# Print out doesn't match Print Preview



## JohnJet (Aug 22, 2016)

I have created a document in Excel 2016 with 5 work sheets. 
Each worksheet comprises 2 pages. 
I want the document to be able to print out as 5 x 2-sided sheets.
The Print Preview appears fine, with 10 pages, and all in the correct sequence.
After completing the document at home, I printed it on a Canon printer and all was fine.
However, at work, using an HP printer, the Print Preview still appears fine, but pages print in wrong sequence; with some printing 2-sided and others single-sided, although the content for each page appears correctly on the printed sheet.
If I save the file as a PDF, the pages are correctly ordered, and print out as 5 x 2-sided sheets as intended.
(OS is Windows 10) 
I've created as 5 worksheets to allow flexibility of use with the document... Worksheet 1, for example will only ever need to be saved as a 2-page PDF; sometimes only 2 or 3 of the worksheets need to be printed, and other times all sheets need to be printed.

Is the Excel file somehow retaining some of the printer profile from when it was originally created which is conflicting with a different printer profile? or is there a simpler explanation.

Any help gratefully accepted... I've spent hours trying to solve the problem and wasted hundreds of sheets of paper!


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## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

Hi, I tend to think that the canon printer allows for a smaller page margin than the hp printer, however I do not know which hp printer you have at the office.
I do suggest you check if the page settings when the hp printer is active are the same as the canon printer.
If you print to pdf you make sure to set the fit-to-page for each page and always reset page settings to the currently active windows printer


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## JohnJet (Aug 22, 2016)

Hi Hans

Thanks for your reply.

No problem making and printing PDFs as I need them to be.

The key issue is that I'm getting different print results from different printers... Even though the Print Preview always shows 10 pages, all in the correct order, and all showing content correctly laid out on each page.

The first 2 pages print correctly, on both sides of the first sheet, but then I seem to get blank pages popping out in almost random order.
Pages print with correct content, but print in a different order to what's shown on the preview and, mostly, are not printed 2-sided.

Is it the case that Print Preview doesn't necessarily show how a document will actually print?

If this is true, I could be playing around with page settings etc and testimg printing for a long time


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## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

I never had issues that where this serious, I did however encounter differences with the final printouts and that depended on what printer I was printing on.
Printer drivers do not seem to 'act' the same way with each different brand.
I do not have a solution for you, sorry for that. Trial-and-error.


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## JohnJet (Aug 22, 2016)

OK... thanks Hans


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## Keebellah (Mar 27, 2008)

BTW, are you scaling the output in any way to fit a page? This can also throw-off some printers


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## JohnJet (Aug 22, 2016)

Keebellah said:


> BTW, are you scaling the output in any way to fit a page? This can also throw-off some printers


No... printing with 'No Scaling'


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## DaveA (Nov 16, 1999)

The "Print Preview" normally is based on the "Default Printer" settings.
So if you are previewing on one machine and printer, but printing from a different machine and printer, then they may be different.

What pdf program are you using to make these pdf's?
What pdf program are you using to view these pdf's?


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