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Thursday, June 15, 2000
Q: When printing spreadsheets, they never print properly. In many cases, they print on multiple pages when I really want them to print on a single page. How do I fix this?
A: Printing with spreadsheets is a challenge for many users, because unlike word processors, which are almost always used to create nicely printed pages, spreadsheets are often used as working tools -- in which your printed page is not as important as the data and computations on your screen. So most people spend their time learning how to compute with them -- not how to format pages for good looks. But spreadsheet programs such as Excel, Quattro Pro and Lotus 1-2-3 can produce nicely formatted pages.
If you print using the default settings, and if your spreadsheet is large, it will often create printed pages that run over -- and the result will be extra pages -- either with the right column(s) on a separate page, or the bottom row(s) on a separate page. Even if you have only one extra column or line, you'll have the same result. If you have both, you'll end up with four pages instead of one -- with three of the four mostly blank.
It's very easy to correct this situation.
If you're using Excel, highlight the entire range of cells that you want to print, using your mouse. Then select [File] from your drop-down menu, then [Print Area >]. When the option appears, click on [Set Print Area]. Now the area that you have highlighted will be the area that is printed on your page.
This will remove all the excess data outside the selected area that you don't want to show up on your page, but still want on your sheet. On your spreadsheet you'll see horizontal and vertical dotted lines at the borders of the print area to signify what will actually be on the printed page.
Now that you've told the application what to print, tell it how to print it. First, select [File], then [Page Setup]. Find the section on the Page tab labeled "Scaling", where it will give you two choices of how to fit the print area to the page. Click on the option that says, "Fit to," and set it to one page wide by one page tall.
Setting a custom print area is one of those tricks that you'll find indispensable. In fact, you'll probably want to use it often. So place it on your tool bar behind a button.
Have a question for David Radin? Contact him at his Web site
In the latest version of Excel, it's even easier than in older versions. Select [View], then [Page Break Preview]. This will put your entire screen into a mode that will show you your page breaks -- and allow you to drag and drop the page breaks so you can select which columns fall on which pages.
If you have the wrong number of pages, simply go to Page Setup; then use your mouse to drag the dotted lines that show where each page border lies. When you're done, return to Normal view.
Serbian Badman Trojan Attack
This recent computer attack poses as a movie file. Instead of playing a movie though, the attack program downloads a potentially harmful program onto your computer.
Even though the attack has not been widespread, it can wreak havoc if your system is infected. It can hurt your system, your data and the Internet community by using your system as a zombie to attack e-businesses. We've posted additional information about this attack at www.insiderradio.com/pg.
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