Excel: Printing to LaserWriter Prints Number Signs (#)

• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 1.5, 2.2, 3.0, 4.0

SUMMARY

Microsoft Excel uses fractional widths and proportional spacing when dealing with fonts. This feature can cause a spreadsheet to print differently to an Apple LaserWriter from the way it appears on the screen. Fractional widths can cause the fonts to expand in size and produces number signs (#####) if the value is now too large for the column width to display. The number signs appear in Print Preview as well as in the printout.

MORE INFORMATION

The Fractional Widths feature tells the Macintosh to use the character widths defined for the LaserWriter fonts instead of the widths of the characters as they are displayed on the screen. Microsoft Excel version 1.50 prints to any output device at 72 dots per inch (dpi), while later versions of Microsoft Excel allow for higher resolution printing to high-resolution output devices. This difference in dpi can cause some version 1.50 documents to look different when they are printed from later versions of Microsoft Excel.