30.1 Print Preview — Always Check Before Printing

Print Preview shows exactly how the document will look on paper before a single sheet is used. It is the most important step in any print operation and should always be the first thing you check.

Opening Print Preview

• Ctrl+P — opens the Print pane which includes a live preview on the right
• File → Print — same as Ctrl+P
• Quick Access Toolbar: add Print Preview & Print for one-click access

Navigating Print Preview

• Use the page arrows at the bottom to move between pages
• The page counter shows the current page and total pages (e.g., "Page 2 of 7")
• Click Show Margins (bottom-right of preview) to display draggable margin handles — drag to adjust margins visually
• Click Zoom to Page to toggle between fit-to-window and actual-size preview
• Press Esc to return to the sheet without printing

What to Check in Print Preview

• Is all the data visible, or is any column clipped off the right edge?
• Are column headers repeating on every page or only on page 1?
• Is the font large enough to read on the printed page?
• Are there unwanted blank pages at the end?
• Is the page orientation (portrait vs landscape) correct for the data layout?
• Do headers and footers contain the right information?

30.2 The Page Layout Tab — Print Settings at a Glance

The Page Layout tab gives quick access to the most commonly used print settings without opening any dialogs.

Page Layout Tab Groups

30.3 Page Orientation & Paper Size

Page Orientation

Page Layout tab → Page Setup → Orientation → Portrait or Landscape — or — the Orientation button in Ctrl+P.

Paper Size

• Page Layout → Page Setup → Size
• Common SA sizes: A4 (210×297mm, the default), A3 (297×420mm, for large reports or posters), Letter (216×279mm, US standard sometimes used in SA banking)
• Always verify the paper size matches what is loaded in the printer — a mismatch causes scaling distortion

30.4 Margins

Margins control the blank space around the printed content on each page. Narrower margins allow more data per page; wider margins look more formal and provide writing space.

Setting Margins

• Page Layout → Page Setup → Margins
• Or in Print Preview: click Show Margins → drag the handles

Preset Margin Options

Centering on the Page

Page Layout → Margins → Custom Margins → in the dialog, tick Horizontally and/or Vertically under "Center on page". Horizontal centering is most useful — it centres a table that does not fill the full width of the page.

30.5 Print Area — Printing Only What You Select

A Print Area defines exactly which cells will be printed. Without a print area, Excel prints the entire used range of the sheet. Setting a print area is the most reliable way to print only a specific table, chart, or section.

Setting a Print Area

1. Select the cells you want to print (e.g., A1:H50)
2. Page Layout tab → Page Setup → Print Area → Set Print Area
3. A dashed border appears around the selected range and Excel now only prints that area

Adding to the Print Area

1. Select the additional cells to include
2. Page Layout → Print Area → Add to Print Area
3. Each separate added range prints on its own page

Clearing the Print Area

• Page Layout → Print Area → Clear Print Area
• The sheet reverts to printing the entire used range

Print Area via Page Setup Dialog

• Page Layout → click the small arrow ◢ at the bottom-right of the Page Setup group to open the full Page Setup dialog → Sheet tab → Print area field → type or select the range

30.6 Scale to Fit — Controlling Pages Wide and Tall

Scale to Fit is the fastest way to force a spreadsheet to fit a specific number of pages. It automatically shrinks or expands the print size to achieve the target page count.

Scale to Fit Options

Fit Sheet on One Page — Quick Method

• Ctrl+P → in the Settings section, click the "No Scaling" dropdown → Fit Sheet on One Page
• Other quick options: Fit All Columns on One Page (Width=1, Height=Automatic), Fit All Rows on One Page

30.7 Print Titles — Repeating Headers on Every Page

Print Titles repeats specified rows at the top and/or columns at the left of every printed page. This is essential for multi-page reports — without it, column headers only appear on the first page and readers lose context on page 2 onwards.

