How to Use Page Setup Parameters for Spreadsheets

Page setup lets you change the look of your spreadsheet.

No matter what type of spreadsheet you plan to build, it is important to lay it out properly. In order for the spreadsheet to be truly useful, it must be easy to read, both on the computer screen and on the printed page. The page setup parameters of the spreadsheet program allow you to change how the spreadsheet prints, including adding the column headings to each page and setting page numbers for your document.

Instructions

1. Log on to your computer and open your spreadsheet program. Click on the "File" menu and choose "Page Setup" from the menu.

2. Choose an orientation for your spreadsheet. If the spreadsheet is wider than it is long, choosing the Landscape format will make it easier to read. The best way to determine the right orientation is to use the Print Preview function. Click on the "File" menu and choose "Print Preview" from the menu to see what the spreadsheet will look like when printed. If the columns of the spreadsheet are spilling onto a second page, changing the orientation to Landscape should alleviate this problem.

3. Use the scaling option to change the size of the spreadsheet if it is too large to fit on a single page. Choose to fit the spreadsheet to a given number of pages, to make printing large documents easier. Click on the "File" menu and choose "Page Setup" from the menu. Click on the "Page" tab and go to the "Scaling" section of the screen. Click the "Adjust to" option and use the up and down arrows to change the size of the document. Also, click the "Fit to" option to choose the number of pages to use when printing the spreadsheet. The program will automatically adjust the size of the text to fit the number of pages you specify.

4. Click on the "Margins" tab and change the width of the margins. You can also choose to center the document on the page, either vertically or horizontally. Locate the top, bottom, left and right margins and use the up and down arrows to change the size of the margins. To center the spreadsheet, click the check boxes next to "Horizontally" and "Vertically" on the bottom of the "Margins" tab.

5. Click on the "Header and Footer" tab, and type the information you want to include at the top and bottom of each page. Click on the "Custom Footer" button and type the text for the footer. Use the formatting buttons on the screen to bold the text, change the font and make other appearance changes. Click "OK" when finished, then click the "Custom Footer" button and repeat the process.

6. Click on the "Sheet" tab to select the rows you want to include at the top of each page. This is a very helpful feature, since it allows you to include the column headings on each page of the spreadsheet. To set the range to repeat at the top of each page, click on the box next to "Rows to repeat at top," and highlight the rows you want to include. For example, if your column headers are located on row 1 and you want to include those column headings on each page, go to the "Sheet" tab, click on the box next to "Rows to repeat at top" and click on the gray area next to row 1 on the spreadsheet. You will see "$1:$1" displayed in the "rows to repeat at top" box. Hit the "Enter" key to accept your selection, then click "OK."

7. Click on the "File" menu and choose "Print Preview" from the menu. The Print Preview option allows you to see exactly what the spreadsheet will look like on the printed page.

References

• Microsoft Support: Preparing Your Spreadsheet or Printing