Word 2004 + Macintel + trouble printing large files

[wpherman]

I have up-to-date Word 2004 that worked perfectly on my Powerbook. I
upgraded to the intel-based Mac and now Word creates multiple print
jobs for large files. For example: I have a 60+ page document that
includes multiple sections; footnotes; imbedded pictures, graphics, and
PowerPoint slides; etc. When I print the document, I get the first
fifty or so pages in one print job, and the remaining pages in two or
three print jobs.

The same thing happens when I try to create a PDF. Multiple PDFs are
created.

This problem occurs on all my large Word files. Is there a fix for
this? Thanks

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

That's a new twist on an old problem! Yours is the first report I have seen
of this.

Generally, the problem is as a result of the Mac printing subsystem
misinterpreting section breaks. A section break is supposed to create a
"document within a document" in Word. Mac OS is inclined to see them as a
"new print job".

The surprising thing is that you haven't already been driven crazy by this
bug: it's prevalent on the PPC.

Anyway, the solution is to remove the section breaks from the document, or
to use a PDF stitcher program to put the print job back together afterward.

Come back if you want some advanced strategies for doing without section
breaks

Cheers

I have up-to-date Word 2004 that worked perfectly on my Powerbook. I
upgraded to the intel-based Mac and now Word creates multiple print
jobs for large files. For example: I have a 60+ page document that
includes multiple sections; footnotes; imbedded pictures, graphics, and
PowerPoint slides; etc. When I print the document, I get the first
fifty or so pages in one print job, and the remaining pages in two or
three print jobs.

The same thing happens when I try to create a PDF. Multiple PDFs are
created.

This problem occurs on all my large Word files. Is there a fix for
this? Thanks

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[wpherman]

Thanks for the feedback. Just one more question. There are many
sections within the first 50 pages that did not impact printing. Is it
luck that as much of the file got through or is there something
specific that seems to generate the problems? Could a print buffer
overflow contribute to a problem like this?

I never had problems with my PowerBook. My Dissertation was very long,
and I printed it more times than I want to remember while in the
writing phase. Created it as a PDF, too, with no problems.

Bill

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Thanks for the feedback. Just one more question. There are many
sections within the first 50 pages that did not impact printing. Is it
luck that as much of the file got through or is there something
specific that seems to generate the problems? Could a print buffer
overflow contribute to a problem like this?

I never had problems with my PowerBook. My Dissertation was very long,
and I printed it more times than I want to remember while in the
writing phase. Created it as a PDF, too, with no problems.

Bill

just for testing. Try repairing permissions and use something like
DiskWarrior. also you might try the following.

Locate the latest driver for your Computer, see if one is available for
the Macintel machines. IF there is such download.

next, go to Printer Utility and delete your printer.

Then use the installer download and install the new driver.

Go back to Printer Utility and add the Printer back and make it default
printer.

Now Try gain and ee what happens . If it breaks up again you can kill
the printing process once you get to the point it breaks down. if you
get past the first hurdle then wait until second crossroads if it
continues wait. Do this until breaks down. If it doesn't problem is fixed.

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[Elliott Roper]

Thanks for the feedback. Just one more question. There are many
sections within the first 50 pages that did not impact printing. Is it
luck that as much of the file got through or is there something
specific that seems to generate the problems? Could a print buffer
overflow contribute to a problem like this?

That is normal. Usually it is margin changes (but not always) or page
orientation (just about always) that brings it on. Any change of paper
size will almost guarnatee it too.

Print buffer overflow almost certainly has nothing to do with it.

I never had problems with my PowerBook.

Amazing. It is a very well known problem, and frequently occurs on
Powerbooks.

My Dissertation was very long,
and I printed it more times than I want to remember while in the
writing phase. Created it as a PDF, too, with no problems.

It is possible that there is something about the print drivers on the
Intel version that may have changed it for you, but I would not bet a
lot of money on it. You might change the page set-up to "any printer"
and print to PDF to see how many files you get and where. That might
show different bahaviour which might indicate a print driver
misfeature.

