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: Setting Print Quality.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 20, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003
Many printers on the market these days provide a bevy of different features. It is not unusual, for instance, for printers to be able to print on different paper stocks, use different inks, and pull paper from different trays. Some printers even allow you to pick different levels of quality for output.
Print quality is often measured in DPI, or dots per inch. This is a measure of printer resolution and simply means the number of individual ink dots that a printer can produce within a linear inch. Some printer drivers used with Windows allow you to specify which resolution you want to use for a particular print job. If your printer allows you to adjust this setting, you can take advantage of it in Excel in this manner:

Figure 1. The Page tab of the Page Setup dialog box.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2937) 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: Setting Print Quality.
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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.
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