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: Printing Very Large Paper Sizes.

Printing Very Large Paper Sizes

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 8, 2017)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Word allows you to print on a wide variety of paper sizes. You cannot use an unlimited paper size, however. For instance, it does very little good to try printing a poster-size document on a plotter, simply because Word won't support documents that large.

Word is hard-coded to permit document widths and heights as small as .1 inches and as large as 22 inches. Thus, the largest page area you can define in Word is 22 inches by 22 inches. This is an absolute limit. If you need to print to larger paper, then you will need to use a different program, such as a desktop publishing program.

There is one other caveat to keep in mind, however. The paper size to which you can print may also be limited in some way by your printer driver. For instance, if your printer driver will only handle paper up to 18 inches in width, then it won't matter that Word can handle up to 22-inch wide paper. If you find that your printer driver is limiting what you can print, you should check with the manufacturer to see if a newer printer driver is available.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1026) 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: Printing Very Large Paper Sizes.

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

Setting Defaults in the Cross-reference Dialog Box

Some types of documents rely on cross-references quite a bit. Setting up the Cross-reference dialog box the first time in ...

Discover More

Resetting All Shortcut Keys

At some point you might want to wipe out all the custom shortcut keys you've created in Word. This is easy to do by ...

Discover More

Superscript and Subscript at the Same Place

Do you want a superscript and subscript character to appear directly above each other? There are multiple ways you can ...

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)

Triple-Spacing Your Document

Print your document with lots of space between each line—triple space it! Here's some quick and easy steps for ...

Discover More

Printing a Draft of a Document

Need to print a copy of a document but you don't care if it looks as "pretty" as you want the final printout to look? You ...

Discover More

Making Banners in Word

Word can be used for printing a variety of document types. You may want to use the program to print a festive banner for ...

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 six minus 6?

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.