Setting Print Titles

1. Page Layout tab → Page Setup group → Print Titles
2. The Page Setup dialog opens on the Sheet tab
3. Rows to repeat at top: click in the field → click the row number(s) on the sheet (e.g., click row 1 header → the field shows $1:$1). For two header rows: click and drag rows 1–2 → shows $1:$2
4. Columns to repeat at left: click in the field → click the column letter(s) on the sheet (e.g., click column A → shows $A:$A)
5. Click Print Preview to verify → click OK

30.8 Headers & Footers

Headers and footers print at the top and bottom of every page respectively. They typically contain page numbers, dates, the file name, the sheet name, and the company name.

Adding Headers and Footers — Method 1 (Page Layout View)

1. View → Workbook Views → Page Layout
2. Click the area at the top of the page that says "Click to add header"
3. Three zones appear (Left, Centre, Right) → click any zone and type text or click the Header & Footer Elements buttons
4. The Header & Footer contextual tab appears with element buttons

Adding Headers and Footers — Method 2 (Page Setup Dialog)

1. Page Layout → click the small dialog launcher ◢ on the Page Setup group → Header/Footer tab
2. Choose a preset from the Header or Footer dropdown (e.g., "Page 1 of ?")
3. Or click Custom Header… or Custom Footer… for full control

Header & Footer Element Codes

These codes are inserted by clicking the corresponding button in the Header & Footer tab (or typing them directly in the custom header/footer dialog):

Professional SA Header/Footer Example

Different First Page Header/Footer

• In the Header & Footer tab (when editing in Page Layout view) → tick Different First Page
• The first page can have a full title/logo header while subsequent pages have a simpler "Page X of Y" header

Different Odd and Even Page Headers/Footers

• Tick Different Odd & Even Pages
• Useful for reports that will be printed double-sided — page numbers and margins can be mirrored

30.9 Page Breaks — Controlling Where Pages Start

Excel automatically inserts page breaks based on paper size, margins, and scale. You can insert manual page breaks to force a break at a specific row or column — keeping related data together on the same page or starting each section on a fresh page.

Inserting a Manual Page Break

• Horizontal break (break before a row): click the row number below where you want the break → Page Layout → Page Setup → Breaks → Insert Page Break
• Vertical break (break before a column): click the column letter to the right of where you want the break → same menu
• Both horizontal and vertical: click a cell (not a whole row/column) → Insert Page Break — breaks are inserted above and to the left of the selected cell

Managing Page Breaks in Page Break Preview

1. View → Page Break Preview
2. The sheet shows blue lines: solid blue lines = manual page breaks (that you inserted); dashed blue lines = automatic page breaks (Excel calculated)
3. Drag any blue line to move the page break to a different row or column
4. Right-click a cell → Remove Page Break to delete a manual break at that location
5. Right-click anywhere → Reset All Page Breaks to remove all manual page breaks and return to Excel's automatic calculation

Removing Page Breaks

• Click the row/column immediately below/to the right of the break
• Page Layout → Breaks → Remove Page Break
• Or in Page Break Preview: drag the blue solid line off the edge of the sheet

30.10 The Print Dialog — Final Print Settings

Ctrl+P opens the Print pane. This is where you make the final decisions about what to print, which printer to use, and how many copies.

Printer Selection

• Click the printer name dropdown to choose between available printers (local, network, PDF printers)
• Print to PDF: choose "Microsoft Print to PDF" or "Adobe PDF" to save as a PDF file instead of printing on paper. This is the most common way to distribute Excel reports in SA offices.

Print What Settings

Pages Range

• Print all pages (default) — or — set a page range: e.g., Pages 2 to 5 to print only specific pages
• Useful for reprinting a specific page after a correction without reprinting the entire document

Copies and Collation

• Set the number of copies in the Copies box
• Collated (default): prints complete sets (1,2,3 → 1,2,3 → 1,2,3)
• Uncollated: prints all copies of each page together (1,1,1 → 2,2,2 → 3,3,3) — useful when pages will be sorted manually

Duplex Printing (Double-Sided)

• If the printer supports duplex: choose Print One Sided or Print on Both Sides (Flip on Long Edge for normal double-sided, Flip on Short Edge for calendar/flip-book style)

Scaling in the Print Dialog

• At the bottom of the Settings section: the No Scaling dropdown provides quick presets:
• No Scaling: prints at actual size
• Fit Sheet on One Page: shrinks to fit one page
• Fit All Columns on One Page: Width = 1 page, height flows naturally
• Fit All Rows on One Page: Height = 1 page, columns flow naturally
• Custom Scaling Options…: opens Page Setup for full control

30.11 Printing to PDF — The SA Office Standard

Saving as PDF is the professional standard for distributing Excel reports, invoices, payslips, and financial statements in South African offices. A PDF preserves all formatting and is printer-independent.

