0.56 bottom margin in Word 2004 is making me nuts.... help!

[ciryaquen]

I did a search, but only found posts on Word X, and my problem is
Office 2004.

I updated to Office 2004 and now no matter what driver I install for my
Stylus C60 printer I can't set the bottom margin to anything less than
0.56 inches. Grrrrr. the printer can print up to 0.12 inches from the
edge (all sides).

I can't set margins in Word 2004 on a custom page size. It only gives
overall dimensions.

I have OS X.3.8. My current printer driver (1.2.9) is the one that came
with Panther, because I just re-did a zero-format re-install on a new
hard disk. Before that, I had deleted the Epson folder from my hard
disk/library/printers and installed the new printer driver (ver 1.3.3)
after a brand new install. Same thing.

Choosing paper size for any printer, or for the Stylus C60, or trying
to set a custom page makes no difference. The bottom margin
persistently stays 0.56 inches. Argh!

Apple and Epson have no answer but to blame Word.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Tim Murray]

I did a search, but only found posts on Word X, and my problem is
Office 2004.

I updated to Office 2004 and now no matter what driver I install for my
Stylus C60 printer I can't set the bottom margin to anything less than
0.56 inches. Grrrrr. the printer can print up to 0.12 inches from the
edge (all sides).
...snipped...

The GIMP PPD for the C60 indicates the hardware margin is 9 points, or 0.125
inches.

What about other applications, such as other Office apps or other
non-Microsoft apps? In Word when you try to set a margin outside of the
margin it asks you if you want Word to fix it or if you want to leave it as
is. If you choose as is, does it revert anyway?

What may be happening is that Word is trying to deal with the footer area.
With my C42UX, I can set the footer to small values like 8 points with no
error. It's the regular bottom margin it complains about. (My "fixed" margin
is 0.49".) But I can tell Word to leave it as is, and it does.

 

[ciryaquen]

This is the problem

In Word when you try to set a margin outside of the

margin it asks you if you want Word to fix it or if you want to leave
it as
is.

It doesn't ask me if I want to leave it. It just chops it off! or let's
me cancel the print job.

the problem is the footer. When I take an existing document, Text Edit
doesn't show the footers. It also refuses to show me any other size
besides 0.56 bottom margin (with the current driver). Before my hard
disk died, I had trashed the Epson folder, installed the newer driver
(ver 1.3.3) from the Epson site, and presto. No printing problems with
footers.

What made me suspicious about this whole thing is that Office 2004
installer kept offering to apply "updates" on the 1 immediately
previous install. Then my OS started going nuts. So I zero formatted,
and reinstalled everything except: the newer Epson driver and the
Office updates.

I was hoping someone would have sage advice about why the problem
cropped up before I tried anything other than the basic install.

This is most problematic.

 

[Tim Murray]

This is the problem


It doesn't ask me if I want to leave it. It just chops it off! or let's me
cancel the print job.

Your original post said, "I can't set the bottom margin to anything less than
0.56 inches." That's where the "fix" comes in to play. This last post is
during printing, a different issue.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Your second post confused me, so I'm going to try to start from the
beginning.

I did a search, but only found posts on Word X, and my problem is
Office 2004.

Chances are the same tips still apply.

I updated to Office 2004 and now no matter what driver I install for my
Stylus C60 printer I can't set the bottom margin to anything less than
0.56 inches. Grrrrr. the printer can print up to 0.12 inches from the
edge (all sides).

What do you mean set? How are you trying to set them?

When you go to Format|Document, Margins, and enter .125 for Bottom, you
should get a message "one or more margins are set outside the printable area
of the page". You can choose Fix, in which case Word will reset your margins
to what the printer driver tells it is the minimum, or Ignore, in which case
the margins should stay the same. [This is what Tim was talking about, and
this is how to set margins in Word.]

So what exactly happened when you went to Format|Document?

If you don't get the message, then it should mean Word accepts the printer
drive info that the limit is .125. What happens then, when you print or go
to print preview?

the problem is the footer. When I take an existing document, Text Edit
doesn't show the footers. It also refuses to show me any other size
besides 0.56 bottom margin (with the current driver).

Zero comprehension of what you mean by this. What is the "from edge"
setting for the footer in Format | Document, Margins?

