Printing a Document


Often, when you create a document, you will print the end results. (You may also print and proofread as you create, edit, and format the document.) Like saving and opening, printing is a common task, and most programs follow the same basic procedures for printing.

To print a document, follow these steps:

1.

Click File and then click the Print command. As a shortcut, look for a Print button in the program's toolbar or use a shortcut key combination (usually Ctrl+P). You'll see the Print dialog box, shown in Figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10. The Print dialog box for WordPad.


2.

Make any changes to the print options. Most programs enable you to select a printer, what is printed (for instance, a particular page range), and the number of copies to print. Note that the available options vary from program to program.

3.

Click the Print button. The document is then printed.

Viewing and Canceling Print Jobs

When you are printing a document, you may need to stop or cancel the print job. To do so, you start by displaying the print queue, which lists the documents that have been sent to a printer as well as how far along the printing is. Using the print queue, you can pause, restart, or cancel print jobs. For instance, you might need to pause a print job to change paper. You might also need to cancel a print job that you started by mistake.

tip

Most programs enable you to preview a document to check the margins, heads, graphics placement, and so on before you print. Previewing can save time and paper because you can make any needed adjustments before you print. Click File and select the Print Preview command. After you finish viewing the preview, click the Close button.


Follow these steps to make changes to a print job in progress:

1.

Click the Start button and then choose Control Panel.

2.

Click the Printers and Other Hardware category.

3.

Click the Printers and Faxes Control Panel icon. You'll see a list of all the installed printers and faxes (see Figure 2.11).

Figure 2.11. You can view the installed printers when you want to view the print queue.


4.

Select the printer you want to view and click See what's printing in the Task pane. You'll see the print queue (see Figure 2.12). You can also display the print queue by double-clicking the Printer icon in the system tray of the taskbar (on the far left side). The Printer icon appears whenever you are printing a document.

Figure 2.12. Use the print queue to pause, restart, or cancel a print job.


5.

Do any of the following:

To cancel all print jobs, click Printer and then click the Cancel All Documents command. Click Yes to confirm the cancellation.

To pause printing, click Printer and then click Pause Printing. To restart after pausing, click Printer and then click Pause Printing again.

note

If the print queue window is empty, either the print job never made it to the queue or it was already processed by the printer. Short print jobs are printed quickly, so you might not have time to stop the job. If the printer hasn't started printing yet, press the printer's Cancel button to stop printing.

To cancel, pause, resume, or restart a particular print job, click the print job in the list. Then click Document and select the appropriate command (Pause, Resume, Restart, or Cancel).

6.

Click the Close button to close the queue.

Printing Tips

When you are printing, keep in mind the following tips:

  • To print a document within a program, use the File, Print command. You can also look for a Print toolbar button or press Ctrl+P (the shortcut key for printing in most programs).

  • Before you print in a program, preview the document. Most programs have a Print Preview command (or something similar). Look for this command in the File or View menu. You can also often find a toolbar button for Print Preview.

  • You are not limited to printing from just within a program. You can also print from a file window. To do so, select the file and then click the Print this file link in the Tasks list.

  • As another option for printing, if you have added a printer shortcut icon to your desktop, you can drag a file to this printer icon to print the document.

  • To create a printer shortcut icon, open the Printers and Faxes window and then drag the icon from the printer window to your desktop. Windows XP then creates a shortcut printer icon.

The Absolute Minimum

This chapter covers the main skills you need to save, open, close, and print documents. In summary, keep these points in mind:

  • You should save the work that you create and save often. The first time you save, you enter a filename and select a location for the document.

  • You can save a copy of a document or save a document in a different file format as needed.

  • When you want to work on a document that you have previously saved, use the File, Open command.

  • When you are finished working on a document, close the document. If you are finished with that program, close the document and exit the program.

  • To create a new document, use the File, New command.

  • Printing works the same in most programs: Select File and then Print. The Print dialog box enables you to make selections such as what to print and which printer to use.

  • You can view the print queue to modify any print jobs in progress. For instance, you can cancel a print job you didn't intend, or if you need to change paper, you can pause a print job.




    Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows XP
    Absolute Beginners Guide to Windows XP (2nd Edition)
    ISBN: 078973432X
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 176
    Authors: Shelley OHara

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