Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print

Subject: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:04 AM

Today I was reading an article about vinegar and diabetes. Here's a link:

arizona state article

When I go to this article, the print is light gray. This is very common for me, and it's hard to read. If you follow the link, do you also get a text in light gray? (I want to know if it's my own computer making print light gray, or does it come from the originator. Or from Microsoft or Google.)

Does anybody know how I can change this light-gray print to black? I have already tried Help and Accessibility.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Jack Campin
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:13 AM

On a Mac you could print it to a file and select a B&W option. I can't see how to do that on Windows (which is what I'm on here).

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:21 AM

The lighter font is intentional, I think it's supposed actually to be easier on the eyes reading on a screen. Did you try the print-friendly view? On mine that turns it back to a regular black font.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:24 AM

Right click to bring up the dialog box and choose "print," that should give you a view before you print. If any article has a print-friendly button on it, the same should happen.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 10:37 AM

That doesn't help. The print preview is tiny - size 4 or 6 print, and I can't read it at all. When I enlarge it (CTRL +), it goes back to gray.

The article is from 2004, and it has no print option or print-friendly option on the page. I had to use good old Ctrl P.

Is the article light gray for you?

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 11:17 AM

I think the easiest answers are going to be browser dependent. On Firefox, you could try the Font Contrast plugin or search for one that works better for you.

I suppose you could always cut and paste the text into a wordprocessor.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stanron
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 11:26 AM

I was able to highlight the text by running the arrow over it, copy it using Ctrl + C and paste it into a text editor using Ctrl + V. You could equally paste it into a word processor. This did not copy the image, just the text. The font could then be changed in the program, if needed.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Jos
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 12:29 PM

Just running the cursor over the text to highlight it gives you white writing on a blue background, which might be easier to read without doing anything else.

(That's what I do with the tiny comments at the bottom of Gargoyle's posts.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 12:55 PM

those ideas (highlighting, copying to a word processor) work. Although it would be nicer if I could switch the gray print to black
permanently.

Do y'all see gray print when you click on the link above?

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: SuperDave
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 01:11 PM

A lot depends on the software you are using. On my Windows 10 computer using Firefox 62.0.3 there is an entry under the View menu that says "enter Reader view (F9)" that seems to do the trick. And yes, the print on your linked article does seem to be greyish, although not so much that I have trouble making it out. It seems worse if I use Microsoft Edge to open the page, so perhaps a browser change is all you need.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 01:16 PM

Yes, I see grey text.

This might give an idea as to the difference in contrast I get using the toggle button for the Firefox plugin I mentioned.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stanron
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 02:04 PM

It's grey for me too.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 03:06 PM

Okay. Thanks.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 04:34 PM

Reader View, as SuperDave suggested, is the easy way. Built into Firefox and Edge but available for most browsers.

I'm not sure about Chrome. There is a Reader View addon. There's also a Simplified View for Android according to this.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Oct 18 - 11:06 PM

Right click over the article to open the dialog box to get the print preview. I use Chrome for most things and it worked fine. But I don't have a problem reading the original text, so our vision differences may be a factor.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: OldPossum
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 01:35 AM

You could try disabling the style sheet. If you are using Firefox, under the View menu choose the item called something like Style or Stylesheet (my version of Firefox uses the Danish language, so the exact wording might be different on your browser), then No Style. It works for me.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: BobL
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 02:17 AM

Which operating system are you using? On Windows 10 or Windows 7, right-click the page and select Print Preview. Then, on the Print Size box - the one that says "Shrink To Fit" - select 200%. You don't actually need a printer up and running, just read the preview.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: BobL
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 02:19 AM

Forgot to say I was using Internet Explorer 11 in both cases. Others may, of course, be different.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 11:38 AM

I use windows 7 and google chrome.

Other people get the light-gray print, so it's not something my computer guy set when I got my computer.

BobL, thanks for your lead. When I right click on the document and select Print, it brings up the print menu with a tiny version of the article at the side. Then More Options on the print menu leads to Scale, which I changed from 87 to 250. That made the article black and big enough to read.

