INTRODUCTION

Worksheets with lots of data can generate large print jobs, possibly containing hundreds of pages. Waiting until all these pages are printed to verify that the information is printed correctly can cost a lot in both time and printing supplies. To help prevent printing mistakes, use Print Preview to ensure that all the necessary elements appear on the pages being printed.

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Page Break Preview Button

Click Page Break Preview to see exactly what is selected to print (in the print area). If you haven't set the print area, see "Setting the Print Area." If you were already in Page Break Preview view when you clicked the Print Preview button, the toolbar button will display Normal view instead, which will display your entire worksheet (regardless of whether you have set the print area).

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Setup Button in Print Preview

Click the Setup button to open the Page Setup dialog box. Use the Page tab to alter the page orientation and scaling (see "Printing Portrait or Landscape Orientation" and "Printing a Worksheet on One Page"). Use the Margins tab to alter the margins or center your data horizontally and vertically (see "Centering a Worksheet on a Page"). Use the Header/Footer tab to add a header and footer (see "Adding Headers and Footers"). Finally, use the Sheet tab to alter the gridlines and row and column headers (see "Printing Gridlines and Row/Column Headers"), cell comments (see "Printing Cell Comments"), cell errors (see "Printing Cell Error Indicators") and print repeating titles (see "Printing Repeating Row and Column Titles").

INTRODUCTION

Worksheets can include several rows and columns; setting the print area enables you to specify which rows and columns to print. If you don't set a print area, all cells that contain data will be printed. The worksheet in this task contains four tables that span seven pages. By default, all will print unless you set a print area.

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Choosing the print area

You can also select the print area from the Page Setup dialog box (open the File menu and choose Page Setup, and then select the Sheet tab) as long as you aren't in Print Preview mode. Click the Print area button and select the cells you want to print in your worksheet using the mouse. When finished, click the Print area button again on the shrunken dialog box, and the cell location will be indicated on the Sheet tab.

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Long and short dashes

The long dashed lines in your worksheet indicate the print area, and the smaller dashed lines indicate the current page margins. If your print area data (long dashed lines) falls outside the current page margins (short dashed lines), you will need to alter the page margins (see the next task).

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Clearing the print area

If you only need to set the print area to print a portion of data in your worksheet once, you will probably want to clear the print area after you print. Open the File menu, choose Print Area, and select Clear Print Area.

INTRODUCTION

Margins affect where data is printed on a page. They also determine where headers and footers are printed. Occasionally, margins might need to be changed to make room for a letterhead or logo on preprinted stationery. When in Print Preview mode, Excel allows you to alter your column widths and margins simultaneously.

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Print Preview Button

Click the Print button to open the Print dialog box (refer to the task "Printing Worksheets").

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Entering specific margins

There might be times when you need to set your worksheet margins to a specific measurement. Perhaps your worksheet data is being placed in a binder, and you need to have a left margin of 1.25''. You can alter this in Print Preview mode, or choose File, Page Setup, click the Margins tab, and alter the margins as necessary (Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Header, Footer). Click the OK button to return to your worksheet or Print to print immediately.

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Removing margin indicators

If you no longer want to see the margin lines in Print Preview mode, click the Margins button on the Print Preview toolbar again to turn them off.

INTRODUCTION

When a worksheet page is filled to the margins with data, Excel automatically inserts a page break for you. There may be times, however, when you want to insert a page break manually. For example, if you are creating a report with multiple topic sections, you might want each topic to begin on a new page. Inserting a page break enables you to print each page separately, and the best way to insert page breaks is using Page Break Preview view (instead of Normal view).

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Removing page breaks

To remove a page break, place the active cell so that one of the cell borders is touching the page break line. Then, open the Insert menu and choose Remove Page Break. (You can also do this in Normal view.)

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Why not simply add more rows?

Suppose you want each of two tables that fit on one page to print on separate pages. Instead of inserting a page break, you could add several blank rows to the end of the first table, which will automatically kick the second one onto a second page. If, however, you later add any rows to the first table and forget to delete the same number of blank rows before the second one, the tables might not print correctly.

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Page break intersection

A page break is always inserted as an intersection between rows and columns. If the active cell isn't in the first column, the page break will be inserted as four quadrants.

INTRODUCTION

Page Break Preview mode displays the area you have selected for your set print area. It also allows you to click and drag where your page breaks are instead of using the Insert, Page Break command. You can also edit the text and data just as you can in Normal view.

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Clearing the print area

If you only need to set the print area to print a portion of data in your worksheet once, you will probably want to clear the print area after you print. Open the File menu, choose Print Area, and select Clear Print Area to clear the previously set print area.

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Removing a page break

To remove a page break in Page Break Preview mode, click and drag the page break line off to the right/left/top/bottom of the worksheet.

