Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Collating Copies.

Collating Copies

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 16, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you work where there is a good size copy machine, you already know what it means to collate something. With a copier, it means the multi-page document you are copying is placed in complete sets that can be used right away. It is the same in Word. If you have a document that consists of five pages, and you are printing multiple copies, you can either print them collated or normal. When they are collated, they are in page 1–5 order for each of the five sets. If they are not collated, five copies of the first page are printed, then five of the second, and so on. To control collating, follow these steps:

Choose Print from the File menu. Word displays the Print dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Print dialog box.

Specify the number of copies you wish to print.
Click on the Collate Copies check box. If the check box is selected, this indicates the copies will be collated.
Click on OK. Your document will be printed.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (465) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Collating Copies.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Monthly Close-Out Dates

If your company closes out its accounting months at the end of each calendar quarter, figuring out the proper closing ...

Discover More

Creating an Index Entry

In order to create an index, you first need to create the entries that will be used to compile the index. Here's how you ...

Discover More

Using the UNIQUE Function

The UNIQUE function can be used to evaluate a range and return the unique values in that range. Understanding how the ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Reducing the Curl in Printed Documents

Have you ever printed out a document, only to have the pages curl very badly as they come out of the printer? There's a ...

Discover More

Previewing Before You Print

Print Preview is a feature built into Word that allows you to see what your printed output will look like before you ...

Discover More

Printing Very Large Paper Sizes

Need to print on large pieces of paper? Word has a limit on the size of the paper it can use, but that might not be the ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 3 + 1?

2017-01-16 21:47:55

Cam

I have been having trouble making my Word program collate documents and for some reason, it simply stopped one day. Before then it always collated by default. Not sure why and can't get it to collate when printing now. I use Microsoft Word for Mac 2011, version 14.6.8 (160830), Latest installed update 14.6.8

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.