3.1 The Page Layout Tab — Overview

The Page Layout tab controls how your spreadsheet appears on a printed page or exported PDF. It does not affect how data looks on screen during editing — only how it appears when reproduced on paper.

Switching to Page Layout View

Before configuring page layout, switch to Page Layout View to see exactly how the spreadsheet will print — with rulers, page edges, headers, and footers visible:

• View tab → Workbook Views → Page Layout
• — or — click the middle view icon in the Status Bar (bottom-right of the Excel window)
• Return to normal editing: View → Normal

3.2 Margins

Margins are the blank space between the edge of the paper and the start of your content. Correct margins ensure your spreadsheet prints cleanly without being cut off at the edges.

Applying Preset Margins

1. Page Layout tab → Page Setup group → Margins
2. Choose a preset:

Custom Margins

1. Page Layout → Margins → Custom Margins…
2. The Page Setup dialog opens on the Margins tab
3. Set exact values (in cm) for Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Header, and Footer
4. Center on page: tick Horizontally to centre content between left and right margins — ideal when the printed table is narrower than the page. Tick Vertically to centre top-to-bottom on the page.
5. Click OK or Print Preview to verify

3.3 Paper Orientation & Size

Orientation

• Page Layout → Page Setup → Orientation
• Portrait — taller than wide (210 × 297 mm for A4). Default. Best for lists, employee records, invoices, and most standard reports.
• Landscape — wider than tall (297 × 210 mm for A4). Best for wide tables with many columns — salary schedules, project timelines, financial comparisons.

Paper Size

• Page Layout → Page Setup → Size
• A4 (21 cm × 29.7 cm) ★ — the standard in South Africa and most of the world. Always verify this is selected.
• Other sizes: A3 (29.7 × 42 cm) for large charts; A5 (14.8 × 21 cm) for small forms; Legal (21.6 × 35.6 cm) for legal documents.

3.4 Print Area

By default, Excel prints everything on the sheet that contains data. The Print Area lets you define exactly which cells print — useful when your sheet has working calculations, scratch data, or notes you don't want to appear in the final output.

Setting a Print Area

1. Select the cells you want to print (e.g., A1:H45)
2. Page Layout → Page Setup → Print Area → Set Print Area
3. A dashed border appears around the selected range — only this area will print
4. The print area is saved with the workbook and persists between sessions

Adding to an Existing Print Area

1. Select the additional cells to include
2. Page Layout → Print Area → Add to Print Area
3. The two ranges print as separate pages in the output

Clearing the Print Area

• Page Layout → Print Area → Clear Print Area — Excel reverts to printing all data-containing cells
• The print area is stored as a named range called Print_Area — visible in the Name Box dropdown

3.5 Page Breaks — Controlling Where Pages Split

When content spans multiple pages, Excel automatically inserts page breaks based on paper size and margins. You can override these to ensure logical data groupings always stay on the same page.

Viewing Page Breaks

1. View → Workbook Views → Page Break Preview
2. Blue dashed lines = automatic page breaks • Solid blue lines = manually set breaks
3. The print area is shaded white; non-printing areas are grey
4. Drag any page break line to reposition it — include more or fewer rows/columns per page

Inserting a Manual Page Break

1. Click the row below where you want the new page to start (e.g., click row 21 to start a new page before row 21)
2. Page Layout → Page Setup → Breaks → Insert Page Break
3. A solid blue line appears above the selected row

For a vertical break (split into left and right pages): click the column to the right of the desired break → Breaks → Insert Page Break.

Removing Page Breaks

• Single break: click the row/column at the break → Breaks → Remove Page Break
• All manual breaks: Breaks → Reset All Page Breaks

3.6 Scale to Fit

Scale to Fit automatically shrinks or enlarges the printed output to fit within a specific number of pages — without manually adjusting font sizes or margins.