Thanks.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 11:43 AM

OldPossum beat me to it. NoStyle worked fine for me too.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 11:36 AM

I tried the Reader View Chrome Extension I linked to earlier. It produces brown text on a brown background! Stupid. Sure, you can change it but...

The Clear Read extension is much more like the built-in Firefox feature - black text on white. It leaves some pictures in, which might or might not be good.

There are half a dozen similar Chrome Extensions. Just pick one that gives the results you want. They should all suppress adverts too.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 01 Nov 18 - 06:51 PM

Just tried this, and it works fine: select all the text, copy and paste into a new Word File: select which font, colour and size you want, bold or not. Print if you want to keep it or just read it and delete it if you don't.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 03:10 AM

light grey on FireFox59, Win7

In Windows on an Epson printer (most drivers are similar) the B&W print would produce greyscale. Not much better on paper, but paper would be easier to read.

My trick would always be to copy and paste into a basic text editor like Notepad or better still Word and choose the Paste Special from the drop down - I even have a Macro with button because I regularly don't want the web formatting for certain posters I produce. It most likely will be in a default colour like black, and you can bold for more clarity. And Zoom. Which would work in a browser too.

and which is easier to read? Grey or Gray?



I'll get my artists smock....................

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 09:00 AM

leenia

The High Contrast extension from the Chrome Accessibilty extensions might help you. By default it will turn the page white on black, but there are other options and it can be disabled when you don't need it.

Mick

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Nov 18 - 09:18 AM

Tattie's version will always work but it is a lot more steps than some of the others. For convenience look at the right click or the browser extensions.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 09:26 AM

Thanks for the thought, MCP, but the Chrome Accessibility page is too scary. They don't explain in full what I will get if I download, and if I do a tentative click, a box appears that says the whatchacallit will read and change ALL my pages. I backed out of that.

I think I will stick with right clicking and enlarging the print file.

By the way, the first choice on the Accessibility page is Caret Browsing. The only "explanation" is a drawing of a carrot. That's not nearly as cute as they think. What the heck is caret browsing?

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: David W
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 09:39 AM

You could simply change the default font colour in Chrome to black. Then all webpages you surf from then on would be in black print.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 10:20 AM

Chrome Extensions add features to the browser. (Firefox calls them addons). They are written by anyone; I've written some - including for Mudcat. When you load one it warns you what effect they can have - and this sort of extension, which changes the appearance of a website, does indeed have access to the site's code and, more importantly, any data displayed on it or that you type into it. So it's wise to be careful before loading one.

So it's a matter of trust. Firstly these things are vetted by Google before being put on their Chrome Store - though I personally wouldn't rely on that. (Mozilla's vetting is much more strict!) Secondly, and more usefully, you can see how many people use it, and read reviews. Do read the reviews! Thirdly you may be able to trust, or not, whoever suggests the extension on mudcat. Do they use it? Have they tried it, or just found it in a search. (I don't use Chrome - but I did try Clear Read.)

The Clear Read extension I suggested tries to extract the text from a website and present it like a book, ignoring a lot of other stuff on the page. Sometimes this works well, sometimes not. Here is what it looks like on your vinegar page.

The High Contrast extension, which Mick suggests, is quite different. It presents the whole website but with the text contrast enhanced. Here is what that looks like.

You can install both - I did to try them. Both are activated by a single button press. There are many others that do similar things.

In Firefox, Reader View is built into the browser. Chrome doesn't do that because it blocks adverts too. Both Firefox and Chrome allow extensions to avoid adding numerous features which many people don't want.

Addons and extensions are great features of browsers, if selected with care.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Bill D
Date: 03 Nov 18 - 01:07 PM

I use Pale Moon browser... an offshoot of Firefox. In the preferences it has a tab called 'content'.. and a box called "fonts & colors" with a choice called "default font" and I specify my font... then under that is the choice of "use system colors", which I do NOT choose...

Thus, the page appears to me in regular black type in a font & size of my choosing.

My wife uses Chrome... but I hate it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 05 Nov 18 - 09:42 PM

"You could simply change the default font colour in Chrome to black."

I tried that. It doesn't work. Chrome Settings has nothing about color or default color.

The High Contrast extension offers white print on a black page. It looks miserable to read.

