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Huh. It seems odd that the host application would need to launch for all types of files in this scenario. I can drag and drop a PDF file for example on a desktop printer and it just sends the file off to print. No need for Preview or Adobe Reader to launch (though the desktop printer app does launch of course). The same is not true for selecting "Print" from the Finder with QuickLook open. I wonder why it works like this?

Yeah, it is odd (and thanks for pointing out this difference between the two techniques). It seems PDF files enjoy a special relationship with Desktop Printers not found in Quick Look.

Another option is to use Grab, although it's not perfect either. Choose Window from the Capture menu in Grab, then use Quick Look to select your file, then go back to the Grab window and click "Choose Window", and then finally click the Quick Look window. It will take a snapshot which you can then print directly from Grab. This only works for one-page documents, but it does avoid opening individual applications.

I've noticed that hyperlinks (email addresses and web pages) are "clickable" when viewing with Quick Look. This is nice. If Quick Look can do this, then why not more?
Maybe more than printing, the most useful addition to Quick Look would be the ability to copy and paste! I often need to grab a little snippet of information from a document and it would be great to Quick Look it and highlight and copy it--rather than having to opening the file in its application.