Microsoft Excel 2003/2004

Other Printing Options

Excel provides many options for modifying how your worksheet will appear on a printed sheet. Most of these options are accessed through the Sheet tab of the Page Setup dialog box; for more information on the Sheet tab, refer to About the Excel Page Setup Dialog Box: Sheet Tab Options.

Printing Gridlines
Printing Row and Column Headings
Repeating Items on Each Page
Changing the Print Quality

Printing Gridlines

Gridlines (outlines of each cell) will not print by default in Excel 2003/2004. Depending on the purpose of the printout, you may or may not want to print the gridlines. For example, gridlines may be useful when you are developing a document such as a report, but you may not want the gridlines printed in the final report that you share with others.

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
Under Print, select Gridlines
Click OK

Printing Row and Column Headings

When both planning and troubleshooting a worksheet, you may find it helpful to print the column (A,B,C...) and row headings (1,2,3...). The column and row headings will not print in your worksheet unless you specify it.

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
Under Print, select Row and column headings
Click OK

Repeating Items on Each Page

When you are working with large worksheets, repeating information (like row or column descriptions) on subsequent pages can help improve the readability of your reports. Although the headers and footers, located in the margins, can be used for adding information, they may not provide you with the flexibility that you need. In the Page Setup dialog box, you can specify print titles for both columns and rows. After print titles have been defined, row headings will appear at the left of the page and column headings will appear at the top of the page when printing a multi-page worksheet.

Setting Print Titles for a Single Row and Column

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
Under Print titles, in the Rows to repeat at top text box, type an absolute row reference for the row you want to repeat
EXAMPLE: If you want row 5 to repeat, type $5:$5
OR
1. Click COLLAPSE DIALOGor
2. Select the row you want to repeat by clicking it
3. Click RESTORE DIALOGor
Under Print titles, in the Columns to repeat at left text box, type an absolute column reference for the column you want to repeat
EXAMPLE: If you want column C to repeat, type $C:$C
OR
1. Click COLLAPSE DIALOGor
2. Select the row you want to repeat by clicking it
3. Click RESTORE DIALOGor
Click OK

Setting Print Titles for Multiple Rows and Columns

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
Under Print titles, in the Rows to repeat at top text box, type the absolute row references for the rows you want to repeat
EXAMPLE: If you want rows 3 and 4 to repeat, type $3:$4
OR
1. Click COLLAPSE DIALOGor
2. Select the rows you want to repeat by clicking the desired first row and dragging to the desired last row
3. Click RESTORE DIALOGor
Under Print titles, in the Columns to repeat at left text box, type the absolute column references for the columns you want to repeat
EXAMPLE: If you want columns C and D to repeat, type $C:$D
OR
1. Click COLLAPSE DIALOGor
2. Select the rows you want to repeat by clicking the desired first row and dragging to the desired last row
3. Click RESTORE DIALOGor
Click OK

Changing the Print Quality

You can change the quality of your printout to print at a higher resolution. Resolution is the number of dots per linear inch (dpi) that appear on the printed page.

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Page tab
From the Print quality pull-down list, select the resolution you want for your printout
Click OK