Safari Export as PDF vs. macOS Print to PDF Differences

While both Safari's "Export as PDF" option and the standard macOS "Print to PDF" feature allow you to save webpages for offline viewing, they produce very different results. This article explains the key differences between the two methods—focusing on pagination, website styling, background graphics, and customization options—so you can choose the right method for your needs.

Pagination and Page Breaks

Export as PDF (located in Safari under File > Export as PDF) captures the webpage as one continuous, unbroken vertical document. It does not divide the content into standard paper sizes. Because there are no page breaks, images, tables, and blocks of text are never awkwardly split in half.

Print to PDF (accessed via File > Print and selecting "Save as PDF" at the bottom of the dialog) formats the webpage as if it is being sent to a physical printer. It divides the webpage into standard sheets of paper, such as US Letter or A4, and adds margins. This often results in awkward page breaks that cut through images or paragraphs.

Website Styling (Screen vs. Print)

Export as PDF uses the webpage's standard screen layout. The resulting PDF looks virtually identical to what you see in the Safari window, meaning it retains navigation bars, sidebars, advertisements, and comment sections.

Print to PDF triggers the webpage's specific "print stylesheet," if the web developer has created one. This automatically strips away clutter like navigation menus, sidebars, and ads, reformatting the page to leave only the main body text and essential images for easier reading.

Background Colors and Graphics

Export as PDF automatically preserves all background colors, dark-mode themes, gradients, and background images. The visual aesthetic of the site remains completely intact.

Print to PDF removes background colors and background images by default, converting the document to dark text on a plain white background to simulate saving printer ink. If you want backgrounds included using this method, you must manually check the "Print backgrounds" box inside the print dialog settings.

Customization and Control

Export as PDF is a one-click process with zero customization. When you select it, you are only prompted to name the file and choose where to save it on your Mac.

Print to PDF provides extensive control over the final document before you save it. Using the macOS Print dialog, you can:

• Change the page orientation between portrait and landscape.
• Adjust the scaling to make the text and images larger or smaller.
• Select a specific range of pages to save rather than the entire webpage.
• Toggle headers and footers on or off, which adds the webpage title, URL, date, and page numbers to the margins.
• Add metadata, such as the author, title, and security passwords, via the "PDF" dropdown menu.

Which One Should You Use?

Use Export as PDF when you want an exact visual snapshot of a webpage, want to preserve the site's design, or prefer to scroll through the PDF continuously on a screen without interruption.

Use Print to PDF when you plan to physically print the document later, need the file to conform to standard paper dimensions, or want a clean, text-focused document stripped of website navigation and clutter.