Should you use Print My Blog’s Quick Print or Pro Print? And if using Pro Print, should you print with your browser for free or pay for the Pro Print Service?
Quick Answer
Use Pro Print to:
- make professional-looking printouts you could sell or share to represent your company or organization
- use features like table of contents, customize order and grouping content into sections, pre-built and custom designs, footnotes and page references, custom post types (eg shop products or events), and more
Your browser can make documents using many of those features but probably not all of them. But in order to use the full power of PMB Pro, you’ll want to pay for our Pro PDF Service.
Feel free to try PMB Pro with your browser and try downloading free test files using the Pro PDF Service for comparison.
Having said that, there are a few things Pro Print might not meet certain needs yet. For instance, Quick Print:
- handles printing out thousands of posts or pages
- is very quick and easy to use
- works on private sites (localhost or behind a network firewall)
So Pro Print will look better, but you might still prefer or need Free Quick Print.
More Details
| Quick Print (free) | Pro Print (free with browser) | Pro Print w/ Paid License | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | ✅ | ✅ | ❌Watermarked until buy a subscription |
| Setup Time | ✅ seconds | ⚠️ minutes | ⚠️ minutes |
| Printout Thousands of Posts | ✅ | ⚠️ Not yet | ⚠️ Not yet |
| Works on Private Sites | ✅ | ✅ | ⚠️ Not Yet |
| Save Projects | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customize Order of Posts | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom Post Types | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Customize Header Content/Title Page | ⚠️ Only remove parts | ✅ | ✅ |
| Table of Contents | ❌ | ⚠️ No Page Numbers | ✅ |
| Organize Chapters into Sections | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Print-Only Posts (a.k.a. “Print Materials”) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Develop Custom Designs | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Printouts and PDFs | |||
| Choose Pre-Made Designs | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Uses Styles from… | ❌Website Theme | ✅ Chosen Design or Website Theme | ✅ Chosen Design or Website Theme |
| Advanced Page Numbering | ❌ whatever your browser supports | ❌ whatever hour browser supports | ✅ Use Roman numerals for front matter, mirrored placement, fully customizable |
| Working Hyperlinks | ⚠️ Browser support varies | ⚠️Browser support varies | ✅ |
| Page References | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Pro PDF Service can convert hyperlinks to page references, footnotes, or anchor links |
| Supports 2-page/mirrored layout | ❌ | ⚠️Browser support varies | ✅ |
| Running Heads | ❌ | ⚠️Browser support varies | ✅ differs per design |
| Per-post Design Templates | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Rearrange Images to Avoid Deadspace | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| ePub eBooks | |||
| Generates ePub | ⚠️ Only through dotEpub | ⚠️ Only through dotEpub | ✅ |
| Images stored in ePub file | ❌ images downloaded by reader while reading | ❌ images downloaded by reader while reading | ✅ |
| ePub contains ”created using…” page | ❌ added by dotEpub | ❌ added by dotEpub | ⚡ optional for Pro & Business licenses |
| Microsoft Word Documents | |||
| Generate .doc files | ❌ | ❌ | ⚡ only for Pro & Business licenses |
Download the plugin from WordPress.org and try them all, or read the User Guide for more info.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the Difference Between Hobbyist, Pro, and Business Licenses?
The previous table compares PMB Quick Print (free), PMB Pro Print with the browser (also free), and PMB Pro Print with a paid license. It’s not intended for comparing different paid plans of PMB. For details on what features are included in each plan, please look at our pricing page.
Can I use Pro Print from localhost, a staging site, or a private site?
Right now, only when printing using your web browser. Pro Print Service won’t work properly because it’s run in the cloud and needs to download resources from your website… and if your website isn’t accessible from outside, it won’t work.
But if you really need this to work, please get in touch. We can explore the possibilities of using HTTP Basic Auth or Prince desktop app.
How Big of a PDF or ePub can Pro Print handle?
I haven’t yet encountered an upper limit, but I’d guess a few hundred posts because it creates the entire print page in a single HTTP request (and most webservers won’t let them take longer than 30 seconds.)
But if you do encounter an upper limit, please get in touch. There’s work to be done to make Pro Print support thousands of posts, just like Quick Print currently can.
Can the Print Buttons make Pro PDFs?
No, not yet. Right now they just print/make PDFs/make eBooks using the same technology as Quick Print. If this is a priority for you, please contact us.
My Question Still Isn’t Answered!
It’s probably not your fault! We probably haven’t answered it (or done so clearly enough). Please get in touch and we’ll see if we can help you out, and make our documentation clearer.