What made me suspicious about this whole thing is that Office 2004
installer kept offering to apply "updates" on the 1 immediately
previous install. Then my OS started going nuts. So I zero formatted,
and reinstalled everything except: the newer Epson driver and the
Office updates.

By the way, generally updates that have been around for a while‹10.3.9 and
Office 11.1 and 11.1.1--are more likely to solve problems than cause them.
Office 2004 offered to install updates because it includes a new utility, MS
AutoUpdate, which checks for available updates and tells you what is
available, unless you set it to check manually only via Help | Check for
Updates.

 

[ciryaquen]

Your original post said, "

I can't set the bottom margin to anything less than
0.56 inches

." That's where the "fix" comes in to play. This last post is
during printing, a different issue.

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean I can't set the paper size margin
less than 0.56 inches. If I try to "set custom page size" in any
application it's not letting me change the margins.

Let me start over. Here's a page with some screen shots.
http://urlcut.com/1ayop

I have some files with a footer margin of 0.5". When I try to print
them, I get an error dialog. (Figure 1)

If I try to set the Page Setup to use the Stylus C60 paper settings
(figure 2), Word reports the settings with a 0.56 inch margin (figure
3), and if I try to set up a custom paper size, Word doesn't let me set
margins (figure 4).

The printer ***can*** print with smaller margins. 3 weeks ago, these
documents were printable with 0.5" margins and OS X.3.8, Epson driver
1.33, and Office 2004.

To get to that point I deleted the Epson folder from the hard
disk/library/printers/. That folder's default Epson Stylus C60 printer
driver was version 1.29. I then installed Epson Stylus C60 version 1.33
printer driver. Problem solved.

My hard disk died. It was replaced. I installed OS X.3.8 using the
exact same upgrade path (OEM installer to X.3.2 and OS X.3.8 combo
updater), and then I installed Word 2001, so Office 2004 upgrade
installer would find a legit copy on the disk. Next I let Office 2004
apply all the updates. The "margins set outside of printable area"
problem recurred.

I repeated the steps above: delete Epson folder from hard
disk/library/printers/ installed the Epson Stylus C60 driver (1.33).
the printing problem persisted. The only thing different is that I let
Office 2004 run it's updater. More problematic, the OS started acting
flaky.

I re-zeroed the hard disk. I installed OEM to X.3.2, X.3.8 combo, Word
2001 > followed by Office 2004 updater. That's where I am right now. OS
X.3.8, Office 2004 (no updates), and Espon C60 driver 1.29.

From Word: I can't print my files. I can't turn them into PDFs. The

bottom is cut off.

So what exactly happened when you went to Format|Document?

If you don't get the message, then it should mean Word accepts the printer
drive info that the limit is .125. What happens then, when you print or go
to print preview?

If I open a new document and change the margins to allow a 0.5 inch
margin, I do not get an error asking me to fix or ignore the margins. I
can put info into the footer. When I go to print I get the "set outside
the printable error". See figure 1.

Now I don't know what to do. Try deleting the Epson printer drivers and
installing the version 1.33 again? Don't update Office?

It used to work!

 

[Tim Murray]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean I can't set the paper size margin
less than 0.56 inches. If I try to "set custom page size" in any
application it's not letting me change the margins.

Let me start over. Here's a page with some screen shots.
http://urlcut.com/1ayop
.... remainder snipped ...

Those screenshots say a lot, especially the Summary.

Did you know that for A4 paper, the bottom margin of a C60 is a half inch? I
see from the screen shots you're using 11-inch paper, but it may hold a clue.


I installed a C60 (not a physical printer, a logical one) here, and I get
0.12 inches. But I don't have a download Epson driver -- I installed
GimpPrint.

I wish I had some ideas on where to turn. You might try this:
- delete the printer from the list
- delete the Epson PPD file
- Run Apple Disk Utility and fix permissions (in case a permission is not
allowing a file to be written or changed)
- run Printer Setup Repair (www.fixamac.com). Run all the verifications. On
the page where you can "delete the printer setup utility preference and cache
files", take all the options. These options don't delete printers.
- Install the latest Epson driver
- Run Disk Util and Setup Repair again (many printer drivers don't do a great
job of paying attention to proper Unix rules)
- cross your fingers

 

[ciryaquen]

What is the Epson PPD file ? and I forgot to ask what is the GIMP PPD
for the Stylus? Is it an alternative driver?