Preview (computing)
Encyclopedia
Preview is a computing
Computing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...

 function to display a document, page, or film before it is produced in its final form. In the case of printed material this is known as "print preview".

Contents Preview

Using Preview feature, users can preview and see the current stage of the process before producing into a final form. Preview lets users to visualize current/final product and correct possible errors easily before finalizing the product. Preview is necessary for markup language editing software like Web development applications.

Web development application like Adobe Dreamweaver and most HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

 editors have 'Preview in Browser' feature. During webpage development, you must preview the page in a browser to see the definitive end result. Though browsers in general produce the same results, each browser version can display HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

 pages somewhat differently. Preview in Browser shows what the codes will appear in specified Web Browser. For seeing the difference and seeing what your site visitors will see after you publish your pages, the Preview function exists.

Video editing applications also have preview feature to see the current product made during the editing process.
Apple Inc.’s video editing software, Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is a non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and then Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro X, runs on Mac personal computers powered by Mac OS X version 10.6.7 or later and using Intel processors...

’s interface has two preview windows, 'Viewer window' and 'Canvas window'. 'Viewer window' lets users to preview clips and decide which one to use. User can also make changes to clips in this window. 'Canvas window' is a program window that shows finished program and letting user to preview the creation so far.

Many interactive websites and online forums allow users to preview their contents before submitting it. This is particularly useful on sites with complex markup (not WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. The term is used in computing to describe a system in which content displayed onscreen during editing appears in a form closely corresponding to its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product...

), where it serves as an opportunity to identify and correct errors and formatting problems before saving the content.



Print Preview

Print Preview is a functionality that lets users see the pages that are about to print, allowing the users to see exactly how the pages will look when they are printed.

By previewing what the layout will look like when printed without actually printing, users can check and fix possible errors before they pursue on the actual printing. Most applications have a Print Preview feature and some applications, like Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...

 or Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...

, automatically open ‘Print Preview’ feature when ‘Print’ menu is selected. This feature is useful for making sure that the layout is the way user expects to be before the actual printing.

Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...

’s Print Preview feature lets users to zoom in/out the document or show multiple pages in a window.
Graphic tools like Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...

’s Print Preview lets users to position and scale the image before printing.

Web browsers also have Print Preview feature so that users can preview how the website contents will be printed out on paper:

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

 has Print Preview feature to prevent accidents like printing ten pages where it ought to print one or printing a page with a background so dark you couldn’t read the text and wasting printer ink. In Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...

 Print Preview, you can adjust the paper size you'll print on, margins, and page orientation of the Web page.
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...

 has Print Preview as an Add-On feature where users need to download and install the plug-in to use.
Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

 Safari (Web browser)
Safari (web browser)
Safari is a web browser developed by Apple Inc. and included with the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems. First released as a public beta on January 7, 2003 on the company's Mac OS X operating system, it became Apple's default browser beginning with Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Safari is also the...

 lets users to preview the web page when Print is clicked. In Print, Preview button shows and by clicking Preview, it opens Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...

 Preview (software)
Preview (software)
Preview is Mac OS X's application for displaying images and Portable Document Format documents. Like Mac OS X itself, it comes from NeXT's OPENSTEP operating system....

application and the print preview of the web page shows up.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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