Using Crop Marks with a PostScript Printer

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Crop marks are used by printers to determine where the page boundaries of your finished product occur. They are used as a guide for trimming pages. Word does not provide a way to add crop marks to your document, but if you are using a PostScript printer, you can add crop marks easily by using a PRINT field code in your header or footer. Every page that uses the header or footer will show the crop marks.

The following code, when placed in a field in your header or footer, will print the crop marks:

PRINT \p page " /Crop .5 def /Left .5625 def
/Right .5625 def /Top .875 def /Bottom .875 def
/Lside Left 72 mul def /Rside 8.5 Right sub
72 mul def /Tside 11 Top sub 72 mul def /Bside
Bottom 72 mul def /Lsize Crop 72 mul def 1
setlinewidth Lside Tside moveto 0 Lsize rlineto
stroke Lside Tside moveto Lsize neg 0 rlineto
stroke Rside Tside moveto 0 Lsize rlineto stroke
Rside Tside moveto Lsize 0 rlineto stroke Lside
Bside moveto 0 Lsize neg rlineto stroke Lside
Bside moveto Lsize neg 0 rlineto stroke Rside
Bside moveto 0 Lsize neg rlineto stroke Rside
Bside moveto Lsize 0 rlineto stroke "

There are a few variables in this code that you should adjust. These are the values assigned to Crop, Left, Right, Top, and Bottom. Crop represents the length, in inches, of the actual crop marks. The values right after the variable names Left, Right, Top, and Bottom (.5625, .5625, .875, and .875, respectively) represent the number of inches to leave from the paper edges to the crop marks.

To use the field, just insert a pair of field braces (Ctrl+F9) and then add all the above directly into the field. Since this is a single field, everything should be entered contiguously, instead of on separate lines as shown above.

Also, remember that this technique will only work with a PostScript printer and only if you are using a PostScript printer driver with that printer. (Some printers understand multiple languages, and it is therefore possible to use a non-PostScript printer driver with a PostScript printer.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (403) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Find and Replace in Text Boxes

Find and Replace can work great, but not necessarily for text within text boxes. This tip discusses all the ins and outs ...

Discover More

Advanced Filtering

Many people know how to use AutoFilter, but there are times when you need some more filtering muscle. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Extra Space after Quotation Mark when Pasting

Have you ever noticed how Word can decide to add extra spaces when you paste information into your document? This is part ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Fonts Unavailable in Word

If you have some fonts that don't show up as available in Word, their exclusion can be confusing. Here's a discussion of ...

Discover More

Printing Show/Hide Characters

Non-printing characters are very handy to view when editing a document. But what if you want those characters to no ...

Discover More

Suppressing ASK Fields When Printing

Do you like using ASK Fields in your documents to get information from the user but don't want Word to update the fields ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 0?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.