XL97: Objects or Borders Are Not Printed Correctly

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you print a worksheet, one or more of the following symptoms may occur:

• Drawing objects, AutoShapes, gridlines, charts, and other objects in the worksheet are not printed at all.

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• Drawing objects, AutoShapes, charts, and other objects in the worksheet are not printed completely (they are truncated). For example, only part of an oval or rectangle is printed.

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• Some gridlines or borders may not be printed.

CAUSE

These problems may occur if one or more of the following conditions are true:

• You print the worksheet with a printer resolution of 75 or 150 dots per inch (dpi).

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• The Print Object check box for the drawing object, AutoShape, or chart is cleared.

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• The worksheet is formatted to print without gridlines.

WORKAROUND

In most cases you can work around these problems by increasing the printer resolution. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Switch to the worksheet that you want to print.

2. On the File menu, click Page Setup. Click the Page tab.

3. In the Print Quality list, click a print quality of 300 dpi or greater (for example, 300 dpi, 600 dpi, or 1200 dpi).

4. Click OK.

You can also change printer resolution by using the Printers icon in the Control Panel. However, using this method does not change the resolution for existing worksheets.

If increasing the printer resolution does not correct the problem, use one or more of the following appropriate methods.

Printing Gridlines

To format a worksheet so that gridlines are printed, use the following steps:

1. Switch to the worksheet that contains gridlines that you want to print.

2. On the File menu, click Page Setup, and then click the Sheet tab.

3. Click to select the Gridlines check box and click OK.

Printing Drawing Objects and AutoShapes

1. In the worksheet, click the object that you want to print.

2. On the Format menu, click the first menu command. This command changes depending on the object that is selected; for example, the command may be AutoShape or Text Box. Then, click the Properties tab.

3. Click to select the Print Object check box and click OK.

Printing Charts

1. In the worksheet, right-click the background of the chart and click Format Chart Area on the shortcut menu.

2. Click the Properties tab.

3. Click to select the Print Object check box and click OK.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

Because almost all printers that are available (as of early 1997) can print at a resolution of 300 dpi or higher, Microsoft Excel 97 is optimized to print at high resolutions, such as 300, 600, and 1200 dpi. When you print using a high resolution, you can print finer lines, more complex shading, and sharper-looking fonts.

When you use a printing resolution of 75 or 150 dpi, graphical objects may not be printed correctly, or may not be printed.