Although InfoPath forms are designed to collect form data in an electronic format, you can create a customized version of a form, called a print view, that is designed specifically for printing. This is useful when you want users to print out forms using a particular layout or to only print out certain parts of the form.

By default, when a user prints a form that does not have a specific print view, the current view is printed. When a user prints a form that contains a designated print view, InfoPath will use that view instead of the current view to print the form. You can designate any existing view as the print view.

If your form contains multiple views, you can create a print view for each view. Alternatively, you can designate a single print view that applies to all views in the form. For example, if your form contains three distinct views, you might create a print view that consolidates key information from each of those views into a single printed page.

You can use the Views task pane to create and associate a print view with an existing view. After creating a print view, you design it to reflect the way you want the form to appear when printed. This typically involves copying and pasting controls from other views into the print view. You can also specify custom printing options, such as headers, footers, and page margins, in the View Properties dialog box.

If you're an advanced form designer who understands Extensible Markup Language (XML), you can use the Add Print View for Word Wizard to create a Word-based print view that prints form data directly from Microsoft Office Word. To do this, you must have access to an existing XSL Transformation (XSLT) file that transforms data in your form into a format that is suitable for printing from Word. When a user prints a form that contains a Word-based print view, data in that form will print directly from within Word.

For information about creating the XSLT file, refer to the Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003 Software Development Kit (SDK), which you can download from the Microsoft Office Update Web site or browse at the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site.

You can use views in combination with user roles and rules to organize your form's content with specific people or groups in mind. For example, if you've created both a manager and an employee role for your form, you can use a rule to display a different default view for each of those roles when the appropriate user opens the form. Likewise, you might use the user roles feature to display your form in a different language when employees in your company's overseas offices open it.