Separate jobs are sent when you print or fax multiple copies in Excel (211474)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2000
  • Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
This article was previously published under Q211474

SYMPTOMS

If you click Print on the File menu and specify a number in the Number of copies box to print multiple copies of a worksheet, chart, or other document, Microsoft Excel creates a separate print job for each copy, and then sends the jobs to the printer. For example, if you print five copies of a worksheet, five print jobs are created and sent to the printer.

This behavior may cause the following problems:
  • It may take longer to print multiple copies than it does in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.
  • If other users or other programs are printing to the same printer at the same time, some Microsoft Excel print jobs may not be printed consecutively; they be printed separately before or after the other print jobs.
Because fax drivers act like printer drivers in Microsoft Windows, this behavior may also occur when you fax a worksheet, chart, or other document from Microsoft Excel.

CAUSE

These problems occur because the Collate check box in the Print dialog box is selected (checked) by default in Microsoft Excel. When this check box is selected, and you print multiple copies, Microsoft Excel creates a separate print job for each copy you request, and then sends each job to the printer.

In versions of Microsoft Excel earlier than Excel 97, the Collate check box is cleared by default.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, clear the Collate check box before you click OK in the Print dialog box.

NOTE: If you clear the Collate check box, you must manually collate the printed output.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel, you can print multiple copies by specifying a number in the Number of copies box in the Print dialog box. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. On the File menu, click Print.
  2. Change the value in the Number of copies box to the number of copies you want to print. (Microsoft Excel accepts any value from 1 to 32,767.)
  3. Click OK.
If the Collate check box is selected, Microsoft Excel creates and sends a separate identical print job to the printer for each copy you request. For example, if you print five copies of a three-page document, the following information is sent to the printer

<Job 1> <Job 2> <Job 3> <Job 4> <Job 5>

where each print job consists of Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3. Microsoft Excel collates the pages.

If the Collate check box is cleared, Microsoft Excel creates one print job and sends it to the printer with instructions to print it five times. For example, if you print five copies of a three-page document, the following information is sent to the printer:

<Instructions to print each page in the next job five times> <Job 1>

Because the Collate check box is cleared, the printer prints five copies of Page 1, five copies of Page 2 and five copies of Page 3. You must manually collate the pages.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:5/6/2005
Keywords:kbinfo kbprint KB211474
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.