XL: Output from Plotter Incomplete/Computer Appears to Hang

ID: Q115795

5.00 5.00c 7.00 7.00a WINDOWS kbprint

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel if you send a chart or other graphic image to a plotter, you may experience either of the following problems:

CAUSES

Some Lines Are Not Plotted

This problem may occur if the lines in the chart are using the default weight. Although the default weight prints well on other types of printers, it may not print correctly (or at all) on plotters.

Computer Appears to Hang and

Plotting Process Takes Long Time to Complete

This problem may occur if your chart contains "wide" lines or lines that are broken (dashed lines, and so on). If a line is too wide or is broken, it may be plotted as a filled polygon rather than as a line. However, it may take a very long time for Microsoft Excel to generate a print job that contains filled polygons: by the same token, because a plotter can only generate lines, it may take a very long time for the plotter to print the job once it has been generated.

For this reason, you should avoid using "wide" and/or broken lines when the output device is a plotter. Follow the steps below to make sure that your chart does not contain any "wide" and/or broken lines.

WORKAROUNDS

To work around these problems, do the following for each line contained in your chart:

1. Select the line.

2. From the Format menu, choose Selected Data Series.

3. Select the Patterns tab.

4. Under Line, select the first weight in the Weight box. Select the first

   style in the Style box.

5. Choose OK.

Once you have completed these steps for each line contained in your chart, you should be able to plot the chart.

KBCategory: kbprint KBSubcategory:

Additional reference words: 5.00 7.00

Version           : 5.00 5.00c 7.00 7.00a
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: March 29, 1997