The Formatting Toolbar

Although Excel 2000 can detect the printable area of your spreadsheet, it is always good to verify your spreadsheet will print out the way you want it by going to the Page Setup under the File menu. There are four sections you can use to format your printout.

The Page Tab lets you choose the orientation of the spreadsheet and allows you to scale it to the size you want. (Be careful with the Scaling section, as it may result in an unreadable printout.) You can also choose the paper size and print quality.

The Margins tab lets you change the margins on the page, including how far the header and footer print out from the edge of the page. If your spreadhseet won't fill an entire page, you can center it on the page horizontally,vertically, or both.

With the Header/Footer tab, you determine what prints in the top and bottom margins of each page. There are combinations to list the name of the file, the owner's name, the current date and/or time, page numbers, or you can make your own with the Customize buttons.

The Sheet tab allows you to select the exact area that should print. You can also allow for a set of rows (or columns) to print on each page, which is helpful for column or row headings. You can also turn on and off the gridlines, add comments, or determine the page order.

Print Preview

The Print Preview button will allow you to see your spreadsheet before sending it to the printer.