XL97: Line and Border Are Not Aligned When Printed or Viewed

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

If you connect a line object to a thin cell border, the object may not be aligned to the cell border when you print it. Instead, the object may be slightly above the border (if the line is horizontally aligned ) or the object may be slightly to the left of the border (if the line is vertically aligned).

CAUSE

This behavior may occur when the following conditions are true:

• You use a tool on the drawing toolbar to draw a line or arrow, and then align the object with a cell boundary by using the Snap To Grid feature or by pressing the ALT key as you move the line object.

  To use the Snap to Grid feature, click Draw on the Drawing toolbar, and then point to Snap.

  -and-

• You click an adjacent cell and apply the thinnest border available (Click Cells on the Format menu and click the Border tab).

  -and-

• You connect the border to the line to make the border appear longer.

  -and-

• You print the worksheet or view it in print preview.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use cell borders only to format the cells or to use line drawings only to format the cell. That is, do not mix line objects and borders when you create a long horizontal or vertical line.

NOTE: It may be possible work around this problem by decreasing the printer resolution for your printer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the products listed above. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

When you use the drawing tool, the default line weight is .75 point. If you change the line object weight to .25 point so that the line and the thin border are the same thickness, the line object and the cell border still are not aligned.