Dave, thanks for the promising link to Clear Read. Trouble is, what will it do to pages with geologic maps on them, or musical notation? That's a worry for me. So far, the Print Preview suggestion looks like the best bet.

Today I did a search, and a page came up with nice, legible black print. So maybe the gray print comes from the authors and there's little we readers can do about it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 03:18 AM

leeneia wrote: ....Clear Read. Trouble is, what will it do to pages with geologic maps on them, or musical notation? That's a worry for me.

Reader View, which is what Clear Read provides, doesn't attempt to show everything on the page, so it doesn't help in such cases. It just extracts the main 'story' from amongst the clutter. And it's not on all the time: you click the icon to enable it when you want it and click again to revert to the normal page. (I use it on the NYT website.)

That's fundamentally different to 'accessibility', views like High Contrast which show the whole page. Again, you click them on and off. I agree that one is particularly, er, extreme; there are almost certainly others which will detect low-contrast text, like grey on white, and just change that. You just have to find and try a them - that's usually the case with addons.

So maybe the gray print comes from the authors and there's little we readers can do about it.

There are solutions but they are too techical for ordinary folk. Recently I needed to use an online reference manual with unreadable light-blue links. I wrote a 'userstyle' to fix it - because I can. If you had such a site which you used a lot I or a technical colleague of yours could do the same. But for sites you just use occasionally it's not worth it.

Print Preview looks like a reasonably simple, and understandable, solution.

(Most proposed solutions involving 'default fonts' won't work in this case, BTW. This grey text is not a default, it's actually specified on the site. So you'd have to disable all the site's styles and colours to make that work. That's easier in Firefox than Chrome AFAICS.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Nov 18 - 10:35 PM

Thanks for the information, Dave. It's nice to know I am not missing some simple explanation.

Over and out.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: London OldMan
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:11 AM

Apologies if this has already been suggested (I haven't read all the answers).

You can turn your screen black to white, i.e. inverting everything, so you're reading white type on a black background.

At times with my eye troubles, I've done this, and it really helps.

Route: System Preferences / Accessibility (down the bottom) / choose Display / click box marked 'Invert Colours'.

While you're there you can also get rid of colours if you click 'Use greyscale'.

Quite a few things there are helpful, like GIANT cursor.

Good luck.

Allen.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 11:24 AM

Posted this to another thread on a similar subject earlier

I'm having the same problem with the Lomax recordings site
I need the listings which are in varying shades - copy and paste leads to chaos
I have settled for capturing the images with lightshot (any screen capture programme will do) and Dropping it on my graphics programme to adjust it
I can then usually OCR it is if want a workable document
Sounds a little long-winded, but it has saved me a lot of time so far
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 07 Nov 18 - 06:21 PM

I found this Firefox addon which claims to detect light-grey text and darken it:
Font Contrast

Unlike the Chrome Extensions I described earlier it's active all the time, though you can vary that by site.

It seems to work on the vinegar site and some others I tried. It's not petfect though; on my site with light blue links it turned them black - obscuring the fact they were links.

Worth a try if you use Firefox and are irritated by light-grey text. I don't think there is a Chrome version.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 02:05 AM

Just noticed that Jon recommended the Font Contrast addon way up-thread. Sorry Jon.

I was using it on Android - and I'm not sure whether all the options work on mobile. I think it's supposed to skip links. (This is the reference site I was referring to.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 06:22 AM

Dave, the Font Contrast plugin allows you to set a few preferences and "skip links" is in there. For the site you gave as an example, I'd prefer the links darkened even though that makes it harder to work out what is a link...

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 01:27 PM

I saw that option but couldn't see how to set it on this small phone. But I can now see there are tiny faint tick boxes.   

That sailfish site seems to have changed since yesterday. It's clearer than it was.

When I'm next on a proper computer I'll see if that addon could be converted to chrome. Sometimes that's easy, sometimes not.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 01:34 PM

It's changed since my previous post.

Subject: RE: Tech: Can't get rid of the light-gray print
From: DaveRo
Date: 08 Nov 18 - 01:47 PM

Responsive web design ;)
Kiitos!