How to print page numbers

Since we've been on the topic of Printers lately, I thought I'd share with you another useful tip. It's another visitor feedback question from Arlene M. She writes:

" Dear Dennis,

My printer used to number the pages, but does not any longer. I miss that. Do you have a way to bring that function back? "

My response:

The option for Page Numbering is * usually * in the Printing Preferences. Printing preferences are available for a printer by clicking Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Printer. Printing preferences are also (usually) displayed at the time of printing a document.

Since printers come in various flavors, printing preferences for each printer also differ. As such, attempting to set the Page Numbering preference can vary from printer to printer. As a general rule of thumb, the Page Numbering preference is usually located in the same general area as where the Landscape or Portrait modes are listed.

Recall that when a page is printed using Landscape mode, it prints "sideways" on the printer to accustom printouts (such as a web page) that are normally too large to fit on a standard 8.5" x 11" piece of paper using the default Portrait mode.

At any rate, you'll just have to snoop around your Printer Preferences and see what you can come up with.

To my surprise, Arlene emailed me back and gave me some insight of her own:

" Well I think I have got it. In the space marked 'headers' and the one marked 'footers', I found that if I type '&p' and '&P' (no quotes) I will get the page numbers back. I got this information by clicking on the Question Mark on the right hand corner of the Page Setup Box. It then tells you what different symbols will mean to the printer. PS: You are such a help! "

I did a little investigating in this issue myself, and was not able to find Page Numbering for my particular printer (Canon BJ-200, Windows XP) in the Printer Preferences using the Control Panel.

However, I do use Microsoft Word and I happen to know that MS Word has an option for inserting page numbers. So, if I need to print page numbers for my own personal documents, I'd do it that way. This option is available by clicking Insert -> Page Numbers from MS Word.