PUB2000: Thin Lines in BorderArt and Pictures Don't Print (198490)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Publisher 2000
This article was previously published under Q198490

SYMPTOMS

If you print a publication to a high-resolution PostScript device(such as an imagesetter), the thinnest lines in imported pictures and BorderArt patterns may disappear.

CAUSE

Some Publisher BorderArt patterns and imported pictures contain hairlines. A hairline is a line that appears one pixel wide on whatever device you are using to display or print that line. If you print a hairline on a 300-dpi printer, the line is 1/300" wide. If you print that same hairline on Linotronic imagesetter at 2540 dpi, that line is 1/2540" wide (effectively invisible.)

The PostScript language does not include the concept of a hairline. When Publisher prints a hairline to a PostScript printer driver, the driver uses the resolution setting to determine how wide to print the lines.

WORKAROUND

Method 1: Print at a resolution of 1200 dpi (or lower.) Publisher ships with a PPD (PostScript Printer Definition) file called the Microsoft Publisher Imagesetter (MSGenbw.ppd). If you use this driver, hairlines will print at 1/600". If you don't have this driver listed, you can add it by doing the following:
  1. On the Start menu, point to Settings and then click Printers.
  2. Double-click the Add Printer Wizard.
  3. Follow the instructions on screen. When the Wizard asks you for the manufacturer and model of the printer, click Have Disk.
  4. Click Browse.
  5. Browse to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office folder (or wherever you have Publisher installed.) Click OK.
  6. Click OK again.
  7. On the Printers list click MS Publisher Imagesetter. Click Next.
  8. Follow the instructions to complete the Wizard.
Method 2: Replace the hairlines with thicker lines. Here is one way to do this using Microsoft Draw:
  1. Select the object that contains the hairlines.
  2. On the Edit menu, click Cut.
  3. On the Insert menu, point to Picture and then click New Drawing. A rectangular hatched area appears. You can drag the resize handles on this area until it is approximately the same size and shape as the object.
  4. On the Edit menu, click Paste. The object should appear within the hatched drawing area. You can drag the object if you need to until it fits correctly.
  5. On the Draw menu (at the bottom of the screen), click Ungroup. You will see this message:

    This is an imported picture, not a group. Do you want to convert it to a Microsoft Office drawing object?
  6. Click Yes.
  7. Click outside the hatched area to close Microsoft Draw and return to Publisher.
This process breaks the picture up into its separate components. Since Microsoft Draw does not support hairlines, any hairlines are converted to lines with a thickness of 0.25 pt.

Method 3: Use a third-party program to convert the picture to EPS.
  1. Select the object.
  2. On the Edit menu, click Cut.
  3. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
  4. In the Paste Special dialog box, click Picture and then click OK.
  5. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools and then click Graphics Manager.
  6. Click Create Link.
  7. Click "Create a file from the full-resolution graphic stored in the publication and link to that." Click OK.
  8. Choose a file name and destination folder for the new graphic. This graphic will be in the Windows Metafile (.wmf) format.
  9. Open that created graphic in a PostScript-based illustration program such as Macromedia FreeHand or Adobe Illustrator.
  10. From the illustration program, save or export the graphic as an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file. The simple act of saving the graphic should convert the hairlines to fixed-width lines. You may want to set the target PPD to the MS Publisher Imagesetter.
  11. Switch back to Publisher. The Graphics Manager dialog box should still be open.
  12. Click Change Link.
  13. In the Link to Graphic dialog box, choose the new EPS image you created and then click Link to File.

MORE INFORMATION

This issue only affects imported pictures and shapes with BorderArt patterns. While Publisher's drawing tools also have a hairline setting, this is a different type of hairline. Publisher's drawing tools define a hairline as 1/4 of a point (approximately 1/300"), no matter what resolution the output device is set up for.

Many of Publisher's BorderArt patterns contain hairlines. However, with a number of them the hairlines are visually unimportant. Below is a list of the BorderArt patterns which suffer the most if their hairlines don't print:
  • Basic...Thin Lines
  • Basic...White Dashes
  • Basic...White Squares
  • Basic...Wide Midline
  • Basic...Wide Inline
  • Certificate Banner
  • Checked Bar
  • Checkered
  • Classical Wave
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Eclipsing Squares
  • Flowers...Tiny
  • Marquee
  • Marquee...Toothed
  • Push Pin in Note 2
  • Pushpin in Note
  • Zigzag Stitch
The third-party products discussed here are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/29/1999
Keywords:kbbug kbhowto kbinfo kbprb KB198490
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