INTRODUCTION

By default, Excel prints your worksheet at a scale of 100%. You can decrease this percentage if you want to fit more data on a page, or increase it to fit less data on a page. In addition, you can have Excel fit your entire worksheet on one page. (If your worksheet is large, the data might become too tiny to read when scaled down.)

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Changing from letter to legal

To choose a different paper size for your printout, click the Options button in the Page Setup dialog box. The scaling setting automatically adjusts to the selected paper size.

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Returning to the default scale

When you want to return the preview of your worksheet to the default scale, click the Adjust to option button in the Page Setup dialog box and type 100 into the % normal size field.

INTRODUCTION

Depending on the data in your worksheet, you might want to change its orientation from Portrait (vertical, the default) to Landscape (horizontal).

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Switching back to Portrait

You can easily switch your worksheet back to Portrait orientation by following the steps in this task, selecting the Portrait option button in step 2.

INTRODUCTION

If you want a cleaner, more professional looking printout for a presentation, you might want to center your worksheet data on the page before you print it. This is a particularly good idea if you plan to print your worksheet on one page.

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Centering vertically or horizontally

You don't have to center your data both vertically and horizontally. You can choose one or the other, depending on how you want your printed worksheet to look.

INTRODUCTION

By default, Excel doesn't print worksheet gridlines or row/column headers. You can, however, instruct Excel to print them. Gridlines help you read information in a printed worksheet, keeping rows and columns of data visually organized. Row and column headers can help you quickly find data in your worksheet.

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Repeating titles

Displaying row and column headers is not the same as printing repeating titles. Repeating titles are column headers and row headers that you have assigned in your worksheet. For more information, see the task "Printing Repeating Row and Column Titles" later in this part.

INTRODUCTION

Some cells contain data or formulas that require an explanation or special attention. Comments provide a way to attach this type of information to individual cells. A red triangle in the upper-right corner of the cell indicates that a comment is present. This task shows you how to print your worksheets so that the printouts include the information in your comments, either as they appear in the worksheet or at the end of the worksheet.

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As displayed on sheet

You must have your comments "showing" in your worksheet (choose View, Comments) for them to display when the As displayed on sheet option is selected. If they aren't showing, they won't display in the printout or in Print Preview.

INTRODUCTION

When you print worksheets for friends or colleagues (or even yourself), calculation errors that appear on your worksheet can create a negative impression, which is why they're not printed by default. If you want these errors to be visible in your printout, however, you can display them, or replace them with any of the following: <blank>, --, or #N/A.

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Errors that print

All the error messages explained in Part 5 (#DIV/0!, #Name?, #Value!, #REF!, and Circular Reference errors) will print in this task, except the ##### error (unless your columns are too narrow in the printed version).

INTRODUCTION

You might have noticed that when a worksheet spans multiple pages, it is difficult to keep the column and row titles organized. A quick way to rectify this is to make particular titles repeat on each page of the printed worksheet. In this task, you'll learn how to make row headers repeat.

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Repeating titles in Print Preview

You cannot assign repeating titles while you are in Print Preview mode; you must be in the worksheet view and select File, Page Setup.

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Repeating column headings

To repeat column headings across several pages, follow the steps in this task, but click the Columns to repeat at left selection box in step 2. Then, click the columns you want to repeat, and proceed as normal.

INTRODUCTION

Headers and footers appear at the top and bottom of printed pages of Excel worksheets and can display the filename, the date and time the worksheet was printed, the worksheet's name, or you can create your own custom header or footer.

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Creating custom headers and footers

You can create your own custom header or footer by clicking the appropriate Custom Header or Custom Footer button in the Page Setup dialog box. A separate Header or Footer dialog box will appear, allowing you to click a button to place text or any the following fields in the header/footer: Page number, Total Pages number, Date, Time, Path & Filename, Filename only, tabs, and insert graphic objects. For example, you could add page numbers and the total page count to the header or footer.

INTRODUCTION

Printing a worksheet, workbook, or chart sheet is quite simple, but setting the options for printing can be complex. The number of options that must be set before printing depends on the amount of data stored in the workbook, how it is arranged, how much of it needs to be printed, and how you want the printout to look.

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Quick printing

If you simply click the Print button on the Standard toolbar, your entire worksheet will print using the default printing options unless you have changed them beforehand.

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Setting additional print options

To set additional print options, such as the paper size, graphic options, font options, and printer details, click the Properties button in the Print dialog box.

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Vertical or horizontal page order

If you are working with a large worksheet, you can specify the page order by which your worksheet is printed. Open the File menu and choose Page Setup, and select the Sheet tab. Review the options of Down, then over (default) and Over, then down in the Page order area of the Page Setup dialog box. This is convenient if you have numerous columns that you want printed according to a specific row header.

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Canceling printing

Click the Cancel button to cancel printing. Alternatively, if you've already sent the workbook to the printer, double-click on the Printer icon in the system tray (to the left of the clock on the taskbar) and click Cancel.