How do I remove "Before you print" from the print dialog box

[TJVatlanta]

I've been using NitroPDF for years and recently installed it on my new 13" HP envy. Although I don't remember it when I first started using Nitro on this computer, in the past couple of days, I noticed that at the top of the print dialog box I get a notification: "before you print...consider these easy-to-use features...". It seems to cause the font size of the entire print dialog box to become so small that I can't read it. I've altered the display resolution for other programs to correct this problem but the print dialog box in other programs doesn't have this issue. Is there anything I can do to correct this so I can read the print dialog box in Nitro?

[Steven Zakulec]

I'm not sure how you can bypass or remove the dialogue, but you can use the Batch Print (File, Batch Print) option to get a different print window that doesn't show that dialogue.  You could add Batch Print to the Quick Access Toolbar (right click on the Home tab, choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar, and choose Batch Print from the File menu).

[MberwinJr]

I would like to remove that part of the dialogue as well. It appears on my HP Pavilion laptop, but weirdly doesn't appear on my Desktop computer - on my Desktop the dialogue appears without the added options. I would prefer not to have them. It is more than simply an aesthetic problem. It pushes the actual "Print" button below the bottom window horizon, and the interface does not make it easy to scroll down to find the button in order to print. 

[MberwinJr]

What I have done now is change the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-P to open the Batch Print dialogue instead of the other. Not the best option AT ALL, but at least I can navigate that dialogue and print without doing acrobatics on my keyboard and screen. The "Before You Print" options are USELESS. Get rid of them! 

[RJRains]

Agree.  "Before You Print" options are useless.  Fix something that needs fixing instead of these arcane "improvements."

[Penny McCarthy]

Me too..

[mikeyww]

Here is my AutoHotkey script that provides a workaround to the "before you print" nonsense. Some additional improvements to function keys are also provided here. In most installations, you would need to change "Send ^+p" to "Send ^p".

; ----------------------------
; Nitro Pro
; ----------------------------

#IfWinActive ahk_exe NitroPDF.exe

; The following commands swap the CTRL-O and CTRL-SHIFT-O functions,
; so that CTRL-O provides a standard "File open" dialog window.
^o::Send ^+o ; CTRL-O = Open document
^+o::Send ^o ; CTRL-SHIFT-O = Open recent document

^p:: ; CTRL-P = Print
; This routine focuses Nitro Pro on the "Print" button in the print dialog.
; The user may then either press the ENTER key or click the left mouse button to print.
printButton = Button10 ; This is Nitro's control name for the print button. It might change in future versions of Nitro.
SoundBeep, 1000, 40 ; Play a short sound to confirm that the user has pressed CTRL-P.
Send ^+p ; Activate print dialog. This can be changed to whatever hotkey Nitro Pro uses to print.
Sleep, 1200
ControlGetPos, x, y, w, h, ScrollBar1 ; Get the position and dimensions of the scrollbar in the print dialog.
MouseMove, % x+w/2-3, % y+h-45 ; Move to bottom of scrollbar.
Sleep, 200
Click ; Navigate to bottom of print dialog window.
ControlFocus, %printButton% ; Focus on "Print" button. This enables ENTER to activate printing.
ControlGetPos, x, y, w, h, %printButton% ; Get the position and dimensions of the print button.
MouseMove, % x+w/2, % y+h/2 ; Move cursor to the middle of the "Print" button. This enables a left mouse click to activate printing.
Return

F2::SendEvent ^{F1} ; F2 = Toggle the menu ribbon.
F3::Send ^{F2} ; F3 = Hand
F10:: ; F10 = Add comment (note)
SendEvent !r
Sleep, 300
SendEvent n
Return
F12::Send ^+s ; F12 = Save as

#IfWinActive ; end NitroPDF block

 

[Mario Kevesic]

Thank you, @mikeyww , for providing this code/workaround! 

[JPHart]

Recently upgraded to  NitroPro12, and have the same frustration with a simple CTRL-P  - Glad to see the answer.

But as a regular user, not programmer,  I don't know how to incorporate the HotKey script of mikeyww.

Can someone provide steps necessary?

 

Thanks,

[mikeyww]

You download and install AutoHotkey. You put the script into a text file with extension .ahk. You then run AutoHotkey, specifying the script as a command-line parameter.

[TJVatlanta]

On 12/12/2018 at 10:50 AM, mikeyww said:

You download and install AutoHotkey. You put the script into a text file with extension .ahk. You then run AutoHotkey, specifying the script as a command-line parameter.

I'm extremely unfamiliar with how to use this AutoHotKey. I've downloaded it as suggested and see your post above but do I copy the entire script into a text file? For those of us that are complete newbs would you please provide a step by step of how we do this? Sorry for the trouble but thank you!!!!

