WD2000: Display Size of an EMF Image Changes When You Change the Screen Resolution on Windows 2000 (311056)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2000, when used with:
    • the operating system: Microsoft Windows 2000
This article was previously published under Q311056
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

The size of an enhanced metafile (EMF) image changes when you do the following:
  1. You insert an enhanced metafile image into a Microsoft Word 2000 document on a computer that is running Windows 2000.
  2. You save the document and close Word.
  3. You change your screen resolution. (This changes the window size of Microsoft Word when the Word window is maximized.)
  4. You open your Word document again.
The actual size of the enhanced metafile image, as displayed in the Properties dialog box for the image, is different from the size of the image when you first inserted it.

CAUSE

Overview

This problem occurs because enhanced metafile images record their settings based only on the current screen resolution. When the screen resolution changes, Microsoft Word uses the new screen resolution to recalculate the size of the enhanced metafile image.

Technical Detail

The following is a technical description of the problem:

Enhanced metafile images record their size when they are rendered on the target device, and they also record the characteristics of the target device. On a printer device, the rendered image size matches the size of the document. On a screen device, there can be a significant difference between the rendered size and the document size, because the screen's physical characteristics (resolution) frequently do not match the logical characteristics that Windows uses.

An enhanced metafile header records the following four pieces of information (with examples):
  • The boundary of the device for which the enhanced metafile was recorded in pixels: 1024 x 768
  • The size of the device for which the enhanced metafile was recorded in millimeters: 320 mm x 240 mm
  • The boundary of the enhanced metafile in target device pixels: 224 x 179
  • The size of the enhanced metafile in HIMETRIC units: 7001 HIMETRIC x 8001 HIMETRIC (70 mm x 80 mm)
Therefore, the physical characteristics of the device say that the device has a resolution of 81.28 dots per inch (dpi) x 81.28 dpi (1024 / 320 * 25.4, 768 / 240 * 25.4).

NOTE: The original image size was 25.4 mm x 25.4 mm.

When an enhanced metafile image is recorded, either the size is specified explicitly by the generating program, or the size is automatically calculated by the operating system from the first three values.

Microsoft Office uses the first two values and the final value to work out the size of the enhanced metafile image in target device pixels: 1024 * 70.01 / 320, 768 * 80.01 / 240 or 225 x 257. Therefore, you can work out the "logical" size of the enhanced metafile by using the screen size's logical dpi - typically 96 (small fonts) or 120 (large fonts). In this case, (using the example figures):

96 dpi display: 59.53 mm x 67.73 mm (2.34" x 2.67")
120 dpi display: 47.63 mm x 54.19 mm (1.88" x 2.13")

Unfortunately, the enhanced metafile image does not record the logical dpi of the target device. Microsoft Word must "guess" that the logical dpi is the same as that of the current device. Word uses the characteristics of the current device, instead of the recorded ones, to minimize any errors that this may introduce. For example, if the current device is 1280 x 960 pixels with the standard size of 320 mm x 240 mm:

96 dpi display: 74.09 mm x 84.68 mm (2.92" x 3.33")
120 dpi display: 59.28 mm x 67.74 mm (2.33" x 2.67")

These changes result in different aspect ratios for the enhanced metafile image. The operating system is getting numbers (320, 240, 1280, 1024) that are inconsistent, so the operating system records an inconsistent HIMETRIC value for the frame.

RESOLUTION

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.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276367 OFF2000: How to Obtain the Latest Office 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: 
   Date           Time  Version     Size       File name
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   14-Jan-2002   20:22  n/a         1,921,152  Mso9.msp
   15-Jan-2002   01:34  n/a         4,031,644  Mso9_admin.msp
   06-Jul-2001   11:11  n/a             2,882  Readme.txt
After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later: 
   Date           Time  Version       Size       File name
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   12-Jan-2002   11:46  9.0.0.6110    5,595,185  Mso9.dll

NOTE: To work correctly, this fix requires a registry key change. You must add the following registry key to activate the correction made by this hotfix:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Common] "AlternateSetExtentAndSizesMethod"=dword:00000001

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, restore the screen size in the Windows 2000 display settings to one in which the image appears the size that you want.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP-3).
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/26/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbOffice2000SP3Fix kbbug kbfix KB311056
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