23.6.1 Printing Graphs, Layout Pages, and Analytical Results

Checking your display options before printing

There are several ways to hide elements of the graph window:

  • By de-selecting the element from the View menu (View: Show: Element).
  • Via shortcut menus associated with many graph elements.

If an element is not displayed in the graph window, it will not appear in the printout. If you want an element to appear in the printout, be sure to display it before selecting File: Print.

Previewing before printing

Before printing a graph or layout page, you will want to check the positioning of labels and other objects on the page. Both Print View and Print Preview (File:Print Preview) modes use the printer driver for the page layout information, and so they are both useful for confirming object positioning. However, note the following differences:

  • Print View mode provides an editable view; it allows use of Origin tools, including the menu commands and dialog boxes. Print Preview mode is strictly a viewing mode - no Origin tools are available. Thus, if you want to move objects on the graph page or customize the graph before printing, you must switch to Print View mode.
  • Print Preview mode provides a display of the entire graph page, including the margins. Print Preview provides the most accurate representation of the printed page. Page zooming tools are provided to enhance viewing.
    • Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons to examine the page before printing. Click in the target region of the page to zoom in. To return to the full page view, click the Zoom Out button.
    • Grayscale button to see how your color graph will look in black and white. If tonal variation is not sufficient, you may want to adjust your color palette.

To print from the previewing mode, click the Print button. This opens the Print dialog box. Confirm print settings and click OK.

To exit the previewing mode without printing, click the Close button.

Print Preview offers a Grayscale PP Grayscale button.png button for previewing your color graph in grayscale.

A note about displaying and printing fonts

Scalable fonts are usually rotatable, and resize proportionally when you change the size of an Origin graph. For best results, we recommend that you use scalable fonts in your graphs.

Windows contains two types of scalable fonts: Vector fonts and True Type fonts.

  • Windows includes three Vector fonts: Roman, Modern, and Script. Vector fonts are created as needed by an application, based on a set of software instructions that define the characteristics of the font.
  • Windows also includes a number of True Type fonts, such as Arial, Times New Roman, and Symbol. These provide a true "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) display. The screen display will always match the printed page.

For a list of the True Type fonts in your system, open the Windows Control Panel and double-click on the Fonts icon. True Type fonts are designated by a True Type Printing Graphs Layout Pages and Analytical Results-1.png icon.

Printer fonts are fonts that are built into your printer. Printer fonts may be scalable fonts, or they may be bitmapped fonts, which are not scalable. Check your printer documentation to determine what type of fonts come with your printer. If you have a PostScript printer, all of your PostScript fonts are scalable.

Printing to the printer

To print the active window:

  1. Select File:Print.

or

  1. Right-click on the title bar of the window and select Print from the shortcut menu.

Both actions open the Print dialog box. Edit this dialog box to select and configure the active printer, and set the printing options.

Note 1: To print the active window using the current settings in the Print dialog box, click the Print button Button Print.png on the Standard toolbar.

Note 2: To print a window or selected windows from a Project Explorer folder, select the window icons on the right side of Project Explorer and then right-click within the selection and select Print Window or Print Windows from the shortcut menu. Like the Print button on the Standard toolbar, these shortcut menu commands use the settings in the Print dialog box.