Part I: Getting Started with Excel
Table 7.1 might make printing seem more complicated than it really is. The key point to
remember is this: if you can’t find a way to make a particular adjustment, it’s probably
available from the Page Setup dialog box.
Choosing your printer
To switch to a different printer or output device, choose File ➪ Print, and use the drop-
down control in the Printer section to select a different installed printer.
To adjust printer settings, click the Printer Properties link to display a property box for the selected printer. The exact
dialog box that you see depends on the printer. The Properties dialog box lets you adjust printer-specific settings,
such as the print quality and the paper source. In most cases, you won’t have to change any of these settings, but if
you’re having print-related problems, you may want to check the settings.
Specifying what you want to print
Sometimes you may want to print only part of the worksheet rather than the entire active
area. Or you may want to reprint selected pages of a report without printing all the pages.
Choose File ➪ Print, and use the controls in the Settings section to specify what to print.
You have several options:
Print Active Sheets Prints the active sheet or sheets that you selected. (This option is
the default.) You can select multiple sheets to print by pressing Ctrl and clicking the sheet
tabs. If you select multiple sheets, Excel begins printing each sheet on a new page.
Print Entire Workbook Prints the entire workbook, including chart sheets.
Print Selection Prints only the range that you selected before choosing File ➪ Print.
Print Selected Chart Appears only if a chart is selected. If this option is chosen, only the
chart will be printed.
Print Selected Table Appears only if the cell pointer is within a table (created by choos-
ing Insert ➪ Tables ➪ Table) when the Print Setting screen is displayed. If this option is
chosen, only the table will be printed.
You can also choose Page Layout ➪ Page Setup ➪ Print Area ➪ Set Print Area to specify the range(s) to print.
Before you choose this command, select the range(s) that you want to print. To clear the print area, choose Page
Layout ➪ Page Setup ➪ Print Area ➪ Clear Print Area. To override the print area, select the Ignore Print Area check
box in the list of Print What options.
The print area does not have to be a single range. You can select multiple areas before you set the print area. Each
area will print on a separate page.
