In computer printing, portrait is a mode in which the printer orients content for reading across the shorter length (the width) of the sheet of paper. Because most printing is done in portrait mode, it is set up as the default mode for printer operation. The alternative to portrait mode is landscape mode, which presents content across the longer length of the sheet of paper.

The portrait and landscape terms are derived from the typical rectangular proportions of a portrait or a landscape in a work of art.

20 May 2010