Can LaTeX do non-printable graphical elements?

Question

Is there a way to make some graphical elements to be non-printable, i.e. prints as white, while staying fully visible on screen?

Here's a MWE to play and have fun with:

\documentclass[11pt,letterpaper,twoside]{book}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[total={6in,10in},left=1.5in,top=0.5in,includehead,includefoot]{geometry}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{eso-pic}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{showframe}
\newlength{\distance}
\setlength{\distance}{0.0in}
\newlength{\rulethickness}
\setlength{\rulethickness}{0.5in}
\newlength{\ruleheight}
\setlength{\ruleheight}{\paperheight}
\newlength{\xoffset}
\newlength{\yoffset}
\setlength{\yoffset}{0pt}
\AddToShipoutPicture{%
    \setlength\fboxsep{0pt}%
    \ifodd\value{page}%
        \setlength{\xoffset}{\distance}%
    \else
        \setlength{\xoffset}{\dimexpr\paperwidth-\rulethickness-\distance}%
    \fi
    \AtPageLowerLeft{%
        \put(\LenToUnit{\xoffset},\LenToUnit{\yoffset}){%
        \colorbox{lightgray}{\parbox[b][\ruleheight][c]{\rulethickness}{%
        \centering
        \ifodd\value{page}%
            \rotatebox[origin=cB]{90}{\color{red}{\large{\normalfont\textsc{Copyright notice}}}}%
        \else
            \rotatebox[origin=cB]{90}{\color{blue}{\huge{\normalfont\textsc{Some Title}}}}%
        \fi
    }}}}%
}
\begin{document}
Test
\newpage
Another page
\end{document}

This code draws a gray vertical bar in the inner margins, with some copyright notice. I need it to stay visible while reading the PDF document on screen. But I would also like it to turn completely invisible when printed on paper. Is that possible with some LaTeX commands?

EDIT: Oups ! This question appears to be a duplicate of this one : Create element in pdf that doesn't print to paper

Also, the accsupp package allows one thing to go to the visible layer and something else to go to the PDF data layer. For example, like this: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/241968/how-to-protect-a-word-from-finding-by-google-search-machines/388006#388006. However, this may not be exactly what you are looking for, as this is more for copy/paste protection. — Steven B. Segletes, Mar 31 '21 at 22:00
The OCG method presented in the linked answer works only with a small set of PDF viewers: Acrobat Reader and Chrome PDF plugin. Another solution could be based on a non-printable PDF annotation which works with most other (or all?) PDF viewers too, such as Evince and Okular. — AlexG, Apr 01 '21 at 08:00

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 01 '21 at 10:13

PDF Layers can be configured to not be printed on paper. This solution is used in the answer that was linked in the question. While this OCG-based method can be used with any typeset content, it is supported by only a small set of PDF viewers, namely Acrobat Reader and the Chromium PDF plugin.

For page elements that can be put in a box, as in the present question, another approach based on non-printable PDF annotations is possible. This method works with all known PDF viewers. With this approach, the optional page elements are shown as appearances of non-printable, non-interactive PDF annotations:

\documentclass[11pt,letterpaper,twoside]{book}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usepackage[total={6in,10in},left=1.5in,top=0.5in,includehead,includefoot]{geometry}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{mathtools}
\usepackage{eso-pic}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{showframe}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{pdfbase}
\ExplSyntaxOn
\let\tpPdfAnnot\pbs_pdfannot:nnnn\let\tpPdfLastAnn\pbs_pdflastann:
\let\tpAppendToFields\pbs_appendtofields:n
\def\tpPdfXform{\pbs_pdfxform:nnnnn{1}{1}{}{}}
\let\tpPdfLastXform\pbs_pdflastxform:
\ExplSyntaxOff
% odd
\begin{lrbox}{0}
  \setlength\fboxsep{0pt}%
  \rotatebox{90}{%
    \colorbox{lightgray}{%
      \makebox[\paperheight][c]{%
        \raisebox{-0.5\totalheight+\depth}[0.25in][0.25in]{\large\scshape\color{red}Copyright notice}%
      }%
    }%
  }
\end{lrbox}
\tpPdfXform{0}\edef\oddElem{\tpPdfLastXform}
%even
\begin{lrbox}{0}
  \setlength\fboxsep{0pt}%
  \rotatebox{90}{%
    \colorbox{lightgray}{%
      \makebox[\paperheight][c]{%
        \raisebox{-0.5\totalheight+\depth}[0.25in][0.25in]{\huge\scshape\color{blue}Some Title}%
      }%
    }%
  }
\end{lrbox}
\tpPdfXform{0}\edef\evenElem{\tpPdfLastXform}
\newlength\xoffset
\AddToShipoutPicture{%
  \ifodd\value{page}%
      \setlength{\xoffset}{0pt}%
  \else
      \setlength{\xoffset}{\paperwidth-0.5in}%
  \fi
  \AtPageLowerLeft{%
    \put(\LenToUnit{\xoffset},0){%
      \tpPdfAnnot{0.5in}{\paperheight}{0pt}{%
        /Subtype/Widget/FT/Btn/T (elem.\value{page})%
        /AP<<
          \ifodd\value{page}%
            /N \oddElem        % normal appearance
          \else
            /N \evenElem
          \fi
        >>%
        /Ff 65537 % non-interactive  push button
        /F 0 % visible, but no-print
      }%
      \tpAppendToFields{\tpPdfLastAnn}
    }%
  }%
}
\begin{document}
Test
\newpage
Another page
\end{document}

Can LaTeX do non-printable graphical elements?

1 Answers1