Conditional Printing

Kirk asked if there is a way to conditionally control what is printed in Excel. For instance, cell A1 contains a value, and the value controls exactly what is printed. Perhaps if A1 contains 1, then Sheet1 is printed; if it contains 2, then Sheet1 and Sheet2 are printed.

The only way to do this is with a macro, and there are several approaches you can use. Consider the following very simple macro, which simply uses a Select Case structure to control the printing.

Sub PrintStuff()
    Dim vShts As Variant

    vShts = Sheets(1).Range("A1")
    If Not IsNumeric(vShts) Then
        Exit Sub
    Else
        Select Case vShts
            Case 1
                Sheets("Sheet1").PrintOut
            Case 2
                Sheets("Sheet2").PrintOut
            Case 3
                Sheets("Sheet1").PrintOut
                Sheets("Sheet2").PrintOut
        End Select
    End If
End Sub

Run this macro with the value 1, 2, or 3 in cell A1 of the first sheet, and the macro prints different things based on the value. If the value is 1, then Sheet1 is printed; if it is 2, then Sheet2 is printed; and if it is 3, then both Sheet1 and Sheet2 are printed. If you want different values to print different things, just modify the Select Case structure to reflect the possible values and what should be printed for each value.

A more comprehensive approach can be created, as well. Consider adding a "control sheet" to your workbook. This sheet would have the name of each worksheet in the workbook listed in the first column. If you put a value to the right of a worksheet name, in the second column, then a macro will print the corresponding worksheet.

The following macro can be used to create the "control sheet."

Sub CreateControlSheet()
    Dim i as integer

    On Error Resume Next   'Delete this sheet if it already exists
    Sheets("Control Sheet").Delete
    On Error GoTo 0

    Sheets.Add   'Add the WhatToPrint Sheet
    ActiveSheet.Name = "Control Sheet"

    Range("A1").Select   'Label the columns
    ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Sheet Name"

    Range("B1").Select
    ActiveCell.FormulaR1C1 = "Print?"

    Cells.Select
    Selection.Columns.AutoFit

    For i = 1 To ActiveWorkbook.Sheets.Count
        Cells(i + 1, 1).Value = Sheets(i).Name
    Next
End Sub

The macro first deletes any old control sheet, if it exists. It then adds a new worksheet named Control Sheet, and puts headers labels in columns A and B. It then lists all the worksheets in the workbook in column A.

With the control sheet created, you can then place an "X" or some other value (such as "Y" or 1) into column B beside each worksheet you want to print. The following macro then examines the control sheet and prints any worksheet that has a mark—any mark—in the cell in column B.

Sub PrintSelectedSheets()
    Dim i as Integer
    i = 2

    Do Until Sheets("Control Sheet").Cells(i, 1).Value = ""
        If Trim(Sheets("Control Sheet").Cells(i, 2).Value <> "") Then
            Sheets(Sheets("Control Sheet").Cells(i, 1).Value).Select
            ActiveWindow.SelectedSheets.PrintOut Copies:=1
        End If
        i = i + 1
    Loop
End Sub

Another approach is to create a macro that runs just before printing. (This is one of the events—printing—that Excel allows you to trap.) The following macro, added to the thisWorkbook object, is run every time you try to print or choose Print Preview.

Private Sub Workbook_BeforePrint(Cancel As Boolean)
    Dim vShts As Variant
    Dim iResponse As Integer
    Dim bPreview As Boolean

    On Error GoTo ErrHandler

    vShts = Sheets(1).Range("A1")
    If Not IsNumeric(vShts) Then
        GoTo InValidEntry
    ElseIf vShts < 1 Or vShts > Sheets.Count Then
        GoTo InValidEntry
    Else
        iResponse = MsgBox(prompt:="Do you want Print Preview?", _
          Buttons:=vbYesNoCancel, Title:="Preview?")
        Select Case iResponse
            Case vbYes
                bPreview = True
            Case vbNo
                bPreview = False
            Case Else
               Msgbox "Canceled at User request"
               GoTo ExitHandler
        End Select

        Application.EnableEvents = False
        Sheets(vShts).PrintOut Preview:=bPreview
    End If

ExitHandler:
    Application.EnableEvents = True
    Cancel = True
    Exit Sub

InValidEntry:
    MsgBox "'" & Sheets(1).Name & "'!A1" _
        & vbCrLf & "must have a number between " _
        & "1 and " & Sheets.Count & vbCrLf
    GoTo ExitHandler

ErrHandler:
    MsgBox Err.Description
    Resume ExitHandler
End Sub

The macro checks the value in cell A1 of the first worksheet. It uses this value to determine which worksheets should be printed. In other words, a 1 prints the first worksheet, a 2 prints the second, a 3 prints the third, and so on.

If the value in A1 is not a value or if it is less than 1 or greater than the number of worksheets in the workbook, then the user is informed that the value is incorrect and the macro is exited.

Assuming the value in A1 is within range, the macro asks if you want to using Print Preview. Depending on the user's response, the macro prints the specified worksheet or displays Print Preview for that worksheet.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2372) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Conditional Printing.