Adding the Set Print Area Tool

If you have the need to define different areas of a worksheet to print, you know that you can do so by simply defining different print areas in your worksheet. If you need to change print areas quite often, you may be interested in adding a tool to your toolbar that can do this for you. (Using such a tool is much quicker than continually using the menu commands to set a print area.) Follow these steps if you are using a version of Excel prior to Excel 2007:

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Make sure the Commands tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. In the Categories list, make sure File is selected.
4. In the list of Commands, scroll down until you see the Set Print Area command.
5. Drag the Set Print Area command and drop it in the toolbar location where you want it to be available.
6. Click on Close.

If you are using Excel 2007, then you cannot customize the tabs of the ruler. Instead, you need to add the Set Print Area tool to the Quick Access toolbar, in this way:

1. Click the Office button, and then click Excel Options. Excel displays the Excel Options dialog box.
2. Click Customize at the left side of the dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Use the Choose Commands From drop-down list to choose All Commands.
4. In the list of Commands, scroll down until you see the Set Print Area command. Select the command.
5. Click the Add button. The command is now listed in the box at the right side of the dialog box.
6. Click on OK.

Now, when you need to set a print area, you simply choose the area on the screen and click on the Set Print Area button.