Word 2003 custom paper sizes

[Hershmab]

For my HP Deskjet 3745 printer I have defined various custom paper
sizes/forms. In general Word does not recognize them but does use them
correctly when I set the printer properties for the Print command.

However for one custom set, the basic page size is set to 148mm x 210mm -
i.e. A5 rotated 90 degrees. This enables me to load A5 sheets directly over
A4 instead of having to take out the A4 and make the in-tray narrower. The
printer is set up to print sideways on this custom size instead of parallel
to the platen.

The normal layout for this set is specified as portrait but looks like
landscape when printed. Using other software (including Excel 2003), this
works exactly as I want it, printing landscape when I specify "portrait" and
vice versa. However in Word this goes all wrong: however I specify the
layout, Word shows and prints landscape, exactly as it would do if I
specified the paper size as (standard) A5.

This is not a serious problem as I can - obviously - work round it by
inserting the paper in the printer in the standard way. But why does Word
behave so differently from Excel and other software? How can I persuade it to
do what I want?

Also I shall be upgrading from XP/Office2003 to Windows-7/Office2007. Can I
expect the same peculiar behaviour?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'm not clear exactly which direction you're printing, but it sounds as if
you're printing across the long dimension of the A5 (Landscape); if so, make
sure that you have the orientation set for Portrait; on the Paper tab, make
sure you have 148mm as the height and 210mm as the width.

If, on the other hand, you want to print across the short direction of the
A5 (Portrait), then set the orientation for Landscape, with 148mm as the
width and 210mm as the height.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org