5 tips to save paper and ink while printing word documents

Below are the simple tips which can save paper and ink costs while taking prints of word documents.

1.      Print only the selected data

Instead of printing the unnecessary data in the page, you can print only the required data just by selecting it. The data can be a paragraph in word document, few cells in a spreadsheet etc.

Steps:

1. Select the data you need to print
2. Press CTRL+P
3. In Page range group, select “Selection”
4. Goto Properties, Select page size, orientation and other parameters as per your need and click OK button
5. Select the printer and click on OK button to print.

2.       Use ‘Print preview’ and ‘shrink to Page’ options

• Sometimes, we print a single page but ends up seeing two or more extra pages printed with some line or unreadable characters. We waste ink and paper just by blindly clicking the print button without previewing the pages we print. Use print preview option to check whether you are printing what you want and save your printing costs. This can also be avoided by entering required page numbers to print in          CTRL+P->page range->pages.
• You can shrink the document by one page while giving print by using “Shrink to Page” option. This option reduces the document by one page by reducing text font or spacing size. You can go back by pressing CTRL+Z. It is better to remove unnecessary empty spaces before using this option.

Steps:

1. Click Microsoft Office Button
2. Goto Print-> Print preview
3. In Preview group, Select “Shrink to Page”

Also Check How to change the page orientation of a single page in MS word 2007?

3.      Print on both sides of a single paper

Instead of printing each page on a separate paper, use this option to print two pages on both sides of a single paper. This can save half of your paper cost.

Steps:

1. Press CTRL+P. Print window pop ups
2. Click on “Properties” button
3. Select “2 sided Printing” . Click OK button.
4. Click OK to print

4.     Split the page text into two or more columns

This is an excellent way to save your printing costs. If the page has short lines (more white space on right side) then MS word has “columns” option to split the text in a page into two or more columns. In this way you can make use of maximum space in a page.

Steps:

1. Goto Page Layout tab
2. In Page Setup group, Click on Columns option
3. Select the number of columns you want to split the page into (One column or two column etc)

5.      Reduce the line spacing manually

We can use “Shrink to page” option to reduce the line spacing automatically, but it also reduces the text font size. Use “Line spacing” option to reduce only the line spacing in a paragraph.

Steps:

1. Select the paragraph
2. Goto Paragraph group-> Select Line spacing
3. Goto “Line Spacing options…”
   Change/reduce the Line spacing and click OK
4. You can always enter CTRL+Z, if the line spacing is not as per your need.

Funny tip: Use your office printer to take prints when no one looks on:)

Notes:

The given tips are as per MS word 2007. In other window versions, screenshots may vary a bit.

Check [solved] Find and replace with capitals problem in MS word 2007