Scale to Fit Controls

3.7 Print Titles — Repeating Headers on Every Page

When a table spans multiple printed pages, column headings only appear on the first page by default. Print Titles repeats your header row(s) at the top of every page — making multi-page printouts professional and readable.

Setting Print Titles

1. Page Layout → Page Setup → Print Titles
2. The Page Setup dialog opens on the Sheet tab
3. In "Rows to repeat at top": click the small icon to the right → click your header row in the spreadsheet (e.g., row 1) → the field fills with $1:$1 → click the icon again to return to the dialog
4. In "Columns to repeat at left": select a column to repeat on the left of every page (e.g., column A with employee names)
5. Click OK or Print Preview to verify

3.8 Sheet Options — Gridlines & Headings

Page Layout → Sheet Options group contains quick toggles for what is visible on screen and what is printed. Screen and print settings are controlled independently.

3.9 Sheet Background Image

You can set a background image on a worksheet — it tiles across the sheet behind cell content.

Adding a Background

1. Page Layout → Page Setup → Background
2. The Insert Pictures dialog opens — choose from This Device, Bing image search, or OneDrive
3. Select an image → click Insert

Removing the Background

• Page Layout → Page Setup → Delete Background (the button changes name when a background is active)

3.10 The Backstage View (File Tab)

Clicking the File tab opens the Backstage View — a full-screen interface that handles all file-level operations. Press Esc to return to the spreadsheet without making any changes.

File → Info — The Most Feature-Rich Section

3.11 File → New & File → Open

File → New

• Blank workbook — opens a new empty workbook instantly (Ctrl+N)
• Template search — type a category (Invoice, Budget, Calendar, Expense Report, Project Tracker) → browse Microsoft's online template library → click any → Create
• Personal templates — your own .xltx templates saved to the Templates folder appear as thumbnails
• Templates create a new unnamed copy — the original template is never modified

File → Open

Excel can open CSV, TXT, XML, ODS (OpenDocument), and HTML tables in addition to Excel formats. When opening a non-Excel file, always do Save As → Excel Workbook (.xlsx) to keep it in Excel format.

3.12 File → Print — The Full Print Panel

Press Ctrl+P to open the Print panel — a combined Print Preview + Settings screen. You see exactly what will print on the right while adjusting all settings on the left.

Navigating the Print Preview

• Use the arrows at the bottom of the preview to move between pages
• Click Show Margins (bottom-right of preview) to show draggable margin handles — drag them to adjust margins visually
• Click Page Setup… link (bottom of the left panel) for advanced options including Print Titles and header/footer details

3.13 File → Export — Saving as PDF

Exporting to PDF creates a fixed-layout file that looks identical on every device and cannot easily be edited — the standard format for distributing spreadsheet reports externally.

Exporting to PDF

1. File → Export → Create PDF/XPS Document → click Create PDF/XPS
2. — or — File → Print → Printer dropdown → Microsoft Print to PDF → Print
3. Choose a save location and filename
4. Click Options… before saving:
   • Page range: All / From-To / Entire workbook / Selection
   • Publish what: Active sheet(s) / Entire workbook / Ignore print area
   • Tick "Document structure tags for accessibility"
5. Tick "Open file after publishing" to immediately verify the PDF
6. Click Publish

3.14 Quick Self-Check

Q1: Your salary report has 12 columns that overflow one page wide when printed. Without changing any font sizes, how do you force all columns to fit on a single printed page width?

✓ Page Layout tab → Scale to Fit group → Width → change from Automatic to 1 page. Leave Height as Automatic. This forces all columns to fit on one page wide — rows continue onto additional pages vertically as needed. Always check Print Preview (Ctrl+P) after applying to verify the text is still legible at the reduced scale.

Q2: Your 150-row salary report prints over 6 pages. Column headers in row 1 (Name, Department, Salary, etc.) only appear on the first page. How do you repeat them on all 6 pages?

