diff --git a/electron/package.json b/electron/package.json
index 1306eb68b..c902b2052 100644
--- a/electron/package.json
+++ b/electron/package.json
@@ -6,12 +6,19 @@
   "main": "src/index.js",
   "scripts": {
     "pack": "electron-builder --dir",
-    "dist": "electron-builder"
+    "dist": "electron-builder",
+    "dev": "electron ."
   },
   "build": {
-    "linux": { "target": "dir" },
-    "win": { "target": "dir" },
-    "mac": { "target": "dir" }
+    "linux": {
+      "target": "dir"
+    },
+    "win": {
+      "target": "dir"
+    },
+    "mac": {
+      "target": "dir"
+    }
   },
   "keywords": [],
   "author": "lex",
diff --git a/electron/src/index.js b/electron/src/index.js
index 398a95807..90aaea639 100644
--- a/electron/src/index.js
+++ b/electron/src/index.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import { app, BrowserWindow } from 'electron';
+import { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain, dialog } from 'electron';
+var fs = require('fs');
 
 // Keep a global reference of the window object, if you don't, the window will
 // be closed automatically when the JavaScript object is garbage collected.
@@ -11,8 +12,16 @@ const createWindow = () => {
   mainWindow.maximize();
 
   // and load the index.html of the app.
-  mainWindow.loadURL(process.argv[1]);
+  if (process.argv[1] == ".") {
+	  // run in development mode with `electron . <url>`
+	  var url = process.argv[2];
+  } else {
+	  var url = process.argv[1];
+  }
+  mainWindow.loadURL(url);
 
+  mainWindow.webContents.openDevTools();
+  
   // Emitted when the window is closed.
   mainWindow.on('closed', () => {
     // Dereference the window object, usually you would store windows
@@ -31,3 +40,11 @@ app.on('ready', createWindow);
 app.on('window-all-closed', () => {
     app.quit();
 });
+
+ipcMain.on('print', function (event, pageSize) {
+	mainWindow.webContents.printToPDF({"pageSize": pageSize}, function(error, data) {
+		dialog.showSaveDialog(mainWindow, {"defaultPath": "inkstitch.pdf"}, function(filename, bookmark) {
+			fs.writeFileSync(filename, data, 'utf-8');
+		})
+	})
+})
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/extensions/print_pdf.py b/lib/extensions/print_pdf.py
index 4d8ffbd4d..0cbce4794 100644
--- a/lib/extensions/print_pdf.py
+++ b/lib/extensions/print_pdf.py
@@ -88,18 +88,6 @@ class PrintPreviewServer(Thread):
         def resources(resource):
             return send_from_directory(self.resources_path, resource, cache_timeout=1)
 
-        @self.app.route('/printing/start')
-        def printing_start():
-            # temporarily turn off the watcher while the print dialog is up,
-            # because javascript will be frozen
-            self.last_request_time = None
-            return "OK"
-
-        @self.app.route('/printing/end')
-        def printing_end():
-            # nothing to do here -- request_started() will restart the watcher
-            return "OK"
-
         @self.app.route('/settings/<field_name>', methods=['POST'])
         def set_field(field_name):
             self.metadata[field_name] = request.json['value']
diff --git a/lib/gui/electron.py b/lib/gui/electron.py
index ced3ad668..f1bdeb615 100644
--- a/lib/gui/electron.py
+++ b/lib/gui/electron.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-from glob import glob
 import os
 import subprocess
 import sys
@@ -14,21 +13,14 @@ def open_url(url):
 
     if getattr(sys, 'frozen', None) is not None:
         electron_path = os.path.join(get_bundled_dir("electron"), "inkstitch-gui")
+
+        if sys.platform == "darwin":
+            electron_path += ".app/Contents/MacOS/inkstitch-gui"
+            subprocess.Popen(["open", "-a", electron_path, "--args", url])
+        else:
+            app_process = subprocess.Popen([electron_path, url])
     else:
-        # It's a bit trickier to find the electron app in a development environment.
-        base_dir = get_bundled_dir("electron")
-
-        try:
-            package_dir = glob(os.path.join(base_dir, 'dist', '*-unpacked'))[0]
-        except IndexError:
-            raise Exception("Electron app not found.  Be sure to run 'yarn; yarn dist' in %s." % base_dir)
-
-        electron_path = os.path.join(base_dir, package_dir, "inkstitch-gui")
-
-    if sys.platform == "darwin":
-        electron_path += ".app/Contents/MacOS/inkstitch-gui"
-        app_process = subprocess.Popen(["open", "-a", electron_path, "--args", url])
-    else:
-        app_process = subprocess.Popen([electron_path, url])
+        # if we're not running in a pyinstaller bundle, run electron directly
+        app_process = subprocess.Popen(["yarn", "dev", url], cwd=get_bundled_dir("electron"))
 
     return app_process
diff --git a/print/resources/inkstitch.js b/print/resources/inkstitch.js
index c58aed8a0..32a9a207b 100644
--- a/print/resources/inkstitch.js
+++ b/print/resources/inkstitch.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+var electron = require('electron');
+
 $.postJSON = function(url, data, success=null) {
     return $.ajax(url, {
                         type: 'POST',
@@ -366,13 +368,8 @@ $(function() {
   });
 
   $('button.print').click(function() {
-    // printing halts all javascript activity, so we need to tell the backend
-    // not to shut down until we're done.
-    $.get("/printing/start")
-     .done(function() {
-        window.print();
-        $.get("/printing/end");
-     });
+	  var pageSize = $('select#printing-size').find(':selected').text();
+	  electron.ipcRenderer.send('print', pageSize)
   });
 
   $('button.settings').click(function(){