Print Excel charts in Word 2003 with fixed size

#1 10-30-2005, 03:05 PM

Hello,

I am trying to find a solution to the following problem:

(1) I have created a chart in Excel 2003 and formatted the way I would like
it to be (9 horizontal & 11 vertical gridlines, so I have a total of 10 x 8
square blocks). It looks exactly the way I need it to be.
(2) I need to create a report with (multiple) of these charts in Word 2003.
(3) My problem is that I need the spacing between these gridlines to be
EXACTLY 1 cm when printed and I have no idea how to do this.

Since there is no size entry for the plot area I resized it to be the same
size as the chart area. The chart area object can be set to a fixed size
(10cm by 8cm) but there are 3 problems (FYI: both plot and chart area are
set to border "none") :

a. Although there should be no borders at all, the plot area seems to have a
tiny blank border in the chart area, making the plot area not exactly 10cm
by 8cm. I would not mind having a bigger chart area to solve this problem,
but there seems to be no size entry for the border area so the only way I
could determine its size is by trial and error I suppose. I guess I could
even live with this tiny inaccuracy and leave it the way it is now.
b. When I import this object into Word 2003 (Office clipboard, Paste
special, Excel graph object, link) word seems to rescale the size to 10cm by
7,6cm. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea why Word is doing this. When you scale the
object in Excel, its size will also change in Word but there sizes will
never be exactly the same. I think this has something to do with the chart
area not having a border but I am not sure at all. I really need to fix this
problem.
c. I would really like Word to adopt the sizes as entered in Excel. I guess
I could enter the size in Word again as 10cm x 8cm but that is not exactly
productive.

Is there any Excel/Word expert that can shine his light on these issues ? I
have no idea what I am doing wrong or how I could solve my trouble. For one
single chart I would just change the Word size, but I am not looking forward
doing this (and make errors) on multiple of these...

At the moment I see no other solution than "trial and error". I can only
image what will happen when printing this from another Word version or onto
another printer.

Thanks in advance!

Filip

#2 11-03-2005, 12:30 AM

Does the chart have to stay "live"? Does it need to be linked to some
data? Or can you get by with a copy of the chart?

Even without a border, there are small margins that constrain different
chart elements. The chart area is smaller by a couple points all around
than the chart object; the plot area is similarly smaller than the chart
area. To get a given plot area size, you need to allow some extra room
for chart area and chart object.

Also, it may seem unproductive to paste in an object that you thought
was a given size, then have to resize it to ensure it is that size. But
if it works, that's what you do, and forget about finding an "elegant"
solution which is going to be unreliable. If you're doing a lot of
these, then restating dimensions is just a line or two in a big loop,
which the computer won't mind doing nearly as much as you do.

I've done tons of these things, and they don't get easier with
experience. Well, the mechanics do, but the frustrations with sizes,
links, printing, etc., are as acute as ever.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______

Phil wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I am trying to find a solution to the following problem:
>
> (1) I have created a chart in Excel 2003 and formatted the way I would like
> it to be (9 horizontal & 11 vertical gridlines, so I have a total of 10 x 8
> square blocks). It looks exactly the way I need it to be.
> (2) I need to create a report with (multiple) of these charts in Word 2003.
> (3) My problem is that I need the spacing between these gridlines to be
> EXACTLY 1 cm when printed and I have no idea how to do this.
>
> Since there is no size entry for the plot area I resized it to be the same
> size as the chart area. The chart area object can be set to a fixed size
> (10cm by 8cm) but there are 3 problems (FYI: both plot and chart area are
> set to border "none") :
>
> a. Although there should be no borders at all, the plot area seems to have a
> tiny blank border in the chart area, making the plot area not exactly 10cm
> by 8cm. I would not mind having a bigger chart area to solve this problem,
> but there seems to be no size entry for the border area so the only way I
> could determine its size is by trial and error I suppose. I guess I could
> even live with this tiny inaccuracy and leave it the way it is now.
> b. When I import this object into Word 2003 (Office clipboard, Paste
> special, Excel graph object, link) word seems to rescale the size to 10cm by
> 7,6cm. I have ABSOLUTELY no idea why Word is doing this. When you scale the
> object in Excel, its size will also change in Word but there sizes will
> never be exactly the same. I think this has something to do with the chart
> area not having a border but I am not sure at all. I really need to fix this
> problem.
> c. I would really like Word to adopt the sizes as entered in Excel. I guess
> I could enter the size in Word again as 10cm x 8cm but that is not exactly
> productive.
>
> Is there any Excel/Word expert that can shine his light on these issues ? I
> have no idea what I am doing wrong or how I could solve my trouble. For one
> single chart I would just change the Word size, but I am not looking forward
> doing this (and make errors) on multiple of these...
>
> At the moment I see no other solution than "trial and error". I can only
> image what will happen when printing this from another Word version or onto
> another printer.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Filip
>
>
>

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