✓ Page Layout tab → Page Setup group → Print Titles. In the Sheet tab, click the selector icon next to "Rows to repeat at top" → click row 1 in the spreadsheet → field shows $1:$1 → OK. Every printed page now begins with the header row. For a left-side label column (e.g., employee names in column A), use "Columns to repeat at left" and select $A:$A.

Q3: What is the difference between gridlines on screen and gridlines when printing, and which setting controls each?

✓ Screen gridlines and print gridlines are controlled independently via Page Layout → Sheet Options. The View tick box controls whether the grey cell grid is visible while editing. The Print tick box controls whether the grid lines appear on the printed page. Default: gridlines visible on screen but NOT printed. For professional reports, leave the print default OFF and use cell borders (Home → Font → Borders) for printed structure instead — they give full control over colour, thickness, and position.

Q4: You set a sheet background image to display your company logo across the spreadsheet. When you print the sheet, the logo does not appear. Why?

✓ Sheet background images (Page Layout → Background) display on screen only — they do not print. This is a built-in limitation. To get a logo on the printed page, insert it into the header or footer: switch to Page Layout View → click in the header area → Header & Footer tab → Insert Picture → browse to the logo. The image in the header prints on every page.

Q5: You only want to print columns A through F (rows 1 to 50) but columns G through M contain calculations you don't want to print. How do you prevent the calculation columns from printing?

✓ Select the range A1:F50 → Page Layout → Print Area → Set Print Area. A dashed border appears around A1:F50. Only this range will print — columns G:M are excluded. The print area is saved with the workbook. Alternatively: select columns G:M → right-click → Hide. Hidden columns are excluded from printing. Unhide them (right-click between column headers) when you need to edit the calculations.

Q6: What does pressing Ctrl+P open, and name three print settings you can change directly in that panel without going back to the Page Layout tab?

✓ Ctrl+P opens the Print panel (File → Print) — a combined Print Preview and settings screen. Three settings you can change directly in the panel: (1) Orientation — Portrait or Landscape; (2) Paper Size — A4, A3, Letter, etc.; (3) Scaling — No Scaling, Fit Sheet on One Page, Fit All Columns on One Page, etc. You can also change Margins, what to print (active sheets/workbook/selection), and page ranges, all without leaving the Print panel.

✓ Module 3 Complete — You Have Learned:

• Page Layout tab structure — all 5 groups (Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options, Arrange)
• Page Layout View vs Normal View — switching and what each shows
• Margins — 3 preset options (Normal, Wide, Narrow) with measurements; Custom Margins dialog; Centre on page horizontally and vertically; SA standard margins for A4
• Orientation — Portrait vs Landscape with use cases; quick tip for wide tables
• Paper Size — A4 as the SA standard; Letter vs A4 warning; other common sizes
• Print Area — setting, adding to, clearing; the Print_Area named range
• Page Breaks — Page Break Preview; inserting horizontal and vertical breaks; removing individual and all breaks; drag to reposition
• Scale to Fit — Width (1 page ★), Height (Automatic), Scale percentage; caution on over-shrinking
• Print Titles — Rows to repeat at top ($1:$1); Columns to repeat at left ($A:$A); salary report example
• Sheet Options — Gridlines View/Print independently controlled; Headings View/Print
• Background image — adding and removing; does not print; use header/footer for print-visible images
• Backstage View (File tab) — all 12 menu items with shortcuts; File → Info features (Protect Workbook, Check for Issues, Manage Workbook, Properties, Version History)
• File → New — Blank workbook, template search, personal templates; templates never modify the original
• File → Open — Recent, OneDrive/SharePoint, This PC, Browse; opening non-Excel file types
• File → Print — all settings (Copies/Collated, Printer, Print What, Pages, Orientation, Paper Size, Margins, Scaling); Show Margins draggable handles; Page Setup link
• File → Export — Create PDF/XPS; Options settings; Open after publishing; PDF export best practice