Fonts are displayed with incorrect spacing in Office X for Mac programs (325949)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Excel X for Mac
  • Microsoft PowerPoint X for Mac
  • Microsoft Word X for Mac
This article was previously published under Q325949

SYMPTOMS

After you update to Mac OS X 10.1.5 and then install the Microsoft Office X Service Release 1 (SR-1) update, some fonts are not displayed correctly in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. The fonts may appear fuzzy or blurry. They may also appear to have additional spaces or overlapping letters. The zoom setting affects the fonts' appearance.

Although the fonts are displayed incorrectly, the fonts can be printed correctly.

CAUSE

This issue occurs because the fonts are not compatible with Quartz text smoothing.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, turn off the Quartz text smoothing option. To do this, follow these steps in one or more of the Office programs.

Note The Quartz text smoothing option is available only if you have Microsoft Office X SR-1 and Mac OS X 10.1.5 installed.

In Word X

  1. On the Word menu, click Preferences, and then click General.
  2. Click to clear the Enable Quartz text smoothing check box.

    Confirm that the fonts now appear correctly.

    Note This setting affects only Word.

In Excel X

  1. On the Excel menu, click Preferences, and then click View.
  2. Click to clear the Enable Quartz text smoothing check box.

    Confirm that the fonts now appear correctly.

    Note This setting affects only Excel.

In PowerPoint X

  1. On the PowerPoint menu, click Preferences, and then click View.
  2. Click to clear the Enable Quartz text smoothing check box.

    Confirm that the fonts now appear correctly.

    Note This setting affects only PowerPoint.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:1/7/2006
Keywords:kbprb KB325949
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