Using Chrome’s Element Inspector in Print Preview Mode?

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I am working on developing a website and need to work on the print view. Typically when I have layout issues I use Chrome’s Element Inspector. However this does not exist in print preview mode.

Is there a Chrome plugin or some other way to change your viewing medium within chrome itself, to view a page as a printer would? I suppose it doesn’t have a be a Chrome specific solution, but that is my primary browser so it would be nice to have an in-browser solution.

Right now I’m focused just on the print preview medium, but it would be ideal to be able to change to any of the supported media types (i.e. all/braille/embossed/handheld/print/projection/screen/speech/tty/tv).

1Best Answer
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Note: This answer covers several versions of Chrome, scroll to see v52, v48, v46, v43 and v42 each with their updated changes.

Chrome v52+:

  • Open the Developer Tools (Windows: F12 or Ctrl+Shift+I, Mac: Cmd+Opt+I)
  • Click the Customize and control DevTools hamburger menu button and choose More tools > Rendering settings (or Rendering in newer versions).
  • Check the Emulate print media checkbox at the Rendering tab and select the Print media type.

Chrome v52+

Chrome v48+ (Thanks Alex for noticing):

  • Open the Developer Tools (CTRLSHIFTI or F12)
  • Click the Toggle device mode button in the left top corner (CTRLSHIFTM).
  • Make sure the console is shown by clicking Show console in menu at (1) (ESC key toggles the console if Developer Toolbar has focus).
  • Check Emulate print media at the rendering tab which can be opened by selecting Rendering in menu at (2).

Chrome v48+

Chrome v46+:

  • Open the Developer Tools (CTRLSHIFTI or F12)
  • Click the Toggle device mode button in the left top corner (1).
  • Make sure the console is shown by clicking the menu button (2) > Show console (3) or pressing the ESC key to toggle the console (only works when Developer Toolbar has the focus).
  • Open the Emulation (4) > Media (5) tabs, check CSS media and select print (3).

Chrome v46+ support

Chrome v43+:

  • The drawer icon at step 2 has changed.

Emulate print media query on Chrome v43

Chrome v42:

  • Open the Developer Tools (CTRLSHIFTI or F12)
  • Click the Toggle device mode button in the left top corner (1).
  • Make sure the drawer is shown by clicking the Show drawer button (2) or pressing the ESC key to toggle the drawer.
  • Under Emulation > Media check CSS media and select print (3).

Emulate print media query on Chrome v42

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