Word Prints EPS Header to PostScript Printer Under Windows NT

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.1, 2.x, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Windows NT version 3.1
• Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1

SYMPTOMS

When you are running Microsoft Word for Windows under Windows NT 3.1 and you print an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) graphic from Word to a PostScript printer, the graphic does not print. In its place, the EPS header text or the EPS preview bitmap (if available) prints.

CAUSE

Windows NT 3.1 does not notify Word as to whether the current printer is PostScript or non-PostScript. As a result, Word assumes the printer is not PostScript and sends the non-PostScript version of the graphic (the preview bitmap or the EPS header text) instead of the EPS code.

This affects all 16-bit, Windows-based applications that use printer type information to print correctly.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT and Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1. This problem was corrected in Windows NT Workstation version 3.5 and Windows NT Server version 3.5.

MORE INFORMATION

Word prints EPS graphic files in one of the following ways, depending on the printer type and whether your graphic contains a preview image:

• On a PostScript printer, Word uses the PostScript code in the EPS graphic to render the image on the printed page.
• On a non-PostScript printer, if your EPS graphic does not include a preview image, Word displays and prints a thin box that contains text information from the file header.
• On a non-PostScript printer, if your EPS graphic includes a preview image, Word displays and prints the preview image, which is usually a TIFF bitmap.