WD: Chart or Graph Patterns Print Solid Gray in Word for Windows

ID: Q81193

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

The fill patterns in a Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Graph chart, imported or embedded in a Microsoft Word for Windows document, appear to print incorrectly if you print to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet printer.


CAUSE

This behavior occurs if the printer resolution is set to 300 dots per inch (dpi) or higher. The fill patterns are printed so finely that they appear to be a solid gray color.

NOTE: This problem occurs even if the chart patterns are displayed correctly on the screen and are printed correctly on other printers.


WORKAROUND

NOTE: If you have manually applied patterns to charts in Microsoft Excel or Graph, you must reduce the printer resolution so that the patterns will be recognizable. In this situation, no other workaround is available.

To work around this problem, use the methods appropriate to your version of Word.

NOTE: Method 2 does not allow you to link to Microsoft Excel charts. Method 1 is the only method that works with Word version 1.x.

Method 1

Set the printer resolution to either 75 or 150 dpi.

NOTE: This method causes curved lines to appear jagged.

Method 2

Import the Microsoft Excel chart into Microsoft Graph, and then embed the chart in Word for Windows.

NOTE: This method does NOT produce jagged lines.

Method 3

To maintain the ability to link Microsoft Excel charts, use the following method:
  1. Select the chart in Microsoft Excel. On the Edit menu, click Copy.


  2. Switch to Word for Windows.


  3. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.


  4. For Word 6.x and 7.x, in the Data Type dialog box, select either Bitmap, Picture, or Microsoft Excel Chart Object, and then click the Paste Link button.


  5. Click OK.



MORE INFORMATION

In Word, directly imported or embedded Microsoft Excel charts appear as black-and-white images whose fill patterns are sent to the LaserJet as bitmaps (that is, patterns of dots or pixels); therefore, the patterns are dependent on the printer resolution setting to determine the distance between the individual pixels in the pattern. With a low resolution, the patterns are recognizable. With a high resolution, the width of the lines and the spacing between each line are so small that the resulting pattern prints as a smooth, solid gray color.

If you import the Microsoft Excel chart in a way that leaves the chart as a color image, Word substitutes recognizable black-and-white patterns when you print the chart.

Additional query words: msgraph msgraph5 w95 


Keywords          : kbdta 
Version           : WINDOWS:1.1,1.1a,2.0,2.0a,2.0b,2.0c,6.0,6.0a,6.0c,7.0,7.0a
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: July 19, 1999