The worksheet may be printed at a different size than you expect when you print a worksheet in Excel 2002 and Excel 2003 (288858)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
This article was previously published under Q288858

SYMPTOMS

When you print a Microsoft Excel worksheet, the printed text may appear to be a slightly different size than expected. The number of rows printed per page may not be the same as expected, or the margins may not appear to be the same width that you set.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur because Excel automatically detects the size of the paper that is in the printer, by reading the paper size selection in the printer driver.

Microsoft Office Excel 2003 and Excel 2002 can detect whether the printer contains A4-sized paper or letter-sized paper by reading the settings from the printer driver. When you print a worksheet, if the paper size stated by the printer driver does not match the paper size that is actually in the printer, Excel adjusts the printer output to match the reported paper size. The printed worksheet appears differently than in Print Preview.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, check the paper size in the printer properties, and then ensure that the printer actually contains paper of that size. Because Excel determines the paper size in the printer by reading the settings in the printer driver, it is very important that the paper size settings in the printer driver match the actual size of the paper that the printer is using.

MORE INFORMATION

To view the selected paper size in the printer properties, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
  2. In the Printers dialog box, right-click the printer that you want.
  3. On the shortcut menu, click Printing Preferences.
  4. On the Paper/Quality tab, click Advanced, and then note the paper size that is selected.
To select or clear the automatic worksheet resizing option, follow these steps:
  1. In Excel, on the Tools menu, click Options.
  2. In the Options dialog box, click the International tab.
  3. Under Printing, click to select or clear the Allow A4/Letter paper resizing check box, and then click OK.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/30/2004
Keywords:kbsettings kbprinters kblayout kbprint kbformat kbprb KB288858
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