Because workbooks are designed to be viewed electronically, it can be hard to tell what
your data might look like outside of Excel (for example, if you plan to print it, or
save it as a PDF). Luckily, there are several different ways to view and customize your
layout.
To get started, I recommend switching to Page Layout view using the command in the bottom
right corner. This will help you visualize the final product as you make changes to your
workbook.
Next, go to the Page Layout tab on the ribbon. Here you'll find everything you need to modify
your page orientation, margins, print titles, and more.
For example, our current orientation is portrait (or vertical)—a good choice if your goal
is to fit more rows on each page. I'd like to switch to landscape (or horizontal) so
I can fit more columns instead.
Just click the Orientation command... then choose Landscape. And you'll instantly see
the change. There's still one column that's getting cut off on the right, but that's okay.
If we adjust the margins, we should be able to fit all the columns on a single page.
All you have to do is click the Margins command. Here you can choose one of the predefined
sizes... or you can customize your margins depending on what you need.
Just go back to the Margins command... but this time, click Custom Margins.
I'm going to make the left and right margins just a little bit wider at .50 inches, instead
of .25.
When you're done, click OK... and your worksheet will be updated.
You can also add headers and footers to your workbook to make the printed copy easier to
read. In this example, we'll add a header by clicking the area here.
This opens the Design tab for working with headers and footers. From here, you can easily
add page numbers, today's date, and other information to your header or footer. All
you have to do is click the command you want. How about Page Numbers?
When you're done, click anywhere else in your worksheet to exit. Now the pages are numbered
page 1... and page 2.
Here's a tip if your worksheet uses title headings: you can include them on each page
to make the printed copy easier to read. For example, in this workbook, it would really
help me to know what months these sales figures are for.
Just go back to your title headings... then click the Print Titles command. Next, click
the button next to the field you want to repeat—you can choose either rows or columns.
The dialog box will collapse, and your cursor will turn into a selection arrow. From here,
select the data you want to repeat on each page... then click the button again to go
back to the dialog box.
When you're done, click OK. Now my header row appears at the top of page 1... and page
2.
There's one more thing I'd like to change about my layout. Notice how the data is split
up so page 2 only contains about 9 or 10 rows? I'd like more control over that. Instead of
the last couple of rows, I want the data to be divided evenly—20 people on each page.
To do this, I'm going to switch to the Page Break Preview using the command in the bottom
right corner. This makes it easy to review your page breaks so you can easily insert
your own.
Simply select the row below where you want the page break to appear. Then click the Breaks
command... and choose Insert Page Break.
If we switch back to Page Layout view, and zoom out just a little... we can see that
the data is divided evenly between page 1 and page 2.
Now you have all the tools you need to customize your page layout, and prepare your workbook
for printing or exporting.