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Documentation / User FAQ / Calc / Previous-Next
How do I print my spreadsheets?
In general, the best way to print large spreadsheets is to first preview the print output, then adjust the print settings to arrive at the desired effect. The following mini-procedures explain the main options for printing spreadsheets.
Previewing the print area:
- With the spreadsheet open, go to File > Page Preview in the drop-down menus.
- In the window that appears, use the navigation buttons on the tool bar to view the print. If the spreadsheet is too large for one page, some columns may appear on additional pages.
- To close the preview window, click the Close Preview button to the right of the navigation buttons on the toolbar.
- Make adjustments to the print settings, then preview again. Repeat until the print displays in the desired format.
Note: This command will allow you to see the current page number assignments for the data that you want to print. This is especially useful when only a portion of the spreadsheet is to be printed, or when several print ranges are associated with one Calc file.
Formatting the page:
- With the spreadsheet open, go to Format > Page... in the drop-down menus.
- In the dialog that appears, select the Page tab.
- Set the paper size.
- Specify the Orientation of the page: click on the checkbox next to Portrait or Landscape.
- Adjust the margins, if needed.
- Set the table alignment to align the table to the page.
- Click OK, or click other
tabs in this box to acess more formatting options.
Adjusting the page breaks:
- With the spreadsheet open, select View > Page Break Preview.
- Place the cursor exactly on top of one of the (blue) page edge lines, then drag each edge to adjust the page boundaries as desired.
- To toggle this view off, select View > Page Break Preview.
Note: If everything appears gray, this means that no print ranges are defined. If a print range is defined, the printing area will show up with a white background with a blue outline at the page boundary. A gray 'Page N', where 'N' is the page sequence number for the sheet, will appear in the middle of the print area. If no range is defined for printing, follow the instructions below.
Setting the area to be printed:
- Go to the desired sheet.
- Click and drag to select (highlight) the area of the sheet to be printed.
- In the drop-down menus, go to Format > Print Ranges > Add.
- Repeat the above steps for each sheet of the file to be printed.
Adjusting the printout to fit onto one page:
- With the spreadsheet open, select Format > Page...
- In the dialog that appears, select the Sheet tab.
- In the lower right corner of the dialog, there is a Reduce/enlarge printout scale control. Enter a value that you think will make the data fit on the page.
- Click OK.
- Use Page Preview (instructions above) to see a preview of what will print. Readjust if necessary.
Adjusting the maximum number of pages on which the print should fit:
- With the spreadsheet open, select Format > Page...
- In the dialog that appears, select the Sheet tab.
- At bottom of the dialog there is a scale control labeled, Fit printout on number of pages. Click the checkbox next to it; then enter the desired number of pages for the printout.
- Click OK.
- Use Page Preview (instructions above) to see a preview of what will print. Readjust if necessary.
Printing only a portion of the spreadsheet (a range of rows or columns):
- In the spreadsheet where the data lives, click and drag the mouse over the cells to select (highlight) the rows or columns to be printed.
- Select Format > Print Ranges.
- In the print dialog that appears, click the checkbox next to Edit... at lower left.
- Click OK.
Note: Printing a selected range of data is also controlled by print scaling. If the data selected does not fit on the desired number of pages, adjust the Scale using either of the scaling procedures above (scale by percentage or by number of pages allowed).
Editing the print range:
- With the spreadsheet open, select Format > Print Ranges > Edit.
- In the print dialog that appears, look at the Print range setting. It is probably set to user defined and shows a range of cells.
- Adjust the cell definition in the range of cells, or select None to clear the print range.
- Click OK.
- If there are no settings, or they are cleared, use one of the other methods shown to set your print ranges.
Printing a spreadsheet in the middle of the paper:
- With the spreadsheet open, select Format > Page...
- In the dialog that appears, select the Page tab.
- In the Table alignment section, select (or deselect as desired) the boxes next to Horizontal and Vertical. A visual of the table alignment settings will show in the small graphic on the same page as these parameters.
For more information:
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