WD: Chart or Graph Patterns Print Solid Gray in Word for Windows

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SUMMARY

The fill patterns a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Graph chart, imported or embedded in a Microsoft Word for Windows document, will appear to print incorrectly if you print to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet and the printer resolution is set to 300 dots per inch (dpi) or higher. The fill patterns print so finely that they appear to be a solid gray color. This problem occurs even if the chart patterns are displayed correctly on the screen and are printed correctly on other printers.

WORKAROUNDS

Note: If you have manually applied patterns to charts in Microsoft Excel or Graph, you must reduce the printer resolution so that the patterns will be recognizable. In this situation, no other workaround is available.

To work around this problem, use the methods appropriate to your version of Word.

Note: Method 2 does not allow you to link to Microsoft Excel charts. Method 1 is the only method that works with Word version 1.x.

Method 1: Set the printer resolution to either 75 or 150 dpi.

          Note: This method causes curved lines to appear jagged.

          Import the Microsoft Excel chart into Microsoft Graph, and then
          embed the chart in Word for Windows.

          Note: This method does NOT produce jagged lines.

          following method:

          a. Select the chart in Microsoft Excel. From the Edit menu,
             choose Copy.

          b. Switch to Word for Windows.

          c. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.

          d. For Word 6.x and 7.x, in the Data Type dialog, select either
             Bitmap, Picture, or Microsoft Excel Chart Object and then
             click the Paste Link button.

             For Word 97, in the Data Type dialog, select Microsoft Excel
             Chart Object and then click the Paste Link button.

          e. Press OK.

MORE INFORMATION

In Word, directly imported or embedded Microsoft Excel charts appear as black- and-white images whose fill patterns are sent to the LaserJet as bitmaps (that is, patterns of dots or pixels); therefore, the patterns are dependent on the printer resolution setting to determine the distance between the individual pixels in the pattern. With a low resolution, the patterns are recognizable. With a high resolution, the width of the lines and the spacing between each line are so small that the resulting pattern prints as a smooth, solid gray color.

If you import the Microsoft Excel chart in a way that leaves the chart as a color image, Word substitutes recognizable black-and-white patterns when you print the chart.