Spreadsheets: Printing in a Range of Views and Selections

The Basics of Spreadsheet Printing

Printing in spreadsheets can be a vital task, particularly when sharing data with people who may not have direct access to the digital file.
The option to print spreadsheets is usually found under the File menu in most spreadsheet software.
The “Print Preview” is an essential feature that displays how the spreadsheet will appear when printed. It’s crucial to check this before printing.

Spreadsheets offer multiple views for printing, including Normal, Page Layout, and Page Break Preview.
The Normal view is the default view of spreadsheets, showing cells, rows, columns, and any applied formatting.
Page Layout view gives an actual representation of how the spreadsheet will look when printed, including margins, headers, footers, etc.
Page Break Preview lets you adjust where pages will break when printed, making it easier to manage larger datasets.
It is important to understand the difference between these views and use them appropriately for differing needs.

Spreadsheet software allows the printing of the entire sheet, active sheets, selected cells, or a defined print area.
Print selection can be very helpful when only a part of the spreadsheet needs to be printed.
It’s possible to define a specific print area that will remain the default thing to be printed unless changed.
Always remember that the selected area or print area should include all vital data that needs to be printed.

When dealing with a wide selection that doesn’t fit onto one page, you can opt for scaling options.
Fit to page is a type of scaling that reduces the size of the printed range to fit the paper size.
Alternatively, wide datasets can be printed over multiple pages by adjusting the page orientation to landscape and playing around with the margins.

Headers and footers provide additional information about the document such as file name, page number, date or a custom text.
Page numbering can be useful when dealing with multi-page documents for easy navigation and organisation.
Understanding the options for adding and formatting headers, footers and page numbers can boost the presentation of your printed spreadsheets.

Remember to practice these techniques and familiarise yourself with your spreadsheet software’s printing options. Happy revising!