Just live with it. If the last three years are anything to go by,
Microsoft are not going to fix it any time soon. They have more
important things to worry about, like "draw lightning flash". Someone
will be along in a minute to blame Apple, and then they can all go back
to playing musical chairs Redmond style. (the players stand still and
Steve Ballmer throws chairs until the music stops)

Get one of the PDF stitchers like the free PDF Lab and fix it up
afterwards. It is far less hassle than chasing the cascade of section
break nightmares that will surely follow. If you print double sided and
start chapters recto, I'd recommend printing to PDF, stitching and
printing the PDF file before wasting paper printing direct from Word.

 

[WJ Shack]

My experience is that section breaks involving changes in page size and
orientation will always produce multiple print jobs and multi-section pdf
files.

If you are getting multiple files from other kinds of section breaks, it is
may be that there is corruption associated with the break. The standard fix
is to Select All, open Page Setup from the File menu and click OK. This may
disrupt some formatting associated with breaks so back up the file first
before you try this.

This used to happen often in Word 98. The problem seems to have been largely
solved in Word X, but if you are copying and pasting from old files you may
have the problem.

 

[wpherman]

My experience is that section breaks involving changes in page size and
orientation will always produce multiple print jobs and multi-section pdf
files.

If you are getting multiple files from other kinds of section breaks, it is
may be that there is corruption associated with the break. The standard fix
is to Select All, open Page Setup from the File menu and click OK. This may
disrupt some formatting associated with breaks so back up the file first
before you try this.

This used to happen often in Word 98. The problem seems to have been largely
solved in Word X, but if you are copying and pasting from old files you may
have the problem.

This worked very well. The only minor glitch was that the last two
pages were landscape and they were printed separately. This worked for
me. Thanks.

 

[Kenneth Cohen]

I for one would love to hear any advice you can provide. My multi-section
Word 2004 on a G5 documents have become a big mess. Attempts to print one
section don¹t work - the print dialog shows ³zero² pages and prints nothing.
Other attempts to print 2 pages out of 30 lead to a 25 page print job - no
logic, no sense. Trashing all com.Apple printer-related prefs doesn¹t help.
So if I can find some useful tricks and avoid using section breaks, it would
be a big help.

Ken Cohen

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Ken:

OK, some details here would be helpful. How many sections does your
document have? For what purpose are you using each section break?

Basically, when you print "some" pages, Word prints the pages that have the
numbers on them that you specify.

So let's say you have five sections in a document. You set the page
numbering to restart at each section break. Then you print pages 5 to 8.

Section 1 has only one page (the front cover) so nothing gets printed there.
Section 2 has 7 pages, so you get two from there (pages vi and vii).
Section 3 has pages 1-1 to 1-12. You'll get pages 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, and 1-8.
Section 4 has pages 1-13 to 1-20. You'll get nothing from there.
Section 5 has pages 2-1 to 2-20. You'll get 2-5 to 2-8.

So back to my question (yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be *answering* the
questions here, but humour me, OK?) how MANY section breaks do you have?
And what is the purpose for using each?

I normally use only three section breaks for a book (I use Arabic numbering
in the TOC, so shoot me...). If the section breaks in a document get
screwed up, it's often easuer to simply use Find/Replace to delete them all,
then put back only the ones you really need.

Oh: If you've been using Tracked Changes (look it up in the help) make sure
you turn that OFF and Accept All changes: section breaks that get caught up
in tracked changes are guaranteed trouble

Talk to you later...

I for one would love to hear any advice you can provide. My multi-section
Word 2004 on a G5 documents have become a big mess. Attempts to print one
section don¹t work - the print dialog shows ³zero² pages and prints nothing.
Other attempts to print 2 pages out of 30 lead to a 25 page print job - no
logic, no sense. Trashing all com.Apple printer-related prefs doesn¹t help.
So if I can find some useful tricks and avoid using section breaks, it would
be a big help.

Ken Cohen

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410