Many users work in Outlook 2007 and never print any of the items they store in the program. For other users, however, the ability to print from Outlook 2007 is important. For example, if you use a hard-copy day planner rather than a notebook computer or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to keep track of your daily schedule, you might prepare the schedule in Outlook 2007 and then print it for insertion in the day planner.
This section examines the options and methods for printing your Outlook 2007 data. It also explains how to customize the print styles provided by Outlook 2007 to create custom styles that better suit your preferences or needs.
Outlook 2007 offers several predefined print styles that you can use to print information from various Outlook 2007 folders. The most common print styles are Table and Memo, as indicated in Table 27-1, which lists the standard print styles in Outlook 2007.
Table 27-1. Outlook 2007 Print Styles by Folder Type
Folder Type | View | Print Styles |
|---|---|---|
Calendar | Day/Week/Month Day/Week/Month with AutoPreview | Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Tri-Fold, Calendar Details, Memo |
Active Appointments All Appointments Events Annual Events Recurring Appointments By Category Outlook Data Files | Table, Memo | |
Contacts | Business Cards Address Cards Detailed Address Cards | Card, Small Booklet, Medium Booklet, Memo, Phone Directory |
Phone List By Category By Company By Location Outlook Data Files | Table, Memo | |
Inbox | All except Message Timeline | Table, Memo |
Message Timeline | Prints individual items only | |
Journal | By Type By Contact By Category | Prints individual items only |
|
Last Seven Days Phone Calls Outlook Data Files | Table, Memo | |
Notes | Icon | Memo |
All except Icon | ||
Tasks | All except Task Timeline | Table, Memo |
Task Timeline | Prints individual items only |
Printing from Outlook 2007 is just as easy as printing from any other application. Simply select the view or item you want to print, and then choose File, Print (or if you have an item open, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Print) to print the document or choose File, Print Preview (or click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Print, Print Preview) to preview it.
If you click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Print, Outlook 2007 displays a Print dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 27-14. The contents of the dialog box vary according to the type of view from which you’re printing.
In the Print Style list, select a print style. For example, select Phone Directory Style for the Contacts folder to print a phone list, or select one of the two booklet styles to print contact entries for a day planner. If you need to fine-tune the print settings, click Page Setup to display a Page Setup dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 27-15.
Note
For additional details on printing contacts and using different print styles with the Contacts folder, see "Printing Contacts" in Chapter 18.
Use the Format tab of the Page Setup dialog box to specify the layout, fonts, and other general properties for the job. The options on the Format tab vary from one folder type to another. For example, you can use the Format tab to set the following options, some of which are specific to particular folder types:
Whether Outlook 2007 keeps sections together or starts a new page for each section
The number of columns per page
The number of blank forms to print at the end of the job (such as blank contact forms)
Whether Outlook 2007 prints a contact index on the page edge
Whether letter headings for each alphabetic section of a contact list are included
The font used for headings and for body text
Whether Outlook 2007 adds gray shading to headings
Whether the Daily Task List, To-Do Bar, or notes areas are printed with a calendar
Whether weekends are printed in a calendar view
Whether Outlook 2007 prints one month of a calendar per page
Use the Paper tab, shown in Figure 27-16, to configure the page type, size, source, and other properties. For example, in the Type list on the Paper tab, you can select the type of day planner you use so that Outlook 2007 prints using that style.
Figure 27-16. Use the Paper tab to configure the paper source, size, type, and other paper settings.
Use the Header/Footer tab, shown in Figure 27-17, to specify the items that you want printed in the header and the footer. This tab provides three boxes for the header and three for the footer. The left box specifies items that print on the left side of the page, the middle box specifies items that print in the middle of the page, and the right box specifies items that print on the right side of the page. You can enter text manually or use the buttons near the bottom to insert specific data such as page numbers, the user, the time, and other dynamic data.
After you select the page setup options, you can return to the Print dialog box or preview the document. The Print dialog box offers a handful of options that can help you further refine the printed data. For example, use the Start and End lists to specify a range of data to print. Select the Hide Details Of Private Appointments check box if you don’t want the details of your private appointments printed. Set printer properties, the number of copies to print, and other general print settings, and then click OK to print or click Preview to preview the document.
Outlook 2007 provides a broad range of print styles, so it’s likely that they will fit most of your needs. When these print styles don’t quite offer what you need, however, you can create a custom print style.
Note
If you find yourself using an existing print style but frequently making the same option changes before printing, modify the existing print style to create a custom print style.
You can either modify an existing print style or copy a style and then modify it to incorporate the changes you need. If you always use the same modifications on a particular print style, you might prefer to simply modify that existing style rather than creating a new one. If you use the default style occasionally but modify its properties for most other print jobs, consider creating a custom print style based on the existing one so that both are available.
Follow these steps to modify or create a new print style:
In Outlook 2007, open the view for which you want to modify the print style or on which you want to base your custom print style.
Choose File, Page Setup, Define Print Styles to open the Define Print Styles dialog box, shown in Figure 27-18.
If you want to create a new style, select an existing style, and then click Copy. Otherwise, select an existing style, and then click Edit. In either case, Outlook 2007 displays a Page Setup dialog box similar to the one shown in Figure 27-19.
Specify options as needed in the dialog box, and then click OK to apply the changes.
In the Define Print Styles dialog box, click Close.
When you want to print using a particular style, open the view from which you want to print, and then choose File, Print. In the Print dialog box, select the style in the Print Style list, set other properties as necessary, and then click OK to print.
If you’ve created some custom print styles but no longer use them, or if you’ve been experimenting with print styles and have a few samples you want to delete, removing them is a simple matter.
Follow these steps to remove a print style:
You can’t delete the standard print styles provided in Outlook 2007, but you can restore them to their default state. For example, suppose that you made several changes to the default Small Booklet style for the Contacts folder. Now you want to restore the print style to its default settings, but you don’t remember what they are. Fortunately, Outlook 2007 remembers them for you.