Two Identical Excel Files Print at Different Widths

[snapfade]

Good Afternoon,

This is a strange problem that keeps popping up for me. I have a series of worksheets (different workbooks) that have the same exact column widths and line depths. On screen the width and depth is identical but when printed, one takes up less width and more depth and the other vice-versa. Most (over 100) are just fine but every once in a while another is found that is distorted in print preview and printing and there seems to be nothing I can do to correct the problem. One difficult solution is to take the content from the "wrong" worksheet, do a save as on a "right" worksheet and drop the content in there. Problem solved. But what the heck is the problem?

• Office and Excel 2013

• Windows 8

• Saving as different versions (xls instead of xlsx) makes no difference.

• Same printer

• Same monitors

• All worksheets are set to 17 pixels for both columns and rows (looks like graph paper)

• After setting up print area and viewing, the light gray dashed lines that show page breaks are different! The majority ("right") sheets have four fewer columns and four more rows than do the "wrong" worksheets.

Thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks for your time and brainpower.

[martindwilson]

are the dpi the same?

[snapfade]

Hi martindwilson,

Thanks for the suggestion. The dpi is set to low for both files.

snapfade

[minnesotaart]

The "right" file has graphics set to print at 3600 dpi while the "wrong" file has it set to 144 dpi. Could be the difference. Also, have you tried setting a print area?

Also in the Right file, the "Title Bar" is Calibri 16 while in the Wrong file it's Arial 14.

[snapfade]

Hi minnesotaart,

Thanks for the feedback. Would you please tell me more about the dpi setting? I do not know where to access that info. There is a print quality setting in page layout and both files are set to low. So where is the dpi?

I set the print area to the whole spreadsheet to make sure that after a preview you could see where Excel set the limits.

Good catch on the title bar! That was my error in setting up the test files; they should both be Calibri 16.

Thanks!

[martindwilson]

page layout/page setup /print quality

[snapfade]

Page Layout/Page Setup/print quality offers settings of High, Medium, Low and Draft. Where do you see dpi?

[martindwilson]

it depends on your printer what is displayed

[snapfade]

My printer is new and has not been customized in any way. It is a canon pixma mx922. My prior printer was also a Canon, i9900, and it, too was not customized for printing.

I wonder how looking at printer settings matter. I can see the difference in print preview. The two files show different previews on screen even though the printer has not been touched.

Both files are set to print at Low quality.

I am attaching the two files again, with changes made to print area and font, as pointed out previously.

I really appreciate any help you can provide, but so far, nothing seems to make a difference.

[martindwilson]

sorry cant help any more both those show 4 pages in my print preview but both previews the same

[snapfade]

I intentionally set the print area to be larger than the actual page so that after previewing the print and returning to the worksheet that the dashed lines that show page breaks indicate the difference between the two worksheets. The first page of "Right" prints from A1 through AN56. The first page of "Wrong" print from A1 through AR52. The column widths, row depths and print quality are the same for both. So why do the dimensions of what prints on a page vary from one worksheet to another. I am stumpted. Thanks for looking!

[snapfade]

I may need to better clarify the problem. I have more than a hundred worksheets, all with the same identical parameters. All are designed to print all content on one page. The worksheets were designed to print on one page. But I now have another worksheet with the same identical parameters (supposedly), and this worksheet has four more columns on a single page and four less rows. This causes the image to print with a too-wide right margin and four rows print on the second page.

The question is: What changed that caused this new worksheet to behave differently.

I have modified the example files "Right" and "Wrong" to better illustrate the problem.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[martindwilson]

the print area appears to be diferent
if i clear the print area and reset it to A1:AN56 it shows in print preview just fine
2 images of current print settings attached

[snapfade]

Exactly! They both fill a full page! Think about it. Two different print areas on identical spreadsheets. Both print exactly one full page. Adding a row or column to either will force multiple pages.

This problem has been bugging me for a year but it pales in comparison to the task of properly describing it in English! ;-)

[minnesotaart]

Couldn't log in from work for some reason, but will check on where I saw the DPI setting tomorrow.

