ExcelZone Compendium: Printing tips (Excel 2007 update)

you can print by custom views?

Easy to do in Excel 2000 etc. You can print multiple ranges by highlighting (or selecting from the "names" dropdown box) your first range.

To add additional range(s) highlight (or"names") as above but press down the Ctrl key as you do it.

You will see multiple ranges highlighted on your sheet. To print these either set them as Print Area or select "print" and then "print selection"

Yes, it is a strange thing isn't it! Some reasons why it might be preferable to just linking to the cells - any formatting of the original area would be automatically reflected in the camera picture; less error prone (as you mention) in that you can't accidentally change any of the linking cells (since there aren't any!); copes dynamically with inserting rows and columns; fewer calculations in the spreadsheet as a whole. There are probably others, and some problems as well - I wouldn't say it's something I user regularly, but it can be useful in certain circumstances.

Regards

Simon

Thanks for the link, Simon. I had no idea this existed. But what a bizarre beast it is!

I have played around with it a bit now, and it does work. But I can see no reason to use it when you could just as easily refer to non-contiguous source ranges in contiguous areas of a page (called 'Print' or something) using normal formulas; and then select the lot as the print area. It is much tidier and simpler to see what is going on.

I suppose it does avoid the danger of such formulas getting corrupted. Is there any other reason to use it?

Brian

"Versions of Excel prior to 2007 don't appear to include an Add to Print Area option (or does someone know better?)."

I have just tried this with Excel 2003 and it works there. Thank you - just what I needed.

Hi Brian

Thanks - glad you find the articles useful. I think the camera tool might help in what you want to achieve. There's quite a good explanation of how it works here:

http://www.j-walk.com/ss/excel/odd/odd04.htm

Kind regards

Simon

Ah-HA!

Yes this works, but it puts the second range into a different page, which is not quite what I was expecting, though I can see that this could be useful sometimes. I can use the page break preview to join them together, but then I get the intervening rows as well, and I might as well have just selected the whole lot to start with.

Thanks for clarifying, though, Simon. I do find your columns extremely useful.

Brian

Thanks Brian - I understand now. My instructions could have been clearer - after selecting Print_area in the Goto Dialog, click on the OK button. This should select the current Print_area in your sheet and close the dialog allowing you to select the additional area. Sorry for the confusion. Let us know if it works!

Kind regards

Simon

Hi Simon,

I suppose my message was a bit cryptic. Sorry.

Your instructions read 'use Edit-Go to-Print_Area to select the current area or areas, then select the additional, separate area by dragging over it while holding down the control key', but once the Go To dialogue box is open I cannot select any cells in the worksheet without closing the dialogue box first (which is what I meant by being gone).

Brian

Hi

Highlight area to set before selecting set print area from file menu.

Despite this being a good function be aware that it does not re-set so before printing anything goto View menu and select 'Page Break review. Th

If you only want to set print area once. Try

1 Highlight Area
2 File Print
3 In bottom left hand side of print dialogue box choose 'Selection'

Hi Brian

Not sure I quite understand - could you just explain a bit more about 'everything outside the dialog box being ignored' and, when you say it was all gone, what exactly was gone?

Thanks

Simon

When I tried to add to the print area in my Excel 2000 via the Edit / Go To, I found that everything outside the dialogue box was ignored while the box was open, but when it was gone, it was ... well ... gone.
Have I missed something?