I'm used to in browser design, where I can use dev tools or code inspector to figure out why my CSS isn't resulting in the layout, or font, or whatever I'm expecting.

I've seen others post snippets of code that suggests they are getting access to something like this for their projects but I haven't found anything in the documentation about how they are doing this (unless it's the record and replay, debug script, or maybe it's the box tracker api? none of those sections really show inspecting the styles, so, hard to say). So how *do* you figure out why something isn't being placed where and how you are expecting it? If it matters, I'm on linux, so I don't have access to the gui.

Applying borders (or in the latest build, outlines) to content can help to see where things are ending up. Many people also load the HTML in a browser to use the developer tools there to inspect the style, although that will not help with Prince-specific PDF issues.

yeah, loading in to browser won't help the one issue I'm working with right now (using prince's float extension to float two images next to each other, but center the "combined" image on the page) or most of the issues I've posted about - which were either missing a note in the documentation about when some prince specifics don't apply or tracking down interactions between browser css and the prince specific extensions, or, checking whether something on the list had been released (or trying to build a work around like with absolute positioning in a certain area of the page). Borders and backgrounds I've been using to find stuff, figuring out why it's not where I expect it, though.....

It would be wonderful to have an equivalent of browser developer tools for Prince, but that would take a considerable amount of work to create. It is true that it is usually harder to determine why something does not happen, than explain why something does happen.

It would be wonderful, and I do appreciate the amount of work that would be involved to write such a function. Perhaps someday someone will have the time and "speak" the right language to try it (all good if it never happens too). Having such a thing available would probably have avoided the unnecessary (and somewhat condescending) "teaching" going on elsewhere.