Graphics transparency is lost after you apply Office XP Service Pack 2 (810384)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office XP
  • Microsoft Office XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP-2)
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard Service Pack 2 (SP-2)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002 Service Pack 2 (SP-2)
  • Microsoft Word 2002 Service Pack 2 (SP-2)

SYMPTOMS

After you apply Service Pack 2 for Office XP, you may experience one or more of the following transparency-related symptoms:
  • Images that you previously marked with transparency in Office XP documents may no longer be transparent. For example, Office XP documents are created in Word 2002, PowerPoint 2002, and Microsoft Publisher.
  • When you insert images into new documents, text no longer appears through the image, or the text may appear through only part of the image.

RESOLUTION

Service Pack Information

This problem is corrected in Office XP Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional informationabout a similar problem, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

812384 XL 2002: "Unable to Read File" Error Message When You Open a Workbook

Hotfix Information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Office XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The Global version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Date         Time    Version  Size       File name 
------------------------------------------------------- 
10-Jan-2003  12:05            6,758,188  Shared.msp 
10-Jan-2003  13:17            7,384,376  Sharedff.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:
Date         Time  Version      Size        File name 
------------------------------------------------------- 
09-Jan-2003  20:31 10.0.4907.0  10,005,064  Mso.dll
This fix is a post-Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2) fix. To install the fix, you must have Office XP SP-2 installed. For additional information about Office XP SP-2, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

325671 OFFXP: Overview of the Office XP Service Pack 2

Additionally, you may have to install Windows Installer 2.0 to install this fix. For additional information about the Windows Installer requirement for post-Office XP SP-2 fixes, click the following article number to see the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

330537 OFFXP: Office XP Updates and Patches Released After September 2002 May Require Windows Installer 2.0

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue and restore transparency to images, insert the image as a GIF or JPEG file:
  1. Use the Cut or Copy command to put the image from the source document or page on to the clipboard.
  2. Insert the image into the slide or document. To do so, click Paste Special on the Edit menu.
  3. In the Paste Special box, click either Picture (GIF) or Picture (JPEG).
  4. Click OK to insert the image.
  5. Click the Set Transparent Color button on the Picture toolbar, and then click the image to apply transparency.

    Note For pictures that have been grouped, ungroup each image. Select each image, and then re-apply the transparency.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/11/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbQFE kbui kbprb KB810384
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