of the pages you want to print. Enter the starting page number, followed by a dash (-) and the ending page number that delimits the range, such as "1-3" or "4-5".
Step 27. When finished, press the Print button
The set of pages indicated will be sent to the printer for printing.