On the other hand, I may have found it here at home. When I switch between Right and Wrong, the buttons on the "Styles" ribbons change. In particular, if you look at the settings for "Normal", you'll see one is set to Calibri 10 (Wrong) and the other is Calibri 11 (Right). I did a screen print from each page and put them in Word (hopefully I can attach it since I'm new here). Anyway, when I "modified" the "Wrong" "Normal" to Calibri 11 (right click the Normal button), the Wrong print preview looked the same as the Right file's did. Try that and see if it works.

ExcelCompareNormal.docx

[snapfade]

Hi minnesotaart,

I sync'd up the Normal of Styles to read Calibri 10 on both. No difference when printing. There's gotta be something causing this!

[martindwilson]

page break is in the wrong place
view tab/page break preview
and you see a dotted blue line running down between col ap:aq drag it to edge between ar:as

[snapfade]

Hi Martin,

Print view...never thought of that view because I never use it. But it does nicely illustrate the problem.

Try this:

1. On the "Right" file, go into view/page break preview. Move the right boundary out four columns. A page break occurs at column AN so the four added columns appear on page 2. Also note that row 56 prints on page 1.

2. On the "Wrong" file, go into view/page break preview. Move the right boundary out four columns. No page break. Now look at the rows. Rows 53 through 56 are on page 2.

If I had to make "Wrong" print properly on one page I could expand the column size or center the printing. To pick up the extra rows I could shrink the row height or force it to print on one page.

But that is NOT what I am trying to accomplish here in the forum. What I want to learn is WHY these two seemingly identical worksheets have different pagination properties.

I really appreciate your input, Martin. I hope we can find the solution.

p.s. The forum seems to be having trouble, especially with Firefox as google is calling the forum an "Attack Site." I expect the ops know of this problem but I could not find a way to report it. I also could not upload jpgs of the page previews because the upload utility stalled.

tom

[martindwilson]

Its a mystery
short of flying out and looking at your set up i cant see what else can be done

[minnesotaart]

I finally managed to get back on this site. As you mentioned, it was blocked because it was an "attack site".

The DPI setting that I was trying to tell you about was indeed in the printer setup under "advanced". This is for an HP printer. Since you have a Canon, I don't think you'd see what I saw. Sorry.

The ONLY other thought I had was to delete the logo in the "Wrong" file and replace it with the logo from the "Right" file and see if that made any difference.

[snapfade]

I am afraid that changing data on "Wrong" would not make a difference. This condition is not unique to "Wrong;" it has occurred a number of other times before. It happened with Excel 2010 and Win7 and now again with Excel 2013 on Win8. Of the hundred-plus similar files, this has occurred about four times. It is this fourth effort that prompted me to post. I scrubbed the real data off the worksheet and built the "Wrong" file using that exact worksheet. Then I opened a new Excel file and built "Right," (all the while wondering if it would turn out to be right or wrong!)

So I am pretty sure there is nothing in the data, setup or options that is causing the two files to have different print pagination properties.

I should also mention that this whole thing, as Martin said above, is a mystery. It is also a puzzle I would like to solve but the immediate solution is to trash the file and open a new file because that new file will almost certainly have the "Right" characteristics. I put it out on this forum because there is such a wonderful and resourceful bunch of folks with an awesome wealth of Excel experience. I assumed the answer would come back in a flash and give me a richly-deserved "Duh!" experience. Not so.

If anybody else has a possible explanation, I will be eager to work it out, but if not, my sincere thanks for trying goes out to minnesotaart and martindwilson. I really appreciate your time, effort and kindness.

Thanks ever so much.
tom

[minnesotaart]

I think I found it (at least my print previews of your files came out the same).

On the Wrong spredsheet, in "Cell Styles" (yes, I know we've been here before), right-click on "Normal", then click "Modify" and then click
Format". Change the format to be Calibri 11 instead of Calibri 10. Save it and compare the 2 spreadsheets again. Let me know the result.

[snapfade]

Bingo! That did it!

The lesson learned is that Style/Font size DOES affect print pagination. Good to know.

Thanks again, minnesotaart.

Best regards,
tom

[martindwilson]

hoorah whoopee