Lesson 19-- Printing

The Goldenseal small business software gives you several ways to print information from your company file. This Lesson shows you how to print single records, business forms and reports.

Page Setup

Use the Page Setup command to set printing details before you print. To see it, choose Page Setup from the File menu.

NOTE: The Page Setup dialog is usually a little different for each printer.

When you print records, forms or reports, Goldenseal uses the custom layout to determine what items to include, and where they are located.

For paper size and orientation, each custom layout can use either the Page Setup options, or a fixed value.

If the layout uses Page Setup options, choose Page Setup from the File menu before you print, and make sure it is set up the way you expect.

If the custom layout uses a fixed paper size or orientation, the page will print with those settings instead of the settings in Page Setup.

NOTE: Some printers can't handle fixed paper size or orientation. If that is the case, you'll need to use Page Setup each time you print, to make sure the page is oriented the way you want.

Printing a Single Record

To print the current record when you are viewing an account or a transaction, choose Print from the File menu.

Goldenseal will print the current record with the same format that you see on the screen. The appearance of some fields will be slightly different, since Goldenseal removes clairvoyant and popup borders when it prints them.

HINT: You'll probably find it more useful to use the Print Forms command, since it prints business forms (see the next page). You can also print Reports to see your accounts and transactions in compact form (see page 120).

Printing Business Forms

Use the Print Forms command to print business forms of any kind. You can use it for check printing, invoicing or printing of any other business forms.

For example, to print estimates, follow these steps:

Choose Print Forms from the File menu.
Click on the Transaction popup field and choose Estimates.
Choose one of the estimate forms as a Form Type. Most of the forms will print breakdowns, arranged in any of several formats.
Choose the range of items you'd like to print (see the next section).
Click the Print button.
You'll next see the standard Print dialog for your printer. Set up the number of copies and a page range, then click the OK or Print button.

NOTE: When printing forms, Goldenseal uses the page range to determine which records to print. The actual number of printed pages may be different if some records include breakdowns that extend onto multiple pages, or if the form prints multiple records per page.

Printing Unprinted Items

Each account and transaction includes a Printer Flag, found at the lower left corner of the window. The Printer Flag marks items that need to be printed.

Click on the icon to turn it on or off .

NOTE: Goldenseal automatically marks new records as needing printing. After you use the Print Forms command to print a record, Goldenseal automatically turns off the printer flag.

When you choose Unprinted Records as a record range, Goldenseal will print only those items that have the printer flag turned on.

When you choose Unprinted Checks, Goldenseal will print only those items that are a Bank Check and that have the printer flag turned on.

NOTE: The next version of Goldenseal will include an Unprintable Checks option. It will only print checks that contain 'naughty' words.

Other Record Ranges

You can also print any of the of the following ranges:

Active Record-- Only the active record will be printed. The Active Record is the one that is currently visible (or that was visible when the window was closed).
Found Records-- Only records in the found set will be printed.
Flagged Records-- Only records that have been flagged will be printed.
Found and Flagged Records-- Only items that are in the found set and that are also flagged will be printed.

Two additional ranges are available when printing Checking Transactions:

Found Checks-- The same as Found Records, but only including checks.
Flagged Checks-- The same as Flagged Records, but only including checks.

Printing Other Forms

Goldenseal includes other printed forms for common business transactions. You can print checks, paychecks, sales receipts, payment receipts, payroll stubs, customer bills and many other forms.

To print a form, follow these steps:

Choose Print Form from the File menu.
Choose the transaction that contains the data that you want to print.
Choose the Form Type that matches your needs.
Choose Unprinted Items, or one of the other record ranges.
Click the Print button.
Goldenseal will print the selected records.

Goldenseal also prints envelopes and mailing labels for customers and prospects, to help with your marketing efforts. Print them exactly the same as other business forms.

Purchasing Forms

Goldenseal can print onto just about any pre-printed form. Use the Custom Layouts command to arrange Goldenseal data so it will print in the correct locations.

HINT: For more about the Custom Layouts command, see Lesson 21.

For bank checks, you can use forms that have one check per page, or you can print onto forms that have multiple checks per page.

HINT: Forms with one check per page are more expensive, but they are also more flexible--especially if you only print a few checks at a time. Goldenseal uses the extra space to print two receipts-- one for the recipient, and one for your own files. You can also use the '3 part' check forms for paychecks (Goldenseal prints wage and deduction breakdowns on the portion of the page that is not the printed check).

Aligning Forms

If you are just starting to print onto a pre-printed form, you may need to 'tweak' the layout to get everything to print in the proper place. Similar tweaking may be needed after you change operating systems or printers.

NOTE: Printing goes through several steps between Goldenseal and the printer, and there are many opportunities for minor variations in printing location.

To align Goldenseal print forms to a pre-printed form, follow these steps:

Make a test print onto a sheet of plain copy paper (choose paper that is as transparent as possible).
Hold it over the pre-printed form, and compare the alignment.
Choose Custom Layouts from the Options menu, then choose Printed Forms from the submenu.
Locate the form you are using.
Move any fields that are not printing correctly.
Repeat steps 1 to 5 until the printing is correct. NOTE: If the paper feed in your printer has some 'wiggle', it's a good idea to print several times to see the range of print locations.
Try a test print on the actual forms. If it is still not perfect, repeat the previous steps.

Printing Quick Reports

To print any report from the Billing, Deposit Funds, Pay Bills, Write Payroll or Job Costs command, click the Print Report button. Goldenseal will print the same data that you see on the screen.

NOTE: Quick reports print with a fixed format, similar to what you see on the screen. If you want more control over the display format, use one of the reports from the Reports menu instead.

To create a custom report from the quick report commands, click the Save As Text button, then save a file on your hard drive. You can open the text file with any spreadsheet or word processor program.

HINT: You can change columns, fonts, text, and any other report formatting in the custom report, before you print.

Printing Standard Reports

To print any report from the Reports menus, click the Print button. Goldenseal will print the report in the same format that you see on the screen.

NOTE: To customize the layout of a report, choose Custom Layouts from the Options menu, then choose Reports from the submenu.

To open the report in other programs, click the Save As Text button, then save a file on your hard drive. You can open the text file with any spread-sheet or word processor program, and then change it any way you'd like.

Finishing Up

In this lesson you have learned how to print business forms.

If you frequently pay bills with cash and have a color printer, you might want to consider Goldenseal's optional cash-printing module. It prints fresh currency in the standard denominations of your choice (Grover Cleveland, Andrew Jackson, etc.).

You can also use it to print custom denominations, which are so much more convenient for bill-paying. Won't your employees be delighted when they open their paycheck envelope and find a crisp new $324.67 dollar bill, complete with a picture of Porky Pig on the front, and Moe's Tavern on the reverse?