Print Preview

Word's Print Preview (Figure 13) displays one or more pages of a document exactly as they will appear when printed. It also enables you to make last-minute changes to margins and document contents before printing.

Figure 13. A single page of a document in Print Preview.

Tip

Print Preview can save time and paperit's a lot quicker to look at a document on screen than to wait for it to print, and it doesn't use a single sheet of paper.

To switch to Print Preview

Choose File > Print Preview (Figure 1), or click the Print Preview button on the Standard toolbar.

Tip

The Print Preview toolbar (Figure 14) appears automatically at the top of the screen when you switch to Print Preview.

Figure 14. The Print Preview toolbar.

To zoom in or out

1.	Select the Magnifier button on the Print Preview toolbar (Figure 14).
2.	Click on the page. With each click, the view toggles between 100% and the current Zoom percentage on the Print Preview toolbar.

Choose an option from the Zoom drop-down list on the Print Preview toolbar (Figure 15).

Figure 15. The Zoom drop-down list on the Print Preview toolbar.

1.	Click in the Zoom box on the Print Preview toolbar.
2.	Enter a value.
3.	Press .

To view multiple pages

Click the Multiple Pages button on the Print Preview toolbar to display a menu of page layouts and choose the one that you want (Figure 16).

Figure 16. Use the Multiple Pages button's menu to choose a layout for displaying multiple document pages in Print Preview.

The view and magnification change to display the pages as you specified (Figure 17).

Figure 17. Four pages of a document displayed in Print Preview.

Tip

To return to a single-page view, click the One Page button on the Print Preview toolbar.

To change margins

If necessary, click the View Ruler button on the Print Preview toolbar to display the ruler in the Print Preview window (Figure 13).

Position the mouse pointer on the ruler in the position corresponding to the margin you want to change. The mouse pointer turns into a box with arrows on either end and a yellow box appears, identifying the margin (Figure 18).

Figure 18. The mouse pointer changes when you position it on a margin on the ruler.

Press the mouse button down and drag to change the margin. As you drag, a dotted line indicates the position of the margin (Figure 19). When you release the mouse button, the margin changes.

Figure 19. Drag to change the margin.

Tips

A better way to change margins is with the Margins tab of the Document dialog (Figure 11), which is covered in Chapter 5.
You can also use the ruler to change indentation for selected paragraphs. Chapter 3 explains how.

To move from page to page

In Print Preview, click the Previous Page or Next Page button at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar (Figure 20).

Figure 20. Use the Previous Page and Next Page buttons at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar to move from one page to another.

To edit the document

1.	If necessary, zoom in to get a better look at the text you want to edit.
2.	Deselect the Magnifier button on the Print Preview toolbar.
3.	Click in the document window to position the insertion point.
4.	Edit the document as desired.

Tip

You may find that your computer responds more quickly when you edit in Page Layout or Normal view than in Print Preview.

To reduce the number of pages

Click the Shrink to Fit button on the Print Preview toolbar.

Word squeezes the document onto one less page by making minor adjustments to font size and paragraph spacing. It then displays the revised document.

Tip

This feature is useful for squeezing a two-page letter onto one page when the second page only has a line or two.

To switch to a full-screen view

Click the Full Screen button on the Print Preview toolbar.

The screen redraws to remove the status bar (Figure 21). This enables you to get a slightly larger view of the document page(s).

Figure 21. Full Screen view in Print Preview.

Tip

To return to a regular Print Preview view, click the Close Full Screen button on the Full Screen toolbar.

To leave Print Preview

Click the Close button on the Print Preview toolbar (Figure 14).

The document returns to whatever view you were in before you switched to Print Preview.