Adjust Page Margin and Orientation

You are probably familiar with margins, or the empty space between the text and the left, right, top, and bottom edges of a printed page. The default margins for a report are .25 inches at the top, bottom, left, and right. This lesson will go over how to adjust the margins of your report. You will also learn how to change the page orientation.

Adjust Page Margins

There are many reasons to change a report's margins:

• To make room for more data.
• To add some extra space if you're binding a document.
• To leave a blank space to write in notes.

1. In Layout View or Design View, click the Arrange tab.
2. Click the Control Margins button.

   Here, you have a few choices for margin size: Normal, Wide, or Narrow (the default choice).

3. Select a margin option.
   

If you want to fine-tune the margin size, click the Page Setup button on the Page Setup tab, click the Print Options tab, and enter the exact top, bottom, left, and right margin sizes you want to use.

Adjust Page Orientation

Everything you print uses one of two different types of paper orientations: portrait and landscape. In Portrait orientation (the default for Access reports), the paper is taller than it is wide. In Landscape orientation, the paper is wider than it is tall.

1. In Layout View or Design View, click the Page Setup tab.
2. Click the Landscape or Portrait button.

You can also change the size of the page from the default Letter size. Click the Size button in the Page Size group and select a size.

The page's orientation changes.

Preview a Report

It's always a good idea to preview your report to see how it'll appear once it's printed.

1. Click the File tab.
   
2. Select Print.
3. Click Print Preview.

You can also print preview a report by clicking the Home tab on the ribbon, clicking the View button list arrow in the View group, and selecting Print Preview. Or, click the Print Preview button on the Status bar.

Access displays the report as it will look when printed.