The Print Area

The print area is the area of the page that can be printed. To display it on screen, select Show Print Area in the General Preferences dialog box.
Print area is determined by printer type, page size, and magnification. Most printers can't print to the edge of the page. Some printers need space to grip the page; others may not have enough memory to image a full page.

The enlargement or reduction you set in the Printer Setup dialog box also determines the maximum print area. You can enlarge the page up to 400% with a LaserWriter, which means that a smaller portion of your document fits on each page. Reducing the page to 25% fits a larger portion of your document on each page.

The orientation of the print area rectangle-portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal)-depends on which you choose in the Printer Setup dialog box. Be sure you choose the same orientation in both the Page Setup and the Printer Setup dialog boxes, or your document will not print correctly.
The size of the print area rectangle depends on the printer and, for some printers, on some of the options in the Printer Setup dialog box. The elements of your page that lie outside the print area won't print. If your page size is larger than the print area, you can tile the output. When you choose Tiling in the Printer Setup dialog box, your document is printed on two or more pages, and you can assemble it using traditional methods. When you select tiling, the print area is not visible on the page.