Print Preview in Excel 2008

[S N Brandt]

The major tool used when preparing a print ready presentation/document in
Excel is ‹ or rather WAS‹ print preview.

I cannot believe that they could be so stupid as to take it out of the new
version.

This basically means that the new version just looks a little different and
has lots of little extra templates and interfaces for adding pretty pictures
and layouts, but NO MEANS OF SEEING WHAT THEY WILL LOOK LIKE, without
printing (and so using and wasting paper!)

So Mr Microsoft! Very Eco-friendly approach from Mr Gates (new lover of
trees!) 4 years work to produce a programme that is not better and causes
the destruction of more trees! I am by no means a tree-hugger, but Gates
claims to be!

In an case I hope all will express their dismay at the removal of the most
useful Print Preview feature.

 

[CyberTaz]

When you're finished with your rant - which BTW, nobody from MS will
likely see here - go to File> Print, then click the Preview button in the
bottom left of the dialog.

As I understand it this is the current preferred method prescribed by Apple
guidelines & provides a number of advantages to the efficacy of the software
as well as to the user.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[S N Brandt]

Thank you for the observation. I agree it was a bit of a rant, but that is only because I find it (as other users clearly also do) very annoying that it is no longer there. I apologise

Your route does work but it does not provide the live link to setup options which enable you to see immediately how to change it.

All that was contained under a single neat icon and is now much more laborious.

As to Apple's preferred method....the original method still exists in word, so that would seem to be a bit inconsistent.

Is it likely to be re-instated and how would I get that feedback to Microsoft?

Nick

 

[CyberTaz]

No apology necessary - I was just yankin' yer chain... We all have to blow
off a little steam now & then. Unfortunately - despite its good points -
Office 2008 does seem to provide a number of provocations

For what you're asking you might want to become more familiar with Page
Layout View. There is no built-in button for it on the toolbar, but it's
right there in the view menu... And it can be added to a toolbar if you
wish. Quite frankly I kinda like it better than Print Preview - although it
does take a little getting used to.

As far as why Word still offers a conventional Print Preview - well I could
offer lots of speculative thoughts, but I really don't know. Different apps
in Office a worked on by different teams with their own respective
objectives & priorities.

As far as feedback, Help> Send Feedback is there for that purpose.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Phillip Jones]

You can get around this issue by doing the following although it adds
more steps making a PIA.

after setting Printer to desired printer (Printer set-up). go to Print
menu. instead of choosing Print choose Preview.

This opens the application Preview.

Set up for your printer (one time wail remember you printer choice).

If you you look you can see how it will print.

If you don't like just close window and go back to your document. Repeat
as necessary.

You can actually print from Preview if you wish.

The major tool used when preparing a print ready presentation/document in
Excel is ‹ or rather WAS‹ print preview.

I cannot believe that they could be so stupid as to take it out of the new
version.

This basically means that the new version just looks a little differentand
has lots of little extra templates and interfaces for adding pretty pictures
and layouts, but NO MEANS OF SEEING WHAT THEY WILL LOOK LIKE, without
printing (and so using and wasting paper!)

So Mr Microsoft! Very Eco-friendly approach from Mr Gates (new lover of
trees!) 4 years work to produce a programme that is not better and causes
the destruction of more trees! I am by no means a tree-hugger, but Gates
claims to be!

In an case I hope all will express their dismay at the removal of the most
useful Print Preview feature.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[JE McGimpsey]

As far as why Word still offers a conventional Print Preview - well I could
offer lots of speculative thoughts, but I really don't know. Different apps
in Office a worked on by different teams with their own respective
objectives & priorities.

Purely speculation: Since Word's Print Preview mode is a full-fledged
editing mode, and given how incomprehensibly intertwined Word's code is,
it may well have been more difficult to remove than to leave in and
update.


XL's print preview mode never let you edit - though you could set
margins.

 

[S N Brandt]

Dear Bob,

Thanks for your calm response.

I seem now in Page layout you can actually achieve the "look" of the document in print form by editing it directly in page layout. It doesn't have the feature of telling it automatically to fit to certain page formats (1 x 1 or 1 x 5 or whatever) which has to be done in the setup, but you are right that it get close to desired process.

