ACC: Forms/Reports Printed Slowly Because of Large Temp Files

• Microsoft Access versions 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 7.0

SYMPTOMS

Novice: Requires knowledge of the user interface on single-user computers.

When you print forms and reports, you run out of temporary disk space or your reports are printed slowly.

CAUSE

Forms and reports containing lines, bordered fields, or opaque fields are printed much more slowly than the same form or report containing no graphic objects. This behavior holds true for Windows-based applications in general.

Because lines, bordered fields, and opaque fields are treated as bitmaps, a great deal of data is sent to the printer at once. Large temporary files are needed to print the form or report.

If you specify an incorrect or low setting for printer memory in Control Panel, Windows will "band" complex print jobs. That is, it sends small blocks of graphics to the printer, then clears them after the printer has processed them. Because Windows cannot band text, it sends TrueType fonts to the printer as graphics. When this occurs, the files become extremely large.

When you print your document in landscape format, your print speed may decrease and your temporary files may increase in size. In Microsoft Access versions 1.0 and 1.1, this problem occurs primarily because Microsoft Access versions 1.0 and 1.1 print lines as graphics.

Printing a line as a graphic is acceptable if the line is horizontal because graphics are sent to the printer one row of pixels at a time. However, vertical lines can be a problem. In large graphics, a record is sent to the printer for each pixel in the line. When you print in landscape format, the printer interprets these horizontal lines as vertical lines.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft Access version 2.0 and 7.0 have a FastLaserPrinting property for forms and reports. If you set the FastLaserPrinting property setting to Yes, lines and rectangles in your form or report are replaced by rules when you print the form or report. This property speeds up printing only on certain laser printers; it has no effect on dot-matrix printers. The FastLaserPrinting property also cannot speed up early versions of laser printers that do not support rules.

REFERENCES

For more information about the FastLaserPrinting property, search for "FastLaserPrinting" using the Microsoft Access Help menu.