Word X and 2004 both misprint a table at the top of a column.

[Denis Pelli]

Word misprints a table at the top of a column. For example, this
two-column Word document
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.doc
contains four identical tables. Microsoft Word (X and 2004) displays
them correctly on the screen, but misprints the upper right table when
printing it, cutting off the bottom of the "a", which is in a merged
cell. The misprint is apparent in the PDF produced by Adobe PDF or
Save As PDF, e.g.
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.pdf
The misprint is also apparent in the Word 2004 Print Preview. The
problem seems to be specific to merged cells in tables that appear at
the top of a column other than the first. Here's a snapshot of the
misprint:
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.gif

This bug is sneaky. Any small change to a document that prints
perfectly may change where the columns break, causing a perfectly good
table to misprint because it now happens to be at the top of a column.

Tested with Word 2004 version 11.1, Word X service release 1, and Mac
OS X 10.3.6.

Denis Pelli
Professor of Psychology and Neural Science
New York University

 

[Rob]

Word misprints a table at the top of a column. For example, this
two-column Word document
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.doc
contains four identical tables. Microsoft Word (X and 2004) displays
them correctly on the screen, but misprints the upper right table when
printing it, cutting off the bottom of the "a", which is in a merged
cell. The misprint is apparent in the PDF produced by Adobe PDF or
Save As PDF, e.g.
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.pdf
The misprint is also apparent in the Word 2004 Print Preview. The
problem seems to be specific to merged cells in tables that appear at
the top of a column other than the first. Here's a snapshot of the
misprint:
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.gif

This bug is sneaky. Any small change to a document that prints
perfectly may change where the columns break, causing a perfectly good
table to misprint because it now happens to be at the top of a column.

Tested with Word 2004 version 11.1, Word X service release 1, and Mac
OS X 10.3.6.

Denis Pelli
Professor of Psychology and Neural Science
New York University

This is a strange phenomenon.

a) Your document prints fine in Word for Windows 2003 (as PDF and actual
paper print)

b) I missed a column break in your document so I took some text out and
added a column break in the left column. Now it prints fine but
unfortunately the column break puts a carriage return on top of the
right column

Rob

 

[Elliott Roper]

Word misprints a table at the top of a column. For example, this
two-column Word document
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.doc
contains four identical tables. Microsoft Word (X and 2004) displays
them correctly on the screen, but misprints the upper right table when
printing it, cutting off the bottom of the "a", which is in a merged
cell. The misprint is apparent in the PDF produced by Adobe PDF or
Save As PDF, e.g.
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.pdf
The misprint is also apparent in the Word 2004 Print Preview. The
problem seems to be specific to merged cells in tables that appear at
the top of a column other than the first. Here's a snapshot of the
misprint:
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.gif

This bug is sneaky. Any small change to a document that prints
perfectly may change where the columns break, causing a perfectly good
table to misprint because it now happens to be at the top of a column.

Tested with Word 2004 version 11.1, Word X service release 1, and Mac
OS X 10.3.6.

Just in case you think it is only you. I managed to demonstrate the
same bug here in Word v.X with your test .doc

Sneaky it is. It looks like the bounding box for the 'c' is extending
left to the left of the 'a' column, and getting it wrong about who
should be on top.

 

[John McGhie]

Denis:

Nice pickup! Repro'd here and OK in Word 2003. I have forwarded that to
the Word 2004 developers, who will probably be along to see you in a
professional capacity shortly...

Cheers

Word misprints a table at the top of a column. For example, this
two-column Word document
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.doc
contains four identical tables. Microsoft Word (X and 2004) displays
them correctly on the screen, but misprints the upper right table when
printing it, cutting off the bottom of the "a", which is in a merged
cell. The misprint is apparent in the PDF produced by Adobe PDF or
Save As PDF, e.g.
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.pdf
The misprint is also apparent in the Word 2004 Print Preview. The
problem seems to be specific to merged cells in tables that appear at
the top of a column other than the first. Here's a snapshot of the
misprint:
http://psych.nyu.edu/pelli/docs/WordTableBug.gif

This bug is sneaky. Any small change to a document that prints
perfectly may change where the columns break, causing a perfectly good
table to misprint because it now happens to be at the top of a column.

Tested with Word 2004 version 11.1, Word X service release 1, and Mac
OS X 10.3.6.

Denis Pelli
Professor of Psychology and Neural Science
New York University

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[selfber]

Denis,

I'm glad that I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I spent
2 hours last night adding and deleting return spaces in a table that I
needed to post for my online students. (They print course documents
posted on a WebCT server.) Everything looks fine in page view, but two
different problems crop up in print preview/pdf form/printed document:

1. a table row that begins on one page repeats in its entirety
(rather than ends) on the next page. The result is a repetition of
information and confused students.
2. whole rows of the table disappear when I print. The result is
missed assignments.

I hope they figure out a fix soon.

BTW, I have the same problem with Office X and 2004. A real headache!
Kathye Bergin

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Kathye:

For 1) check that the offending table row does not have the "Heading rows
repeat" property set. That would do it.

For 2) check that you have set "Allow rows to break over pages" and NOT set
"Keep With Next". The first two are table properties, the last is a
paragraph property.

Flip me a copy of one of those documents if you like, and I will tell you
exactly what's wrong with it.

To email me, include the password "1117360@z14g2000cwz" in the subject of
your email, so my firewall does not delete it because of an unsolicited
attachment.

Cheers

Denis,

I'm glad that I'm not the only one experiencing this problem. I spent
2 hours last night adding and deleting return spaces in a table that I
needed to post for my online students. (They print course documents
posted on a WebCT server.) Everything looks fine in page view, but two
different problems crop up in print preview/pdf form/printed document:

1. a table row that begins on one page repeats in its entirety
(rather than ends) on the next page. The result is a repetition of
information and confused students.
2. whole rows of the table disappear when I print. The result is
missed assignments.

I hope they figure out a fix soon.

BTW, I have the same problem with Office X and 2004. A real headache!
Kathye Bergin

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410