This is a dynamically generated sales report for the current month.
Total Sales: $12,345.67
Orders Processed: 156
`;
await Printer.printHtml({
html: htmlContent
});
};
```
This method gives you complete control over the document layout and styling.
### Printing Web Content
The [`printWebView(...)`](../../sdks/capacitor/printer.md#printwebview) method allows you to print the current content displayed in your application's web view. This is particularly useful for printing web pages, articles, or any content that users are currently viewing:
```ts
import { Printer } from '@capawesome-team/capacitor-printer';
const printCurrentPage = async () => {
await Printer.printWebView({
name: 'Current Page Print Job'
});
};
```
This method captures the current state of the web view and sends it to the printer with the layout and formatting that users see on their screen. The optional `name` parameter allows you to specify a custom name for the print job, which helps users identify the document in their print queue.
## Best Practices
When implementing printing functionality with the Capacitor Printer API, consider these best practices:
1. **Optimize for performance**: Always use [`printFile(...)`](../../sdks/capacitor/printer.md#printfile) instead of [`printBase64(...)`](../../sdks/capacitor/printer.md#printbase64) for larger documents to avoid memory issues. The file-based approach is more efficient and reduces the risk of Out of Memory errors, especially when dealing with high-resolution images or large PDF documents.
2. **Handle errors gracefully**: Implement comprehensive error handling around all printing operations to manage scenarios such as printer unavailability, connectivity issues, or unsupported file formats. Provide clear feedback to users when printing fails and offer alternative solutions or retry mechanisms.
3. **Provide user feedback**: Display appropriate loading indicators and progress feedback during printing operations, as these processes can take time depending on document size and printer capabilities. Consider showing print preview options when possible to allow users to verify content before printing, and provide confirmation messages when print jobs are successfully submitted.
## FAQ
### Do `printFile()`, `printBase64()`, and `printHtml()` work on the web?
No — all three are Android and iOS only. If your app also targets the web, printing needs to go through a different path there (like the browser's own print dialog for HTML content), since these methods aren't available on that platform.
### What file types can I actually pass to `printBase64()` or `printFile()`?
Not every image or document type — the plugin's supported mime types are `application/pdf`, `image/gif`, `image/heic`, `image/heif`, `image/jpeg`, and `image/png`. The plugin cannot print an unsupported mime type, so check your content type against this list before attempting to print it.
### Is there a dedicated method for printing PDFs specifically, or do I always use `printFile()`?
There's a dedicated `printPdf()` method for PDFs stored on the device, separate from the more general `printFile()`. If you're specifically printing PDF documents, using `printPdf()` is the more direct option rather than routing through the generic file method.
### How large can a base64 string be before `printBase64()` becomes risky?
There's no hard documented limit, but the plugin's own guidance warns that large files can lead to app crashes, which is why `printFile()` is recommended whenever the content already exists as a file rather than an in-memory base64 string. If you're generating content dynamically (like a PDF from a server response), writing it to disk first and calling `printFile()` avoids the memory risk entirely.
### Can I customize what gets printed from `printWebView()`, like hiding navigation elements?
Yes, using a CSS print stylesheet (`@media print` rules) in your web content. `printWebView()` prints whatever the web view currently renders, so applying print-specific CSS to hide navigation bars, buttons, or other on-screen-only UI before printing is a standard web technique that works the same way here as it would in a desktop browser's print dialog.
## Conclusion
Start with [`printFile(...)`](../../sdks/capacitor/printer.md#printfile) for anything already stored on the device, because it avoids the memory overhead that makes Base64 risky for large documents. Use `printBase64(...)` only for small payloads that exist in memory, `printHtml(...)` when your application generates the layout itself, and `printWebView(...)` when you want to print what the user is already looking at.
A common source of printable PDFs is paper: the [Capacitor Document Scanner plugin](./announcing-the-capacitor-document-scanner-plugin.md) captures perspective-corrected pages with the native scanner UI and hands you a combined PDF ready for `printFile(...)`.
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If you have any questions or need assistance with the Capacitor Printer plugin, reach out to the Capawesome team.