Verify print preview for overflow

Print preview shows how pages will look on paper. Overflow means something does not fit: a table wider than the margins, text cut off, or a few lines pushed to an extra page. The check is the last step in document production, and it is where you catch mistakes from every earlier lesson.

What should you look for?

• Width overflow: a table or image that crosses the right margin.
• Length overflow: the last page holds only one or two lines or a single table row.
• Clipped text: words cut off inside a cell with a fixed height.
• Split rows: one row broken across two pages.
• Header and footer: present and correct on every page.
• Page count: matches the brief, if it gives one.

Step by step

1. Open print preview and go to the first page.
2. Step through every page. Zoom in on tables.
3. Compare the page count with the brief.
4. Write down each problem and fix it in the document.
5. Open preview again and repeat until nothing is left.

Worked example

Invented numbers. A page has 247 mm of text height and each line of body text is 5 mm tall including spacing.

Step 1. Lines per page = 247 ÷ 5 = 49.4, so 49 full lines.

Step 2. The document has 100 lines. Two pages hold 49 × 2 = 98 lines.

Step 3. 100 − 98 = 2 lines are left over, so a third page holds only two lines.

Step 4. Fix: reduce paragraph spacing slightly so 100 lines fit on two pages, or shorten the text. Do not shrink the font below the size the brief gives.

Step 5. Preview again: two pages, footers “Page 1 of 2” and “Page 2 of 2”.

For width: a table with columns of 60, 45, 40 and 35 mm is 180 mm wide. The text width is 170 mm, so it overflows by 10 mm. Narrow the columns so the total is 170 mm or less.

A common mistake

A student checks the document only on screen and submits it.

Wrong result: a table runs 10 mm into the right margin on paper, and a final stray line sits on page 3.

The correction is to always open print preview, step through all pages, and fix before you submit.

Check yourself

1. Text height is 247 mm and lines are 5 mm each. A document has 150 lines. How many pages does it need?

2. A table is 172 mm wide in a 170 mm text width. By how much does it overflow?

3. Why is looking at the screen alone not enough?

Where this leads next

Try the document production practice set to combine every check. For editing a finished document, see document editing and proofing. Use the ICT practical task and evidence checker as your final tick list.

If you run out of time before the final check, a teacher in online one-to-one ICT tuition can time you and show where to save minutes.