The other suggestion of the "print preview" is a non-starter as it means you have to keep adjusting then "previewing", adjusting then "previewing" which as the suggestor realises is a PIA!

I will relax for a bit and see how it goes!

Cheers.

nick

 

[JE McGimpsey]

It doesn't have the feature of telling it automatically to fit to certain
page formats (1 x 1 or 1 x 5 or whatever) which has to be done in the setup

Doesn't have to - use the Fit to: section of the Page Setup pane in the
Formatting Palette...

 

[Brian]

I too cannot believe that the good folks at Microsoft would eliminate the very useful, and very usable, Print Preview feature. It makes Office 2008 feel like a step backwards.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

I too cannot believe that the good folks at Microsoft would eliminate the very
useful, and very usable, Print Preview feature. It makes Office 2008 feel like
a step backwards.

It actually is a step forward. All printing is done by the operating system,
not the application. Microsoft is simply keeping with Apple¹s guidelines
here. Just Go to Print and select preview.

 

[Phillip Jones]

Do you realize what that entails?

Open blank Document
go to Printer Setup set for desired printer (this is done once for as
long as you don't throw out any preference files).
Next go to Format Document choose Landscape or Portrait
Next Create your Document.
Go to print menu.
Choose Preview
Preview Program opens up.

Go to Printer setup make sure your desired printer is chosen (done only
once unless preferences are thrown away)

Now view document.

quit out of preview if you need to make changes.

go back tweak margins if necessary.

repeat Print Menu > Preview.

Go back check again.

Repeat, repeat until everything is perfect then you can either quite out
of preview and choose print from Print menu in Word, Excel or what ever.


old way

create document.

Click Print preview.

then tweak margins as necessary from within. Once satisfied print document.


Which is more efficient? You tell me?

On 2/4/08 2:22 PM, in article (e-mail address removed)9absDaxw,

I too cannot believe that the good folks at Microsoft would
eliminate the very useful, and very usable, Print Preview feature.
It makes Office 2008 feel like a step backwards.

It actually is a step forward. All printing is done by the operating
system, not the application. Microsoft is simply keeping with Apple’s
guidelines here. Just Go to Print and select preview.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Todd Aton]

As the MVPs suggested, try using Page Layout view and the Page Setup
controls in the Formatting Palette. My personal opinion is that it's easier
and faster than using Print Preview.

New way:

1. Create workbook in default Page Layout view.
2. Skip step to launch Print Preview.
3. Tweak margins in Formatting Palette. Once satisfied print document.

After that, use Help->Send Feedback about Excel to tell us how we can
continue to improve.

Thanks!

Todd Aton, SDET
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Phillip Jones]

there is also a Page Layout view in 2004 and works the same on 2008. But
you still have to go to format Documents , back and forth until you get
everything right.

in the old print preview you could actually drag margins side to side or
top bottom while in that view and it would resize margins without having
to go to format menu.

new way just adds more steps and uses more time. But hey its only time.
what's a few extra minutes here or there.

As the MVPs suggested, try using Page Layout view and the Page Setup
controls in the Formatting Palette. My personal opinion is that it's easier
and faster than using Print Preview.

New way:

1. Create workbook in default Page Layout view.
2. Skip step to launch Print Preview.
3. Tweak margins in Formatting Palette. Once satisfied print document.

After that, use Help->Send Feedback about Excel to tell us how we can
continue to improve.

Thanks!

Todd Aton, SDET
Macintosh Business Unit
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers norights.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Phillip M. Jones, CET |LIFE MEMBER: VPEA ETA-I, NESDA, ISCET, Sterling
616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If it's "fixed", don't "break it"!

mailto[email protected]

<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/90th_Birthday/index.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Fulcher/default.html>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Harris/default.htm>
<http://www.kimbanet.com/~pjones/Jones/default.htm>

<http://www.vpea.org>

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Todd,

I think the poster means that it would be great if you could see the effects
of changing the margins immediately. You now have to close the dialog to see
it. I would have expected to see the underlying sheet change as I changed
margins.