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PRINTING HELP

The Freebie Instruction page can be printed directly from your Browser if required.
          
I try to keep my Freebie charts to a size that allows them to be printed directly from the browser.  Sometimes, however, I get a little carried away and the charts are too large to allow this to be done. 

If you use Firefox (like I do) then it is very easy, click on File / Print Preview and see if it is on one page.  If it is NOT then click the "Scale" box drop down arrow at the top of the window and select the "Shrink to Fit" option.  Then just click the "Print" box top left.

Because I use Firefox I only have Internet Explorer 6 and in this you just cannot scale the page.

   
If you have problems printing from your browser then the only solution is to save the chart file to your hard disk as described on the Freebie page and then to load it into a graphic program or word processor where it can be re-sized without loss of quality.  If you need help printing a chart then instructions are provided below for some of the more popular programs.
   

Microsoft Word

There are many different versions of this program in use but the process is similar in most of them ( these instructions are for Word 2000 ).  Open Word, start a new blank document and on the top menu click "Insert", then "Picture" then "From File" and then go to the directory where you saved the file ( the default is "My Documents" ).  Double-click the Freebie chart file you just saved.

   
You can now click the picture and "drag" the corners to change the size of the picture.  Increase the margins ( click "File" then "Page Setup" ) to as much as you can depending on what your printer will allow.  Check that it will print correctly by clicking  "File" and "Print Preview" before printing ( click "File" then "Print" ).
   

Microsoft WordPad

Open WordPad and on the top menu click "Insert", then "Object" and on the "Insert Object" box click the "Create from File" option.  Click "Browse" and go to the directory where you saved the file ( the default is "My Documents" ).  Double-click the Freebie chart file you just saved and click "OK".

   
You can now click the picture and "drag" the corners to change the size of the picture.  However, dragging the corners does NOT keep the image in proportion, although this should not matter unless taken to extreme.  Increase the margins ( click "File" then "Page Setup" ) to as much as you can depending on what your printer will allow.  Check that it will print correctly by clicking "File" and "Print Preview" before printing ( click "File" then "Print" ).
   

Graphics Programs (Drag resize)

There are many graphics programs available.  Some allow you to "File" then "Open" a graphic file ( although you must "Import" instead of "Open" in Corel Draw 8 ) and then drag the corners of the picture to resize it.  They all allow you to increase the page margins to as much as you can depending on what your printer will allow.  As usual it is wise to check that it will print correctly ( usually by clicking "File" and "Print Preview" ) before printing ( click "File" then "Print" ).

   

Graphics Programs (Page Setup)

Some graphics programs do not allow you to "drag" resize an image.  They will allow an "Image" then "Resize" but this compresses by reducing pixels and clarity is lost.   Instead you can make the image fit a page in a Page Setup process.  The following instructions are for the simple PAINT program that comes with windows (at least up to XP - not sure about Vista) and also for Paint Shop Pro.

   
Open Paint and click "File" then "Open" and go to the directory where you saved the file.  Double-click the Freebie chart file you just saved.  click "File" / Print Preview to check it is on one page.  If it is then you can click the "Print" button at the top of the preview page.

If it is too big for the page then close the preview page and click "File" then "Page Setup".  Then click the small "Fit to" circle bottom left and also make sure that the two boxes next to it have a number 1 in them - i.e. "fit to 1 by 1 page(s)".  If you want the printed chart to be as large as possible then you can change the "Margin" boxes just above (I usually put 5 in each, how small you can go depends on your printer).  Click OK on the Page Setup window and click "File" / Print Preview to check it is OK before printing it.

   

 

Open Paint Shop Pro and click "File" then "Open" and go to the directory where you saved the file.  Double-click the Freebie chart file you just saved.  Click "File" then "Page Setup".  The easiest method is to click "Centre on page" and then click "Fit to page".  I have usually found that you then have to reduce the "Scale" number above "Fit to page" a little in order to avoid losing part of the image.  To check, click "File" then "Print Preview" (you can zoom in and out to check whether you have all the image) and adjust the "Scale" number until the image fits the page nicely before printing ( click "File" then "Print" ).
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