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Microsoft Excel XP/X

Customizing Page Layout

In order to fit information on a page or change the appearance of the page, you may want to customize your page layout. Several methods of changing the layout, located in the Page Setup dialog box, are described here.

return to topChanging the Orientation

Most documents are portrait (tall) oriented, but many worksheets may be easier to read in the landscape (wide) mode. In addition, changing the orientation can also help to fit a large worksheet to one sheet of paper. After changing the orientation, you may need to proceed with Changing the Paper Size.

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.
    Page Setup dialog box

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Page tab

  3. Under Orientation, select the desired option (Portrait or Landscape)

  4. Click OK

return to topChanging the Paper Size

The default paper size is 8 1/2" x 11" sheets, but you can select other available paper sizes, such as legal (11" x 14"). To select a different paper size:

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Page tab

  3. Macintosh Only: Click OPTIONS...

  4. From the Paper size pull-down list, select the desired size

  5. Click OK
    Paper size pull-down list

return to topAdjusting the Scale

The scaling option allows you to adjust the actual size of the printed copy. The default size of the printed copy is 100%. You can adjust the scale to a percentage of the normal size or you can choose to fit the worksheet to a specific number of pages; both allow you to reduce or enlarge the entire worksheet. These options are described below.

Adjusting by Percentage

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Page tab

  3. Under Scaling, select Adjust to

  4. In the % normal size text box, type the appropriate percentage
    OR
    Click the up or down arrow

  5. Click OK

Fitting to Pages

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Page tab

  3. Under Scaling, select Fit to

  4. In the page(s) wide by tall text boxes, type the number of pages wide by the number of pages tall
    OR
    Click the up or down arrow

  5. Click OK

return to topAdjusting the Margins

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Margins tab

  3. In the appropriate Margin text box, type the new margin
    OR
    Click the up or down arrow

  4. Click OK

Adjusting the Header and Footer Margins

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Margins tab

  3. In the Header and Footer text boxes, type the new margins
    OR
    Click the up or down arrow

  4. Click OK

return to topCentering the Worksheet on the Page

  1. From the File menu, select Page Setup...
    The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

  2. From the Page Setup dialog box, select the Margins tab

  3. To center within the left and right margins, under Center on page, select Horizontally

  4. To center within the top and bottom margins, under Center on page, select Vertically

  5. Click OK

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