If you install the Microsoft Generic 'text only' printer you can set it to
print to file and the printout will be usable as plain text.  Of course, it
will have no formatting or layout.

You can get fax printers that print and send a fax, or you can get printer
drivers that create the file is a readable format such as PDF, which
preserves the full formatting and layout and is suitable for e-mailing as
long as you can cope with the large file size. Nowadays you can assume that
the recipient will have (or can get) a PDF reader.