Printing Messages

You can print an e-mail message, for example, if you want to take a hard copy of it to a meeting for reference, or if you keep a physical file of important messages or kudos. You can print the message exactly as it appears in your Inbox, or embellish it with page headers and footers. Outlook prints the message as shown on-screen, including font and paragraph formats.

In this exercise, you will preview a message as it will appear when printed, add a page header, and then print the message.

USE the SBS Tradeshow Schedule message you created in "Creating and Sending Messages" in Chapter 3, "Sending E-Mail Messages." If you did not complete that exercise, you can do so now, or you can use any message in your Inbox.

BE SURE TO install a printer before beginning this exercise.

OPEN the SBS Tradeshow Schedule message.

1. In the message window, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then point to Print.

   Tip 

   Unlike previous versions of Outlook, the Print and Print Preview commands are not available from the message window toolbar (or in this case, the Ribbon).

   

   The right pane displays these preview, print, and page setup options:

   • Print opens the Print dialog box, where you can make changes to the default printing options before printing.

   • Quick Print prints the open or selected message with the default printing options, without first displaying the Print dialog box.

   • Print Preview displays the message as it will appear when printed. You can change the page setup options before printing the message.

   • Define Print Styles allows you to make changes to an existing print style (the way the message is presented on the printed page) or create a new one. The default print style is Memo style, which prints your name, the message header information, and then the message content.

2. Click the Print button (not its arrow).

   The Print dialog box opens, displaying your default printer settings, which you can change before printing just as you would when printing from any Office program. Clicking OK prints the message with the default settings.

   

3. In the Print dialog box, click Preview.

   The Print Preview window opens, displaying the message as it will appear when printed.

   Tip 

   You can also display the Print Preview window by pointing to Print on the Office menu and then clicking Print Preview.

4. On the Print Preview window toolbar, click the Actual Size button to display the message at 100% magnification.

   Tip 

   When previewing a message that will be longer than one page when printed with the current settings, you can click the Multiple Pages button to preview all pages of the message at the same time. This can be useful when, for example, you want to check page breaks or scan a document for a particular element.

   

5. In the Print Preview window, click the Page Setup button.

   The Page Setup: Memo Style dialog box opens. You can change the font, paper size, page margins, header, and footer from this dialog box.

   Tip 

   You can also display the Page Setup dialog box by pointing to Print on the Office menu and then clicking the print style you want under Page Setup.

   

6. In the Page Setup: Memo Style dialog box, click the Paper tab to see the available options.

   

   In addition to choosing the paper size, you can select the number of pages that print on each sheet of paper and set the page margins and the orientation.

7. Click the Header/Footer tab.

8. In the Header area, type For Your Information in the center box, and then click the Font button. In the Font dialog box, under Size, click 16, and then click OK.

9. In the Footer section, select the default text (the page number) that appears in the center box. Then in the AutoText box, click the User Name button.

   

   Outlook will print the specified text at the top of the page and your name (or user name, if different) at the bottom.

10. In the Page Setup dialog box, click Print, and then in the Print dialog box, click OK.

    Troubleshooting 

    If the Save As dialog box opens, you do not have a printer installed. Click the Start button, click Printers And Faxes, and then under Printer Tasks, click Add A Printer. Follow the wizard's instructions to install a local or network printer.

    Outlook prints the message, including your custom header and footer.

BE SURE TO remove the custom header and footer from the Memo print style if you don't want to retain them.

CLOSE the SBS Tradeshow Schedule message.