Changing your printer settings, especially when printing from applications like Microsoft Office, is a straightforward process that allows you to customize aspects like paper size, orientation, print quality, and more before sending a document to your printer.
Here's how you can typically change print settings when printing from an application, based on common steps:
Accessing Printer Settings from an Application
To change the print settings for a specific print job, you usually access them through the print dialog box within the application you are using.
Here are the key steps:
- Open the Print Option: From the Office app (or most other applications), navigate to and select the Print option. This is often found under the "File" menu or accessed using a keyboard shortcut like Ctrl+P (Windows) or Command+P (Mac).
- Select Your Printer: In the Print dialog box that appears, you will see a list of available printers. Select the specific printer you intend to use for this print job.
- Open Printer Properties/Preferences: Look for a button labeled Printer Properties, Preferences, Printer Setup, or a similar option next to the selected printer name. Click this button. This action opens a separate dialog box managed by your printer's driver software.
- Adjust Desired Settings: Within the Printer Properties or Preferences dialog box, you will find various tabs or sections to adjust settings. These commonly include:
- Layout: Change orientation (portrait or landscape), print multiple pages per sheet, print double-sided (duplex printing).
- Paper/Quality: Select paper size, paper type (plain paper, photo paper, cardstock), print quality (draft, normal, best), color options (color or grayscale).
- Features/Finishing: Depending on your printer, you might find options for stapling, collating, watermarks, etc.
- Maintenance: Access tools for checking ink levels, cleaning print heads, etc. (though these are less about print settings for a job and more about printer upkeep).
Select the desired print settings by choosing options from dropdown menus, radio buttons, or checkboxes.
- Confirm Settings: After making your selections, click OK or Apply within the printer settings dialog box to save these changes for the current print job.
- Proceed with Printing: You will be returned to the main Print dialog box. Review the summary of your selected settings if available, and then click Print to send the document to the printer with the modified settings.
Note: The exact appearance and labeling of buttons and tabs within the Printer Properties or Preferences window can vary significantly depending on your printer model and the version of the printer driver installed.
