Green Daily

Ever try to print a web page or document only to end up with 16 almost blank pages and two pages with actual content? You could search for a printer friendly version of a web site, but not every web page has one. Or you could try the print preview feature, and only print the pages you need. But that doesn't always yield accurate results.

GreenPrint offers another solution. This Windows application acts like print preview on steroids. Once installed, all you have to do is select GreenPrint as your printer and before a page goes to your real printer you'll get a window like the one above. GreenPrint will automatically mark pages with little to no content as pages that should not be printed. You can then go in and select other pages to skip, or choose not to print images or text on selected pages.

GreenPrint's been around for a while, but only as a commercial application. After a 2 week free trial, you had to shell out $35 for the software. Considering you can pick up a cheap printer for not much more, the price always seemed a little steep to me. But now the company is offering GreenPrint World, a free advertising-supported version of their software.

GreenPrint World is available as a free download for home, non-profit, or educational users. The company still sells a commercial version of its software for business use, or for anyone who doesn't like to deal with banner ads in their computer software.