[mikeyww]

OK. I'll try to make this work for you. I typically download the portable version of AutoHotkey. Unzip the files there, and copy them into a new folder of your choice. Mine is E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\. Since I have a 64-bit machine, like most of today's machines, I then copy AutoHotkeyU64.exe to AutoHotkey.exe. In other words, you just make a copy of the 64-bit version, and name it AutoHotkey.exe. Next, yes, put the script into a plain text file, such as hotstrings.ahk. You are just using ".ahk" as the file extension, instead of ".txt", for example. That is what I call mine, "hotstrings.ahk". You can put that text file anywhere you like. Next, you can set up a shortcut to AutoHotkey.exe: right-click on AutoHotkey.exe, and select "Create shortcut". Once you have that shortcut, right-click on it, and select "Properties". It will show you the path to the target (AutoHotkey.exe), such as E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\AutoHotkey.exe. Add to that target a space and then the full path to hotstrings.ahk (and may be safest to use quotes around it). You now have a Windows shortcut that will execute your script: it runs AutoHotkey and uses your script as the "command-line parameter", which means that your script runs whenever you execute that shortcut. You can now copy that shortcut into your Startup folder if you like, so that it runs every time you start your computer. Once you have that script running, the commands inside the script, such as for CTRL-P, will remain active. While the script is running, you will see the green AutoHotkey "H" icon in the Windows system tray.

[TJVatlanta]

On 12/17/2018 at 6:34 PM, mikeyww said:

OK. I'll try to make this work for you. I typically download the portable version of AutoHotkey. Unzip the files there, and copy them into a new folder of your choice. Mine is E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\. Since I have a 64-bit machine, like most of today's machines, I then copy AutoHotkeyU64.exe to AutoHotkey.exe. In other words, you just make a copy of the 64-bit version, and name it AutoHotkey.exe. Next, yes, put the script into a plain text file, such as hotstrings.ahk. You are just using ".ahk" as the file extension, instead of ".txt", for example. That is what I call mine, "hotstrings.ahk". You can put that text file anywhere you like. Next, you can set up a shortcut to AutoHotkey.exe: right-click on AutoHotkey.exe, and select "Create shortcut". Once you have that shortcut, right-click on it, and select "Properties". It will show you the path to the target (AutoHotkey.exe), such as E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\AutoHotkey.exe. Add to that target a space and then the full path to hotstrings.ahk (and may be safest to use quotes around it). You now have a Windows shortcut that will execute your script: it runs AutoHotkey and uses your script as the "command-line parameter", which means that your script runs whenever you execute that shortcut. You can now copy that shortcut into your Startup folder if you like, so that it runs every time you start your computer. Once you have that script running, the commands inside the script, such as for CTRL-P, will remain active. While the script is running, you will see the green AutoHotkey "H" icon in the Windows system tray.

So wonderful for you to take the time to write this out! When I have time to sit down [hopefully over the next couple of days] and decipher this I'm going to try it! I so hope this works for me! I'm tired of guessing at what the print box says because it's so small!!!!  

[TJVatlanta]

On 12/19/2018 at 3:14 PM, TJVatlanta said:

So wonderful for you to take the time to write this out! When I have time to sit down [hopefully over the next couple of days] and decipher this I'm going to try it! I so hope this works for me! I'm tired of guessing at what the print box says because it's so small!!!!  

 

On 12/17/2018 at 6:34 PM, mikeyww said:

OK. I'll try to make this work for you. I typically download the portable version of AutoHotkey. Unzip the files there, and copy them into a new folder of your choice. Mine is E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\. Since I have a 64-bit machine, like most of today's machines, I then copy AutoHotkeyU64.exe to AutoHotkey.exe. In other words, you just make a copy of the 64-bit version, and name it AutoHotkey.exe. Next, yes, put the script into a plain text file, such as hotstrings.ahk. You are just using ".ahk" as the file extension, instead of ".txt", for example. That is what I call mine, "hotstrings.ahk". You can put that text file anywhere you like. Next, you can set up a shortcut to AutoHotkey.exe: right-click on AutoHotkey.exe, and select "Create shortcut". Once you have that shortcut, right-click on it, and select "Properties". It will show you the path to the target (AutoHotkey.exe), such as E:\data\utils\autoHotkey\AutoHotkey.exe. Add to that target a space and then the full path to hotstrings.ahk (and may be safest to use quotes around it). You now have a Windows shortcut that will execute your script: it runs AutoHotkey and uses your script as the "command-line parameter", which means that your script runs whenever you execute that shortcut. You can now copy that shortcut into your Startup folder if you like, so that it runs every time you start your computer. Once you have that script running, the commands inside the script, such as for CTRL-P, will remain active. While the script is running, you will see the green AutoHotkey "H" icon in the Windows system tray.

Hi there! Happy New Year! I finally had a chance to put my teeth into this. I made it to the part about right clicking on the AutoHotKey.exe shortcut to get to "Properties". I see the path to where it's save but it does not allow me to add to or change it to add the Full Path of my Hotstrings.ahk location. Am I doing something wrong?

[mikeyww]

Sorry I am not sure why your shortcut would not be modifiable. I have switched to PDF-XChange, which allows the user to set any needed shortcuts.

[mikeyww]

More info on setting up AutoHotkey in case useful.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-cool-autohotkey-scripts-make/