MicrosoftВ® Office ExcelВ® 2007 Inside Out (Inside Out (Microsoft))
The new Microsoft XML Paper Specification (XPS) document format lets you create a representation of "electronic paper" that displays your data on the screen as it would look when printed, similar to the ubiquitous Portable Document Format (PDF). One of the benefits of portable document formats is the ability to share documents you do not want others to modify. Both formats require freely downloadable software for viewing and promise cross-platform consistency and format compatibility, regardless of the software and fonts available on your computer.
You can search the contents of XPS documents, and you can preview them in applications that support them such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Worksheets you save in XPS format are also viewable using an XPS-enabled Web browser or a stand-alone XPS viewer.
| Note | If you are just one XPS viewer short of being able to see your XPS documents, click the Microsoft Office Button, Excel Options, Resources, and then click the Go Online button to launch your Web browser and connect to Microsoft Office Online. Click Downloads, and type XPS in the Search box to find and download the available XPS add-ins. |
Microsoft XPS Document Writer is listed as one of the "printers" available in the Name drop-down list in the Print dialog box. If you select this option and click OK to start printing, Excel displays a version of the Save As dialog box where you specify a file name, reminiscent of the Print To File option (discussed in "Printing to a File" on page 418). "Printing" an XPS document is like using your hard disk as the paper tray, generating pages of electronic output instead of wood pulp-based output. When you select Microsoft XPS Document Writer in the Print dialog box and then click Properties, the Microsoft XPS Document Writer Properties dialog box appears. Click the XPS Documents tab to display the dialog box, as shown in Figure 11-12.
The Layout tab in the Microsoft XPS Document Writer Properties dialog box offers a choice between portrait and landscape modes, but the Page Setup dialog box (or Ribbon group) sets the orientation, so you don't need to worry about this setting. The XPS Documents tab offers an Automatically Open XPS Documents Using The XPS Viewer check box. When you select this check box, the XPS file opens in your Web browser as soon as Excel is finished saving it, as shown in Figure 11-13.
If you want to be able to save your workbooks in PDF, you can install an add-in that makes this possible. To install it, click the Microsoft Office Button, Excel Options, Resources, and then click the Go Online button to launch your Web browser and connect to Microsoft Office Online. Click Downloads, and type PDF in the Search box to find and download the Microsoft Save As PDF add-in.