Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Scaling Your Printing.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 25, 2018)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Worksheets can get very big, very fast. Often you want to still print an entire worksheet in a single sheet of paper. Excel makes this easy to do by using scaling. All you need to do is follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Page tab of the Page Setup dialog box.
One of the tricks I often use is to set the Fit To settings to 1 page wide by 99 pages tall. In this way, I am sure the output will fit on one page across. Since my output isn't over 99 pages in length, no shrinking is done on this dimension. I end up with output that is 1 page wide by how ever many pages long Excel needs to print.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2841) 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: Scaling Your Printing.
Solve Real Business Problems Master business modeling and analysis techniques with Excel and transform data into bottom-line results. This hands-on, scenario-focused guide shows you how to use the latest Excel tools to integrate data from multiple tables. Check out Microsoft Excel Data Analysis and Business Modeling today!
When getting ready to print your worksheet, you may want to take a moment to check what margins Excel will use on the ...
Discover MoreIf you need to change the size of paper on which your worksheets will be printed, it can be bothersome to make the change ...
Discover MoreNeed to print your worksheet on a non-standard paper size? Excel is rather limited in printing to such papers, and here ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2021-04-07 12:45:20
Thomas
Hi Allen,
I work in spreadsheets that often are over 50 pages, and print these pages to teams in my organization. Invariably, I run into this scaling issue when printing to PDF, and often use custom scaling for each page to fit to one page.
Looking for a better way, I found this tip to use "Fit To" 1x99. This works for *some* pages, but lots of pages have rows that get cut off at the bottom, or columns that duplicate to the right. I end up needing to go through each page still and custom scale those pages for which this trick doesn't quite work.
Do you have any further insight on this issue?
Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here:
Comments