Convert printed page to printer layout?

[HamCoder]

Back in the good ol' days (dark ages) when real programmers used punched cards, all printout was mono-spaced. We didn't use proportional fonts; we didn't even HAVE proportional fonts. It was easy to make a report mock-up, convert it to fixed positions on the page, and convert that to code (COBOL, Fortran, ASM, whatever). Now, I'm trying to put together a report with vanilla VB.Net code, not Crystal Reports or anything like that. Now, everything is trial-and-error. I add a couple of items to the page, and run a test. Then I add a couple more and repeat the cycle. I'm thinking that there has to be an easier way. I've found lots of code that writes to the printer. But I've not found any references that explain how to shorten the trial-and-error cycle. I am using PrintPreview, so I'm not taking the time and trees to actually print the report. But the testing cycles are still too time-consuming. When the boss brings you a sheet of paper with a report scribbled on it, how do you make a pretty report with a minimum of fuss. Thanks for the help. This is definitely in the category of teaching an old dog a new trick. HamCoder