My view vs. Print Preview

[OfficeBitty]

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering... I've been working around this issue, and it's now getting to the point where I am having a hard time accepting it any longer. I would like to know if this is normal, and if this is just the way Excel is.

When I'm working on a sheet and put in borders, data, pictures, and any other thing that I might need, I find that the way it looks to me is apparently not the way it "really" looks. I will align words and pictures, lines and numbers so that it looks just right... but when I print preview it or just print it, it comes out looking very different. Sometimes, it looks like all of my data does not fit into the cell area I have provided, so I expand the cell area until I can see all of my data in the cell. But when I print [preview] it, I can clearly see that I gave it way too much space...

Do I need to keep clicking back and forth from the print preview screen to ensure that my work is looking the way it's supposed to? Or is this just a result of some bad settings on my end?

I would appreciate any information on this. Thank you for taking the time to read my silly problem!

[swatsp0p]

Based on my experience, Print Preview is not to be taken as a exact replica of the final printout. Lots of things come in to play, mainly your printer, but also the fonts used as well as the various pictures, clip art, word art etc.

Remember, Excel is not intended to be a PowerPoint or Word processor, and as such, has limitations.

I do find I need to 'play around' until I achieve the desired output to the printer. Often WYS is not WYG (What You See is not What You Get).

Good Luck and have fun.

Bruce

[OfficeBitty]

Thank you for responding, Swatsp0p. If this is normal, I guess there is nothing for me to fix.