Editing Printing with syntax highlighting independent of your normal highlighting

{{duplicate|284}}
{{review}}
{{TipImported
|id=111
|previous=108
|next=113
|created=2001
|complexity=intermediate
|author=Aric Blumer
|version=6.0
|rating=22/10
|category1=Syntax
|category2=
}}
I have found it undesirable to use <tt>:hardcopy</tt> directly because it uses the current syntax highlighting to determine how to print the text. For example, I like to print comments in italics, but I don't like italic fonts on the screen. This tip will show you how to set up a colorscheme for printing and use it only when you print. This assumes that you are already using a colorscheme.

I copied an existing colorscheme to <tt>~/.vim/colors/print.vim</tt>, and changed all the lines like this:
<pre>
highlight Normal ctermbg=DarkGrey ctermfg=White guifg=White guibg=grey20
</pre>

to this:
<pre>
highlight clear Normal
</pre>

Then I set the syntax groups how I wanted them to be printed on the printer:
<pre>
highlight Comment term=italic cterm=italic gui=italic
highlight Constant term=bold cterm=bold gui=bold
...etc...
</pre>

I then defined the following command and function in my [[vimrc]]:
<pre>
command! -nargs=* Hardcopy call DoMyPrint('<args>')
function DoMyPrint(args)
  let colorsave=g:colors_name
  color print
  exec 'hardcopy '.a:args
  exec 'color '.colorsave
endfunction
</pre>

After this is complete, you can do (use uppercase 'H'):
<pre>
:Hardcopy > /tmp/out.ps
</pre>

or just
<pre>
:Hardcopy
</pre>

==Comments==