ACC2000: Can't Print Black Lines on Report When Spool Set to Raw

ID: Q197374

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you try to print a black line on a report, the line is not printed. However, if you view the report in Print Preview, you see the line. If you change the BorderColor property of the line to a color other than black (0), the line is printed.

This behavior also occurs with tables, queries, or forms in Datasheet view if you change the gridline color of the cells to black.


CAUSE

When the Spool Data Format setting for the printer that you are using is set to RAW, black lines will not be printed on your report, and gridlines will not be displayed in your table, query, or form in Datasheet view.


RESOLUTION

If you want to have black lines printed on your report and gridlines displayed in your table, query, or form in Datasheet view, change the spool setting of the printer to EMF (Enhanced Metafile format). Otherwise, change the color for the lines or gridlines to another color.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.


MORE INFORMATION

The Enhanced Metafile format (EMF) allows Windows 95 and later to use a full 32-bit GDI instruction set. When you print using the EMF spooling option, Windows creates an EMF that contains a complete set of instructions that re-create the image as printed output. When you change your Spool Data Format printer setting to EMF, Windows can better handle printing black lines.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

  1. Open Microsoft Access and the sample database Northwind.mdb.


  2. Open the Invoice report in Design view.


  3. Click on the line just below the Logo.


  4. Change the BorderColor property of the line to 0 (black).


  5. Set the Spool Data Format setting for your HP Laserjet printer to RAW by doing the following:


    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers. Select your HP Laserjet printer.


    2. In the Printers dialog box, using the right mouse button, click your printer, and then click Properties.


    3. In the <Printer> Properties dialog box, click the Details tab, and then click Spool Settings.


    4. In the Spool Settings box, in the Spool Data Format box, change the setting to RAW. Click OK. Click OK again to close the <Printer> Properties box.


  6. Print the first page of the Invoice report. Note that the line does not appear on the report.



REFERENCES

For more information about changing print driver settings, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q128345 Troubleshooting Printing Problems in Windows 95/98

Additional query words: gridlines pra 


Keywords          : kbprint kbdta PtrPrev PtrGraph RptProp 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: July 15, 1999