Help :-) Problem printing tables created in Word...

[Ms Coast]

Hi there. I've a problem printing tables created in Word... The tables
look fine on my display, still when I come to print them, each field
has an eroneous pale blue block shape appearing at the base of the
cells. There doesn't seem to be any kind of formatting to select &
clear to remove them. Any ideas what's going on anyone?
Many thanks for any advice.Ms Coast

 

[CyberTaz]

It might be helpful to know what version of Word as well as the specifics of
what flavor of OS X, but I tend to think it is a printer driver problem. Do
these "block shapes" display in Print Preview?

Check the printer mfr's site for an updated print driver & see if that
doesn't make a difference.

If not, provide a more detailed accurate description if you can - remember,
you are our eyes here Is this all tables in any docs or just a table in
one doc? What type of cell content & how are you getting it there (typing,
copy/paste, drag & drop...)? What do you mean by "base" of the cells?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 10/8/07 11:32 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "Ms Coast"

Hi there. I've a problem printing tables created in Word... The tables
look fine on my display, still when I come to print them, each field
has an eroneous pale blue block shape appearing at the base of the
cells. There doesn't seem to be any kind of formatting to select &
clear to remove them. Any ideas what's going on anyone?
Many thanks for any advice.Ms Coast

 

[John McGhie]

Bob thinks it's the printer driver. I think it's Paragraph Shading (either
or neither of us could be correct...)

1) Turn on your Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar so that you can
see the paragraph marks.

2) Look for the little "star" shape in each cell.

3) Click on the star shape (the end-of-cell marker) and go to
Format>Borders and shading...

Chances are, you will see a pale blue border applied to the paragraph (not
the cell, only to the paragraph). The effect you describe is what that
would cause.

4) Select the whole table, then go back to Format...Borders and choose
"None".

Cheers

Hi there. I've a problem printing tables created in Word... The tables
look fine on my display, still when I come to print them, each field
has an eroneous pale blue block shape appearing at the base of the
cells. There doesn't seem to be any kind of formatting to select &
clear to remove them. Any ideas what's going on anyone?
Many thanks for any advice.Ms Coast

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Could be, John, but that's why I asked for clarification from the OP - There
just isn't enough info to be certain of anything, including exactly what has
been looked at already.

However, that was my first thought as well. But I played with this before I
posted as well as since reading your reply & just can't make it happen your
way I find it impossible to select an end of cell marker - clicking the
marker simply inserts the cursor into the cell - so no matter how I apply
the border (cell, paragraph, text, table) I get a border or shading around
the cell content, not just the marker. If the cell has no content the
fill/border applies to the entire interior of the empty cell. When content
is then entered into the cell it is constrained within the border/fill. I
just don't see any way to get the marker *only* bordered or filled, having
it appear as "a block shape appearing at the base of the cells".

I also don't see how the border/shading could print if not visible on
screen.

That's why I went for the print driver... Perhaps its picking up the
non-printing marker as a printable character. And of course we haven't yet
gotten to the matter of a potentially corrupt table;-)

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

I can't remember how it happens, but you can do it by setting a border on a
paragraph style and applying the style to the end of cell marker.

You also have to futz around with the row height or cell borders, to produce
the display the user was talking about. You'd almost have to be "trying" to
produce this effect.

But if you have huge cell boundaries, the shading will appear as a blue
square

Cheers

Could be, John, but that's why I asked for clarification from the OP - There
just isn't enough info to be certain of anything, including exactly what has
been looked at already.

However, that was my first thought as well. But I played with this before I
posted as well as since reading your reply & just can't make it happen your
way I find it impossible to select an end of cell marker - clicking the
marker simply inserts the cursor into the cell - so no matter how I apply
the border (cell, paragraph, text, table) I get a border or shading around
the cell content, not just the marker. If the cell has no content the
fill/border applies to the entire interior of the empty cell. When content
is then entered into the cell it is constrained within the border/fill. I
just don't see any way to get the marker *only* bordered or filled, having
it appear as "a block shape appearing at the base of the cells".

I also don't see how the border/shading could print if not visible on
screen.

That's why I went for the print driver... Perhaps its picking up the
non-printing marker as a printable character. And of course we haven't yet
gotten to the matter of a potentially corrupt table;-)

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]