A document may take a longer time than expected to print or the print spool file may be larger in Office 2003 or in Office XP (904948)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Students and Teachers Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Basic Edition 2003
  • Microsoft Office Access 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
  • Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003
  • Microsoft Office OneNote 2003
  • Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office Publisher 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Office XP Professional
  • Microsoft Office XP Standard
  • Microsoft Office XP Small Business
  • Microsoft Office XP Students and Teachers
  • Microsoft Office XP Developer
  • Microsoft Access 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft FrontPage 2002
  • Microsoft Outlook 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Publisher 2002
  • Microsoft Word 2002

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Office 2003 or in Microsoft Office XP, when you print a document that contains a high-resolution image, such as an image that is 600 dots per inch or more, you may experience the following behavior:
  • The document may take a longer time than expected to print.
  • The print spool file may be larger than the print spool file that is created when you print the same document in Microsoft Office 2000.
This behavior occurs regardless of the printer manufacturer, the printer model, or the printer type, such as a Printer Control Language (PCL) printer or a PostScript printer.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur because of the changes in the underlying printing architecture in Office XP and in Office 2003. In Office XP and in Office 2003, GDI+ provides improved image rendering. Therefore, when you print a document in Office XP or in Office 2003, the print job may be more complex than the print job that occurs when you print the same document in Office 2000 or in an earlier version of Microsoft Office.

WORKAROUND

Certain types of content may increase the complexity and the size of the print job. When you print these content types, you can use the workarounds that are described in this section to improve the printing performance in Office XP and in Office 2003. Even if you use these workarounds, you may not experience the same printing performance that you may experience when you use an earlier version of Office. However, you may be able to limit the complexity of the print job.
  • For high-resolution raster images, also known as bitmap images, reduce the resolution of the images by using the Compress Pictures feature. To reduce the resolution of the images, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click the image, and then click Format Picture.
    2. On the Picture tab, click Compress.
    3. Select the options that you want to use for the image, and then click OK.
    4. Click Apply if you receive the following message: Compressing Pictures may reduce the quality of your images. Do you want to apply picture Optimization?
    5. Click OK.
    For more information about how to reduce a picture's file size, click Microsoft program Help on the Help menu, type compress picture in the Search for box in the Assistance pane, and then click Start searching to view the topic.
  • For transparent raster images, drawing shapes, and objects, remove the transparency settings whenever possible. If you require the image to appear transparent, you can simulate transparency by converting a group of objects in an image to a single opaque "snapshot" raster image. To convert a group of objects in an image to a single opaque raster image, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click the image, and then click Cut.
    2. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
    3. Under As, click either Picture (PNG) or Picture (JPEG), and then click OK.
  • For gradient fill effects in drawing shapes, replace the gradient fill effects with other fill effects. Or, replace the generated gradient with a static gradient. To create a raster image of a drawing shape that has a static gradient, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click the image, and then click Cut.
    2. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
    3. Under As, click either Picture (PNG) or Picture (JPEG), and then click OK.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/17/2005
Keywords:kbtshoot kbgraphic kbprint kbprb KB904948 kbAudEndUser
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.