Chapter 10
Printing
askSam Concepts in this Chapter:
• Preparing to Print
• Defining the Page Layout
• Printing a Single Document
• Printing all Documents
• Printing Selected Documents
• Printing Reports
• Changing Printers
Outputting Printed Information
askSam offers you a variety of ways to print your information. These printing options fall into two categories depending on how you want your printed output to appear:
AS ENTERED The contents of a single Document, selected Documents, selected text, or all Documents in a file can be printed as you entered them.
AS A REPORT Print a report when you want to print a particular view of your information that can include totals or summaries. (For details on how to create these reports, see the next chapter, The askSam Report Writer.)
Page Layout
askSam prints Documents as they appear on the screen. Fonts, alignment, and attributes will all be printed as you see them. The command FILE -> PAGE SETUP lets you define page size, page
orientation, and margins for your Documents.
To Define the Page Layout:
1. Choose FILE -> PAGE SETUP.
The Page Setup Dialog Box will appear.

2. Set the following options:
OPTION DESCRIPTION
PAPER Sets the paper size and the source. The source specifies where the paper you want to use is located in the printer.
ORIENTATION Specifies how the Document is positioned on the printed page. You can choose either portrait or landscape
MARGINS Sets the top, bottom, left and right print margins for all the Documents in an askSam file.
PRINTER button Changes printers or specific settings for the selected printer.
3. Choose OK.
NOTE: To see how your Document will be broken into pages before you print, turn on “Background Pagination” in the TOOLS -> OPTIONS menu. (See the chapter on
the askSam Word Processor for details on how to modify these Page Breaks.)
The Print Dialog
The Print Dialog Box controls printing in askSam. It appears whenever you select one of the Print commands in the File Menu printing a single Document, printing all Documents, printing selected Documents, printing reports, printing Mail Merge Documents.

The settings in the Print Dialog include:
SETTING ACTION
NAME Lists the printers installed on your computer. Lets you select another printer.
PROPERTIES Displays a menu of settings for the currently selected printer.
PRINT TO FILE Saves the Document or Documents you print as a printer file.
PRINT RANGE Prints all pages, specific pages, or a selected text passage.
COPIES Print multiple copies of the print job. The default setting is 1.
Printing A Single Document
Whenever an askSam Document displays on your screen, it can be printed:
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT (or press CTRL+P).
The Print Dialog Box will appear.
2. Choose OK.
A Dialog Box will appear, telling you that askSam is printing. The Document will be printed.
NOTE: You can also access the Print Dialog Box by clicking on the Print Button
in the Toolbar.
Printing All Documents In A File
To print all Documents in an askSam file:
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT OTHER -> ALL DOCUMENTS.
The Print Dialog Box will appear.
2. Choose OK.
A Dialog Box will appear, telling you that askSam is printing. Documents are printed in the order in which they occur in the file.
Printing Selected Documents
askSam allows you to search your file for specific Documents and print only these Documents.
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT OTHER -> SELECTED DOCUMENTS.
The Search Dialog Box will appear. This dialog allows you to combine askSam's search functions to search for a specific group of Documents.
EXAMPLE: You could select Documents with dates from September 1, 2000 to October 31, 2000 where the words "Gore" and "Bush" appear in the same paragraph. The Search Dialog Box is described in the chapter on Searching.
2. Enter your search criteria and choose OK.
The Print Dialog Box will appear.
3. Choose OK
A Dialog Box will appear, telling you that askSam is printing. Documents are printed in the order in which they occur in the file.
Printing Documents Selected By A Stored Search
askSam allows you to print the Documents selected by a stored search request.
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT OTHER -> STORED SEARCH.
The Stored Search Dialog Box will appear.
2. Select the Stored Search you want to run and choose the Run button
The Print Dialog Box will appear.
3. Choose OK
A Dialog Box will appear, telling you that askSam is printing. Documents are printed in the order in which they occur in the file.
Printing Reports
The Report option in the Print Other menu allows you to select a previously defined report and print the report output. You can create, edit, and run reports from the Tools menu. (See the following chapter, askSam Report Writer for details on creating reports.)
To Print a Report:
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT OTHER -> REPORT.
A list of report names for this file will appear.
2. Choose the report you want to print and choose the Run button.
The Print Dialog Box will apear.
3. Choose OK.
A Dialog Box will appear, telling you that askSam is printing. The report will be output and printed.
NOTE: The "Keep docs together, printing reports" option in FILE ->
PROPERTIES affects the way reports are printed. When you print a report containing multiple Documents, this option prevents a single Document from being split onto separate pages.
Printing Mail Merge Documents
The command FILE -> PRINT OTHER -> MAIL MERGE lets you print Mail Merge Documents.
See the chapter on Mail Merge for details.
Canceling Printing
If you wish to cancel printing, press ESC or choose the Abort Printing button in the dialog box that appears during printing.
Changing Printers
askSam prints using the default printer which is defined in the Windows Printer Setup. If you want to use another installed printer:
1. Choose FILE -> PRINT. The Print Dialog Box will appear.
2. Select the “Name” field and choose from the list of installed printers.
3. Choose OK. askSam now prints to the newly selected printer.
NOTES:
1. If the printer you wish to install is not listed, you must use the Windows Printer Setup to install a new printer driver.
2. If you have trouble printing please check the following:
· Is your printer turned on and on-line?
· Is the printer information displayed in the Print Dialog correct? If not, choose Printer Setup and select the correct printer.
· Is Windows printing properly? Try printing from another Windows application (such as WordPad). If you cannot print from this application, use the Windows Printer Setup to install the proper printer and port.
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