Upside-Down Text with PostScript

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 31, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


There may be times when you want information to be printed upside-down in your document. For instance, you might want answers to questions to appear upsdide-down. Word doesn't provide a way to print text upside down; it only allows you to rotate text 90 degrees left or right.

If you have a PostScript printer and are using a PostScript printer driver to send information to that printer, you can use commands that will be interpreted directly by the printer, bypassing Word entirely. These commands can be used to print information upside-down, exactly as you want. For instance, the following can be placed in a PRINT field. (To enter field braces, press Ctrl+F9.)

{ PRINT \p page "/MyText (These are my answers)
def /FromLeft 8 def /FromBottom .5 def /Helvetica
findfont 9 scalefont setfont FromLeft 72 mul
FromBottom 72 mul moveto 180 rotate MyText show" }

All this field does is cause the words "These are my answers" to be printed upside-down in the bottom-right corner of the page. You can change the definitions for what is printed by changing the text within parentheses. If you want to change where the text is printed, change the FromLeft and FromBottom values. The values shown (8 for FromLeft and .5 for FromBottom) represent the distances, in inches.

Another important thing to remember is that printing upside down information in this manner works best with very short lines of text. Why? Because you are printing directly to the printer, not through a processor, such as Word. The text you specify does not automatically wrap to new lines. You could, however, make the font size really small (change the value just before the "scalefont" keyword) so you could fit more information on a single line. You will want to play with the field to get the exact result you want.

You should also note that the information in the PRINT field should appear on a single, long line in Word. Don't press Enter at any time within the field. This is of particular importance if you choose to copy the field code from this tip and paste it directly into a Word field.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1592) 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

Headings On Your Printout

If you've got a table that spans multiple printed pages, you probably want to repeat a row or two of that table as a ...

Discover More

Pasting Leading Zeroes

Paste information into a worksheet, and you may be surprised to see leading zeroes disappear before your eyes. Here's how ...

Discover More

Turning Off the Automatic Help that Word Offers

Word has a lot of tools that are invoked automatically based on what you are doing in the program. If these tools ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Margins Incorrect when Printing

Endnotes are easy enough to add and accumulate in a document. For this reason, Word makes it easy to jump from one ...

Discover More

Printing a Circle Using PostScript

With a printer (and printer driver) that understand PostScript, you can do some nifty drawings directly to the paper, ...

Discover More

Printing a File List

It is often helpful to have a list of all the documents in a given directory or folder. Word doesn't have a built-in way ...

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 7 + 8?

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.