Does anybody have issues with the printing funtionality of KB articles?

[Tom_T]

Hello!

When I want to print a knowledge base article - even in the printer friendly view - I do have issues:

• text is cut off at left border
• pictures are not to be seen in print/pdf

When I look at the article - in the browser in KB, in the expert GUI - all is fine.

Using CTRL+P or right click and 'Print' does not work at all.

It si no difference if the graphic/photo/visiual was part of an imported docx file or was uploaded to ServiceNow KB.
Result is the same.

[sisalCarpets]

If you're experiencing issues with the printing functionality of Knowledge Base (KB) articles, you're not alone. Several factors could be causing the problem. Here’s a breakdown of common issues and potential solutions:

1. Formatting Problems

• Issue: KB articles may not print as they appear on the screen, with issues like misaligned text, missing images, or incomplete content.
• Solution: Ensure that the KB article templates are optimized for printing. Adjust CSS settings specifically for print to ensure that all elements render correctly on paper.

2. Browser Compatibility

• Issue: The printing functionality may behave differently across various browsers. For instance, some browsers might cut off content or fail to print background images.
• Solution: Test the printing functionality across different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.) to identify if the issue is browser-specific. Providing guidelines on which browsers are best for printing KB articles might help users.

3. PDF Generation Issues

• Issue: If you’re using a print-to-PDF feature, the resulting PDF may not match the on-screen article due to issues with formatting or content rendering.
• Solution: Implement or adjust a built-in PDF generator for KB articles, ensuring it correctly formats the content before converting it to PDF.

4. Missing Print Button

• Issue: Users may not see a dedicated print button, or the existing one might not work as intended.
• Solution: Add or troubleshoot the print button functionality. Ensure it triggers the correct print dialogue and formats the article for printing.

5. Content-Specific Issues

• Issue: Certain content types, such as embedded videos or dynamic elements, may not print correctly.
• Solution: Include print-specific instructions in the KB article template to handle dynamic content, like suggesting alternative ways to include essential information in print-friendly formats.

6. User Permissions

• Issue: Printing might be restricted based on user roles or permissions, leading to some users being unable to print KB articles.
• Solution: Review and adjust user permissions to ensure that all intended users can access the print functionality.

7. Printer Settings

• Issue: Sometimes the problem lies with the printer settings, such as margins, paper size, or scaling, which can cause KB articles to print incorrectly.
• Solution: Encourage users to check and adjust their printer settings before printing. Providing a guide or preset printer settings for KB articles could help.

8. Contact Support

• If all else fails: Contact your IT or ServiceNow support team to troubleshoot the issue further. They may need to look into the specific configurations of the Knowledge Base module or the ServiceNow instance.

[Rum]

We haven't implemented ServiceNow for everyone at our organization, so far only IT. There are times some non-IT folks may need some info that IT put together that are stored in ServiceNow. I created this KB article on how to print to PDF without losing content and images.

[Tom_T]

Thank you for the guide - but that i snot working on my end. Still visuals/graphics/photos missing within the pdf

[Rum]

If graphics are missing, it could be that they were not imported into ServiceNow for the KB article, only copy & paste. If copy & paste, most likely they won't show. I've seen that a few times.

[Tom_T]

We checked the HTML code - the missing graphics/visuals are available via a ServcieNow sys-id. It is uploaded and available in the system. Furthermore the visuals are within the imported word document. the visuals have not been embedded in the word document. 

Basically - the visual is available in ServiceNow with an individual ID - you can even download it from ServcieNow. And I have tried other KB articles where I used the c&c approach but created the article directly in ServiceNow (no import) - the print works fine including visuals.

Your theory is something to take in consideration but unfortunately not true IMHO. The issues with the visulas happen with imported word documents and to my conclusion - ServcieNow import functionaliyt creates bad HTML code - in regards to formatting and other aspects.