Method 1 — Print to PDF Printer

1. Ctrl+P → Printer dropdown → Microsoft Print to PDF (built into Windows 10/11)
2. Configure all print settings (orientation, margins, scale, headers/footers) as normal
3. Click Print → a Save As dialog opens → choose the save location and file name → Save

Method 2 — Export to PDF (Better Control)

1. File → Export → Create PDF/XPS → click the Create PDF/XPS button
2. Choose the save location and name
3. Click Options… for PDF-specific settings:
   • What to publish: Active sheet(s), Entire workbook, or Selection
   • Include Document Properties: embeds metadata
   • PDF/A compliant: for archival-standard PDFs (required by some SA government departments)
   • Accessibility-tagged PDF: for screen-reader accessibility
4. Click Publish

30.12 Quick Self-Check

Q1: Your spreadsheet has 18 columns and prints across 3 pages wide, making it almost impossible to read. You want all columns to fit on one page wide, but rows can flow down as many pages as needed. How do you set this up?

✓ Page Layout tab → Scale to Fit group → Width dropdown → select "1 page". Leave Height as "Automatic". Excel automatically calculates the percentage scale needed to fit all 18 columns onto one page width while allowing rows to continue onto as many pages as needed. Check the result in Ctrl+P Print Preview to ensure the text is still readable at the reduced scale. If the text is too small, consider switching to Landscape orientation first (Page Layout → Orientation → Landscape) to gain more horizontal space, then apply Width = 1. Alternatively, use Narrow margins (Page Layout → Margins → Narrow) to reclaim column width without scaling down the font.

Q2: Your 50-page payroll report prints column headers (Employee Name, ID, Department, Salary, etc.) only on page 1. Pages 2 through 50 have no headers. How do you fix this?

✓ Page Layout → Page Setup group → Print Titles. In the Page Setup dialog on the Sheet tab: click inside the "Rows to repeat at top" field, then click the row 1 header on the sheet (or type $1:$1 directly). If the headers span two rows, click and drag rows 1 and 2 to show $1:$2. Click Print Preview to verify the headers appear on every page, then click OK. This is completely separate from Freeze Panes — Freeze keeps headers visible on screen; Print Titles repeats them on every printed page. You typically need both settings active at the same time for a large dataset.

Q3: You need to print only the summary table (A1:G25) from a sheet that contains much more data below and to the right. How do you ensure only that table prints?

✓ Select A1:G25 → Page Layout → Page Setup → Print Area → Set Print Area. A dashed border appears around A1:G25. Now Ctrl+P will show only that range in Print Preview and only that range will print. To verify: check Print Preview and confirm only 25 rows and 7 columns are visible. To remove the restriction later: Page Layout → Print Area → Clear Print Area. Alternatively, for a one-time print without permanently setting a print area: select A1:G25 → Ctrl+P → in the Settings dropdown, change "Print Active Sheets" to "Print Selection" — this prints only the selected cells for this print job without storing a permanent print area.

Q4: Write the custom header/footer codes that would produce the following on every page: Header left = company name "Skailit IT (Pty) Ltd" in bold; Header centre = "MONTHLY PAYROLL"; Header right = today's date. Footer left = "CONFIDENTIAL"; Footer centre = "Page 3 of 12" (dynamic page numbers); Footer right = file name.

✓ Header — Left zone: &B Skailit IT (Pty) Ltd (the &B toggles bold on; type the company name after it). Centre zone: &B MONTHLY PAYROLL. Right zone: &D (inserts the current date automatically at print time). Footer — Left zone: CONFIDENTIAL (plain text, no code needed). Centre zone: Page &P of &N (&P = current page number, &N = total pages; this produces "Page 3 of 12" automatically on every page). Right zone: &F (&F inserts the workbook file name including the .xlsx extension). In the Custom Header dialog: click in each of the three zone boxes and type or click the buttons. The &B code applies bold formatting to all text following it in that zone until another &B turns it off.

