Visio2000: Printing Imported, Rotated Bitmaps May Produce Unexpected Results (254375)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visio 2000 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Visio 2000 Professional Edition
  • Microsoft Visio 2000 Technical Edition
  • Microsoft Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition
This article was previously published under Q254375
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

Printing imported, rotated bitmaps may produce unexpected results. A wireframe (X) or white box may appear on the printed bitmap, the printed bitmap may appear grainy or choppy, or Visio 2000 may stop responding.

NOTE: This issue applies only to rotated bitmaps imported into Visio 2000. Other graphics file formats such as Windows metafile (WMF), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), or Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG) are not affected.

CAUSE

The registry setting ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps affects the printing of rotated images in Visio 2000. Depending on your operating system and whether your printer uses Printer Control Language (PCL) or PostScript (PS) drivers, the appearance of rotated bitmaps may vary.

RESOLUTION

The solution depends on your operating system and the type of default printer driver:
  • If you are using a PCL printer driver on Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows NT, or if you are using a PS printer driver on Windows NT, change the value of the ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps setting in the Windows registry.
  • If you are printing using a PS driver on Windows 95 or Windows 98, convert bitmaps to another format or print to a PCL printer.

Changing the Value of the ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps Setting in the Registry

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Changing the value of ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps changes the method Visio 2000 uses to transmit rotated bitmaps to the printer. To change the value of ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps, edit the registry.

To change the ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps registry setting:
  1. Determine the printer driver that your printer uses. To do so, click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
  2. In the Printers dialog box, right-click your printer, and then click Properties.
  3. Start Visio 2000, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Advanced tab.
  4. Click to select the Put all settings in Windows Registry box, close the Options dialog box, and then quit Visio 2000.
  5. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

    Registry Editor starts.
  6. Browse to the ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps key:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Visio\Visio 2000\Application\ScanConvertRotatedBitmaps

  7. Double-click the key, and then change the Value data setting as specified in the table below. In cases where more than one value is listed, pick one.
    Printer Driver Operating SystemValue
    PCLWindows95 or 980 or 3
    PCLWindows NT0,1, or 3
    PSWindows NT1 or 3


  8. Click OK to close the Edit String dialog box.
  9. Quit Registry Editor, and then print the rotated bitmap again.
  10. If the value that you selected in step 6 did not resolve the issue, repeat this procedure and try a different value.

Converting bitmaps to another format or printing to a PCL printer

If you are using a PostScript printer in Windows 95 or Windows 98, convert your bitmap images to another format, such as WMF or EMF, install a PCL printer driver, or print to a PCL printer.

To convert bitmaps to another format:
  1. Start Visio 2000, click Open on the File menu, and open the file containing the rotated bitmap image.
  2. On the File menu, click Save as, and choose another file type from the Save as type list.
To install a PCL printer driver:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
  2. Double-click the Add Printer tool, and then follow the instructions on each page of the Add Printer Wizard.
To print to a PCL printer:
  1. Start Visio 2000, and click Print on the File menu.
  2. Select a PCL printer, and then click OK.
  3. Print the drawing.

MORE INFORMATION

In some cases, a wireframe (X) will be printed instead of the rotated bitmap. In other cases, a white region (WHITE BITS) will be printed around the rotated bitmap. Review the following table to determine expected print results.

Registry Settings
Settings0123
MethodCompositeScan ConvertSource CopyClipping
PCL Windows 95/98NormalWireframeWhite BoxNormal
PCL Windows NTNormalNormalWhite BoxNormal
PS Windows 95/98PoorWireframeWhite BoxStop Responding
PS Windows NTPoorNormalWhite BoxNormal

About the ScanRotatedBitmaps Registry Setting

The default ScanRotatedBitmaps registry setting is zero (0), which causes bitmaps to be composited to the printer. When an image is composited, multiple images are transmitted that form one image when combined. Compositing and transparency are not supported by PS printer drivers.

Changing the setting to 1 causes bitmaps to be scan-converted to the printer. Scan conversion creates spool files that are typically larger than the amount of extra disk space available on most users' boot drives, and typically works well on Microsoft Windows NT.

Changing the setting to 2 causes bitmaps to be source-copied to the printer. When a bitmap is source-copied, Visio 2000 converts the bitmap to a white box.

Changing the setting to 3 causes bitmaps to be clipped to the printer. When ScanRotatedBitmaps is set to 3, Some Windows 95 or Windows 98 systems may stop responding when using a PostScript printer driver.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/11/2002
Keywords:KB254375
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.