Microsoft Excel XP/X

Printing Basics

Looking at the information on the screen is great but sometimes we wish to have a printout of the information. When printing in Excel XP, you can print the current worksheet or you can print specific parts of the current worksheet. When printing worksheets, you have several options which, along with some tips, are covered in this document.

Printing Tips
Setting a Default Printer
Printing the Current Worksheet
Printing the Entire Workbook
Defining the Print Area
Printing a Range of Cells

Printing Tips

Before you print, look at Print Preview to be sure that the printout will look the way you want it to look. For more information about Print Preview, refer to the Using Print Preview document.

For wide worksheets, you may want to print the information in landscape mode (11" x 8.5") rather than portrait mode (8.5" x 11"). For more information, refer to the Changing the Orientation section of Customizing Page Layout.

The Page Setup dialog box allows you to make many printing modifications, along with the footer and header, centering on the page, and shrinking or expanding to fill the entire page. For more information, refer to About the Page Setup Dialog Box.

WARNING: If you click the PRINT button (from the Standard toolbar), the entire worksheet or print area will print. This option does not stop at the Print dialog box to customize the printing command.

To make selecting a printer from the Print dialog box easier, simply set a default printer that will be automatically used every time you print.

Setting a Default Printer

If you would like your printed documents to be directed to the same printer each time you print, it may be helpful to set a default printer.

Windows:

From the Start menu, select Printers and Faxes
The Printers and Faxes dialog box appears.
Right click on the printer you wish to set as your default printer » select Set As Default Printer
A check appears next to the new default printer.
From the File menu, select Close

Macintosh:

From the desktop, double click the HARD DRIVE
The Hard Drive window opens.
Double click APPLICATIONS
The Applications window opens.
In the scroll box, double click UTILITIES
The Utilities window opens.
In the scroll box, double click PRINT CENTER
The Printer List dialog box appears.
To select a printer from the list, click the printer name
To set selected printer as your default printer, click MAKE DEFAULT

Printing the Current Worksheet

When printing your worksheet, you may have more than one worksheet within the entire workbook. You can print a selected worksheet from the workbook. This will print all the active cells on the current sheet (layer) of the workbook.

From the File menu, select Print ...
The Print dialog box appears.
Under Print what, select Active sheet(s)
Windows: Click OK
Macintosh: Click PRINT

Printing the Entire Workbook

Printing the entire workbook will print all sheets (layers) of the file that contain data.

From the File menu, select Print...
The Print dialog box appears.
Under Print what, select Entire workbook
Windows: Click OK
Macintosh: Click PRINT

Defining the Print Area

Unless you specify a print area, Excel assumes that you want to print the active area of the current worksheet. You can specify a different print area through several options: the Page Setup dialog box, the Print Area command, and the Selection option.

Defining the Print Area: Page Setup Dialog Box

For more information about the Page Setup dialog box Sheet tab options, refer to Sheet Tab Options in the About the Page Setup Dialog Box document.

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
In the Print area text box, type the range of cells to be printed
OR
To select the area:
1. Click COLLAPSE DIALOGor
2. Select the range of cells
3. Click RESTORE DIALOGor
Click OK

Defining the Print Area: Print Area Command

The Print Area command is useful when you want to print a specific range of cells. The print area will remain in Excel's memory until you clear the print area.

Setting the Print Area

Select the cells that you want to print
From the File menu, select Print Area » Set Print Area

Clearing the Print Area

From the File menu, select Print Area » Clear Print Area

Defining the Print Area: Print Dialog Box

Select the cells you wish to print
From the File menu, select Print...
The Print dialog box appears.
Under Print what, make the appropriate selection
Windows: Click OK
Macintosh: Click PRINT

Printing a Range of Cells

If you are printing a range, you can define it prior to going to the Print dialog box or within the Print dialog box. To select a print range, you can either select a range manually or type a range in the Print dialog box. When typing a range, you can use cell references or range names. For information on creating range names, refer to Working with Range Names.

Default Selection Ranges

Unless a print range is given, Excel will define it as everything on the current worksheet. The default would result in a printout containing all cells from A1 to the last column and row that contains information.

Selecting a Print Range Manually

Select the range of cells you want to print
OR
From the Name Box listing, select the appropriate range name
From the File menu, select Print...
The Print dialog box appears.
Under Print what, select Selection
Windows: Click OK
Macintosh: Click PRINT

Typing a Print Range in the Print Dialog Box

From the File menu, select Page Setup...
The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Select the Sheet tab
In the Print area text box, type the range of cells that you want to print
OR
In the Print area text box, type the range name that represents the range of cells that you want to print
To go to the Print dialog box, click PRINT...
Windows: To print, in the Print dialog box, click OK
Macintosh: To print, in the Print dialog box, click PRINT

Selecting Multiple Ranges

Even with well-designed worksheets, you may want to print specific ranges that are not contiguous. Selected ranges will print on separate pages.

Select the first range to be printed
Windows: Hold down the [Ctrl] key and select the second range to be printed
Macintosh: Hold down the [command] key and select the second range to be printed
Repeat step 2 for each additional range to be printed
From the File menu, select Print...
The Print dialog box appears.
Under Print what, select Selection
Windows: Click OK
Macintosh: Click PRINT