Chapter 9: Printing Your Work

If you find that you must regularly hide data before you print certain reports, consider using the Custom Views feature, discussed later in this chapter (see “Creating Custom Views of Your Worksheet”). This feature allows you to create a named view that doesn’t show the confidential information.

Preventing Objects from Being Printed

To prevent objects on the worksheet (such as charts, Shapes, and SmartArt) from being printed, you need to access the Properties tab of the object’s Format dialog box (see Figure 9.7):

1.Right-click the object and choose Format xxxx from the shortcut menu. (xxxx varies, depending on the object.)

2.In the Format dialog box that opens for the object, click the Properties tab.

3.Remove the check mark for Print Object.

Note

For a chart, you must right-click the chart’s Chart Area (the background of the chart). Or, double-click the chart’s border to display the Format Chart Area dialog box. Then click the Properties tab and remove the check mark from Print Object. n

FIGURE 9.7

Use the Properties tab of the object’s Format dialog box to prevent objects from printing.

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Part I: Getting Started with Excel

Creating Custom Views of Your Worksheet

If you need to create several different printed reports from the same Excel workbook, setting up the specific settings for each report can be a tedious job. For example, you may need to print a full report in landscape mode for your boss. Another department may require a simplified report using the same data, but with some hidden columns in portrait mode. You can simplify the process by creating custom named views of your worksheets that include the proper settings for each report.

The Custom Views feature enables you to give names to various views of your worksheet, and you can quickly switch among these named views. A view includes settings for the following:

•Print settings, as specified in the Page Layout Page Setup, Page Layout Scale to Fit, and Page Page Setup Sheet Options groups

•Hidden rows and columns

•The worksheet view (Normal, Page Layout, Page Break preview)

•Selected cells and ranges

•The active cell

•The zoom factor

•Window sizes and positions

•Frozen panes

If you find that you’re constantly fiddling with these settings before printing and then changing them back, using named views can save you lots of effort.

Caution

Unfortunately, the Custom Views feature does not work if the workbook (not just the worksheet) contains at least one table. When a workbook that contains a table is active, the Custom View command is disabled. This limitation severely limits the usefulness of the Custom Views feature. n

To create a named view

1.Set up the view settings the way you want them. For example, hide some columns.

2.Choose View Workbook Views Custom Views to display the Custom Views dialog box.

3.Click the Add button and provide a descriptive name in the Add View dialog box that appears (see Figure 9.8). You can also specify what to include in the view by using the two check boxes. For example, if you don’t want the view to include print settings, remove the check mark from Print Settings.

4.Click OK to save the named view.

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Chapter 9: Printing Your Work

FIGURE 9.8

Use the Add View dialog box to create a named view.

Then, when you’re ready to print, open the Custom Views dialog box to see all named views. To select a particular view, just select it from the list and click the Show button. To delete a named view from the list, click the Delete button.

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Part II

Working with Formulas and Functions