Request: need someone to replicate this issue to see if it is just our PCs

[Keith R]

If there is anyone out there (reading this) with Windows XP (preferably
Windows XP professional) and Office XP, and access to a _color_ laser
printer, preferably a brand name like HP or Xerox, with up-to-date printer
drivers....I'd really appreciate you taking 5 minutes (or less) to try to
replicate my issue- I'm trying to narrow down the cause, and if someone else
can replicate the issue, I'll know it isn't our corporate install of Windows
XP or Office XP causing the problem.

Make a simple chart, with at around 24 random data points on it; e.g.
Col A Col B
Jan 2001 55
Feb 2001 43
Mar 2001 27
Apr 2001 38
(etc)

Create the chart in the same worksheet as the data (not as a separate chart
worksheet). Just use the defaults for everything- it will start the chart
wizard on the column chart, which is fine for this test. Just click "finish"
and let it make the chart.

Format the X-axis category labels as follows: (right click the X-axis,
format, font)
----------------------------------------
7 point font (arial or times new roman)
uncheck "autoscale"
and under the "alignment tab"; text alignment up (90 degrees)

copy the chart to powerpoint, either directly or via "paste special/ picture
(enhanced metafile)"

resize the chart in powerpoint to make it look good- use only the corner
handles, so that the chart size changes are proportional in both directions

the chart should look fine in powerpoint and in the powerpoint print
preview. What I'm really interested in is whether or not the chart, when
printed to a color laser printer, looks like it did on screen. For me, those
X-axis labels are replaced by long black boxes.

My charts print fine to monochrome laser printers, and inkjets- for some
reason the issue is only showing up on our color laser printers.

I appreciate anyone confirming or disconfirming whether or not you get the
same symptoms.
Thanks in advance,
Keith

 

[Quaoar]

If there is anyone out there (reading this) with Windows XP
(preferably Windows XP professional) and Office XP, and access to a
_color_ laser printer, preferably a brand name like HP or Xerox, with
up-to-date printer drivers....I'd really appreciate you taking 5
minutes (or less) to try to replicate my issue- I'm trying to narrow
down the cause, and if someone else can replicate the issue, I'll
know it isn't our corporate install of Windows XP or Office XP
causing the problem.

Make a simple chart, with at around 24 random data points on it; e.g.
Col A Col B
Jan 2001 55
Feb 2001 43
Mar 2001 27
Apr 2001 38
(etc)

Create the chart in the same worksheet as the data (not as a separate
chart worksheet). Just use the defaults for everything- it will start
the chart wizard on the column chart, which is fine for this test.
Just click "finish" and let it make the chart.

Format the X-axis category labels as follows: (right click the X-axis,
format, font)
----------------------------------------
7 point font (arial or times new roman)
uncheck "autoscale"
and under the "alignment tab"; text alignment up (90 degrees)

copy the chart to powerpoint, either directly or via "paste special/
picture (enhanced metafile)"

resize the chart in powerpoint to make it look good- use only the
corner handles, so that the chart size changes are proportional in
both directions

the chart should look fine in powerpoint and in the powerpoint print
preview. What I'm really interested in is whether or not the chart,
when printed to a color laser printer, looks like it did on screen.
For me, those X-axis labels are replaced by long black boxes.

My charts print fine to monochrome laser printers, and inkjets- for
some reason the issue is only showing up on our color laser printers.

I appreciate anyone confirming or disconfirming whether or not you
get the same symptoms.
Thanks in advance,
Keith

You unchecked font scaling. Neither TNR or Ariel are 7 point fonts. My
guess is the problem disappears at 8 points.

Q

 

[Keith R]

Quaoar-
Thank you for your response. I had unchecked autoscale only so the font size
would stay small when I changed the graph size in Excel (old habit).

I re-tested, leaving autoscale on, but still setting the times new roman
x-axis to 7.5 font (I believe it is truetype?) and still get the same
printing problem.

I can use truetype fonts at less than 8 pt in other applications, and also
in Excel (for example, when printing directly from excel). I need to use
this small a font in Excel to have all my axis labels show up (Excel
automatically suppresses every other x-axis label when the font gets too
big, presumably to avoid overlapping text areas).

Do you have access to a color laser printer that you could test this issue
with <8pt fonts in excel embedded objects in powerpoint?

Many thanks,
Keith
p.s. you are correct, everything looks fine at 8pt font and larger, the
problem is only when I need to go smaller.

 

[Quaoar]

Quaoar-
Thank you for your response. I had unchecked autoscale only so the
font size would stay small when I changed the graph size in Excel
(old habit).

I re-tested, leaving autoscale on, but still setting the times new
roman x-axis to 7.5 font (I believe it is truetype?) and still get
the same printing problem.

I can use truetype fonts at less than 8 pt in other applications, and
also in Excel (for example, when printing directly from excel). I
need to use this small a font in Excel to have all my axis labels
show up (Excel automatically suppresses every other x-axis label when
the font gets too big, presumably to avoid overlapping text areas).

Do you have access to a color laser printer that you could test this
issue with <8pt fonts in excel embedded objects in powerpoint?

Many thanks,
Keith
p.s. you are correct, everything looks fine at 8pt font and larger,
the problem is only when I need to go smaller.

Sorry, nothing to test with. Have you tried setting the printer to
substitute internal fonts? This works with some of my printing on HP
grey scale printers. Postscript driver might also work.

Q

 

[Keith R]

Yep, we've messed with the whole range of settings (graphics, softfonts,
optimization, etc) in postscript. The PCL driver has other problems, so we
never pursued it...it actually loses gridlines and the axis lines from the
graph- yikes!

Thanks for your response and suggestions, and hopefully someone out there
has a color laser and will post test results.

Best Regards,
Keith

 

[Keith R]

Please disregard, this issue has just been fixed in SP3. Closing the thread
with
the fix for future google searches.