Q5: You have a financial report where each department's data should start on a fresh page when printed. Department sections start at rows 2, 35, 68, 101, and 134. How do you insert the page breaks?

✓ Click the row 35 number (to select the entire row 35) → Page Layout → Breaks → Insert Page Break. This inserts a break before row 35. Repeat for rows 68, 101, and 134. Row 2 does not need a break as it is the beginning of the sheet. Alternatively, use Page Break Preview (View → Page Break Preview) to see and drag the breaks visually. In Page Break Preview, the blue solid lines show manual breaks and dashed lines show automatic ones. You can drag any break to adjust it. To verify: Ctrl+P → scroll through Print Preview to confirm each department begins at the top of a new page.

Q6: What is the most reliable way to produce a multi-page PDF of a monthly payroll report in South African offices, and what settings should you configure before exporting?

✓ Use File → Export → Create PDF/XPS → Create PDF/XPS (not Print to PDF, which gives less control). Before exporting, configure these settings: (1) Orientation: Landscape if the data is wide. (2) Scale to Fit: Width = 1 page so all columns fit horizontally. (3) Print Titles: set rows to repeat at top ($1:$1) so column headers appear on every page. (4) Header: company name left, report title centre, date right. (5) Footer: "CONFIDENTIAL" left, "Page &P of &N" centre, file name right. (6) Margins: Normal or Narrow depending on column count. (7) In the PDF Options dialog: tick "Include Document Properties" and consider "PDF/A compliant" for archival. Produce the PDF and verify by opening it in a PDF viewer before distributing. For payroll specifically, check that salary columns are not clipped and that no #REF! or #N/A errors appear in the data.

✓ Module 30 Complete — You Have Learned:

• Print Preview (Ctrl+P) — live preview with page navigation; Show Margins for drag-adjustable margins; Zoom to Page; what to check before printing (clipping, headers, font size, blank pages, orientation)
• Page Layout tab — all 5 groups (Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options, Arrange); Print Gridlines and Print Headings toggles for including/excluding cell lines and A/B/C and 1/2/3 labels on paper
• Orientation (Portrait vs Landscape with A4 dimensions; when to use each) and Paper Size (A4 standard SA, A3, Letter; mismatch warning)
• Margins — 4 presets (Normal, Wide, Narrow, Custom); drag in Print Preview; Center on page (Horizontally/Vertically via Custom Margins)
• Print Area — Set Print Area (Page Layout → Print Area → Set); Add to Print Area; Clear Print Area; stored as "Print_Area" named range; one-time alternative: Print Selection in Ctrl+P
• Scale to Fit — Width (1 page = all columns fit); Height (automatic vs fixed); Scale percentage; Width/Height override Scale; quick presets in Ctrl+P dropdown (Fit Sheet, Fit All Columns, Fit All Rows)
• Print Titles — Page Layout → Print Titles → Sheet tab; Rows to repeat at top ($1:$1); Columns to repeat at left ($A:$A); vs Freeze Panes (screen vs print — completely separate settings; need both)
• Headers and Footers — Page Layout view (click header/footer area) or Page Setup dialog; three zones (Left/Centre/Right); element codes (&P page, &N total, &D date, &T time, &F filename, &A sheetname, &Z path, &B bold); professional SA header/footer example; Different First Page; Different Odd & Even Pages
• Page Breaks — Insert manual break (select row below / column right → Breaks → Insert); Page Break Preview (solid = manual, dashed = automatic; drag to move); Remove Page Break; Reset All Page Breaks
• Print Dialog (Ctrl+P) — Printer selection; Print to PDF (Microsoft Print to PDF); Print Active Sheets / Entire Workbook / Selection / Ignore Print Area; Pages range; Copies; Collated vs Uncollated; Duplex; Scaling presets
• PDF Export — File → Export → Create PDF/XPS; Options (what to publish, PDF/A compliant for SA government archival, accessibility); Export vs Print to PDF comparison; SA office distribution standard