A3 printing prefs +

[Grant Higgins]

Does anyone know why isn't A3 offered in the Print dialogue in Word
Mac, as it is for Word Windoze? Is it the printer driver's
responsibility for this, or Word's? And how can I set this as a
printing option?
Getting kind if tired of taking the A4 page to the photcopier and
enlarging it!
Also does anyone know how to 'tile' 2 A4 pages into an A4 landscape
page?
I've tried everything - at least I think I have.
Any thoughts on this gratefully received.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Grant:

Word does not offer any paper sizes -- it obtains the list of available
paper sizes from the connected printer driver.

You need to explicitly select the printer by name for a document. The
available paper sizes should then be listed. If A3 is not amongst them, you
should update your printer driver.

Printing A4 two-up (two pages per sheet) is also a function of your printer
driver. If your printer supports the option it will appear on
File>Print>Layout in Word.

Cheers

Does anyone know why isn't A3 offered in the Print dialogue in Word
Mac, as it is for Word Windoze? Is it the printer driver's
responsibility for this, or Word's? And how can I set this as a
printing option?
Getting kind if tired of taking the A4 page to the photcopier and
enlarging it!
Also does anyone know how to 'tile' 2 A4 pages into an A4 landscape
page?
I've tried everything - at least I think I have.
Any thoughts on this gratefully received.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[thegranthiggins]

Thanks John, I'll chase it up with Canon and HP. I downloaded all the
latest drivers, but I think it's rather odd that a printer which
produced A3 doesn't factor that into the printer driver.

kind regards,

Grant

 

[Matthew Smith]

Does anyone know why isn't A3 offered in the Print dialogue in Word
Mac, as it is for Word Windoze? Is it the printer driver's
responsibility for this, or Word's? And how can I set this as a
printing option?
Getting kind if tired of taking the A4 page to the photcopier and
enlarging it!
Also does anyone know how to 'tile' 2 A4 pages into an A4 landscape
page?
I've tried everything - at least I think I have.
Any thoughts on this gratefully received.

You don't say which version of the operating system you are using. I am
using 10.3.7 and A3 is listed in the general page sizes of the Page
Setup dialog box. It's near the end of list of page sizes.

 

[thegranthiggins]

You don't say which version of the operating system you are using. I am
using 10.3.7 and A3 is listed in the general page sizes of the Page
Setup dialog box. It's near the end of list of page sizes.

Matthew I am using 10.2.8 - perhaps this pref resides in the system? I
use Office 2004 Word. It doesn't make sense to me that this would come
from the printer drivers, because printers which produce A3 would allow
for that. So could it be in the system like A4, US letter and the
rest of them?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

It doesn't make sense to me that this would come
from the printer drivers, because printers which produce A3 would allow
for that. So could it be in the system like A4, US letter and the
rest of them?

I'm pretty sure that is the printer driver responsibility, not the system.
I think the system just includes some generic printer drivers that you can
use (subtle but necessary distinction).
A3 is roughly 11x17 inches (had to look that up, shame on me). I think you
need to have a printer that will let you print that size paper before A3 is
going to show up in the options. In fact, I just tested it. I changed my
printer driver from the compact laserjet to the big photocopier/printer, and
A3 showed up in the options, where it had not before. When I went back to
Format for Any Printer, however, A3 also showed up. Guess that's included in
the generic. (OS 10.3.6)

So do you have a printer that will handle that? Is the driver for it
installed? In the File | Page Setup Dialog, is that printer selected as
your printer?

Actually, your original question said "why isn't it an option in the Print
dialog?" The problem may be that you are looking in the wrong place. In
WinWord, their Print dialog is our File | Page Setup dialog (I think), and
their File | Page Setup is our Format | Document. To set the paper for A3,
in MacWord, you need to use the File | Page Setup dialog. (Matt mentioned
Page Setup, but perhaps you did not catch it). It may also be an option in
the Print dialog somewhere, but far less obvious.

 

[John McGhie]

Matthew:

Daiya is correct: Word explicitly and specifically reads "the printer
driver" to obtain the list of available paper sizes. A "good" printer
driver will even tell it which ones are currently loaded...

However, each document needs to be formatted for a specific printer. The
name of the printer concerned is stored in the document.

Under some circumstances, if you print a document to a printer which is no
longer available (maybe because it was on another computer) you need to go
to File>Print and choose the correct printer for the document to reset this.

When you do, Word will read the driver for the new printer. If that printer
is connected using a generic driver (a common technique in large companies)
the printer driver may not "know" what paper sizes are appropriate for the
hardware device it is driving.

This, I suspect, is your problem. The driver in use for the printer you
want does not know that the printer supports A3, so the paper size will not
be offered.

If you change the printer specified to a different printer, do you see A3
now? (You may have to open the Print Centre and add the printer you want).

Hope this helps

Matthew I am using 10.2.8 - perhaps this pref resides in the system? I
use Office 2004 Word. It doesn't make sense to me that this would come
from the printer drivers, because printers which produce A3 would allow
for that. So could it be in the system like A4, US letter and the
rest of them?

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[thegranthiggins]

Thanks to all for your helpful advice. I'll put it into practice this
week!

kind regards,

Grant

 

[Matthew Smith]

Matthew:

Daiya is correct: Word explicitly and specifically reads "the printer
driver" to obtain the list of available paper sizes. A "good" printer
driver will even tell it which ones are currently loaded...

It wasn't me who had the problem.

However, each document needs to be formatted for a specific printer. The
name of the printer concerned is stored in the document.

Under some circumstances, if you print a document to a printer which is no
longer available (maybe because it was on another computer) you need to go
to File>Print and choose the correct printer for the document to reset this.

When you do, Word will read the driver for the new printer. If that printer
is connected using a generic driver (a common technique in large companies)
the printer driver may not "know" what paper sizes are appropriate for the
hardware device it is driving.

This, I suspect, is your problem. The driver in use for the printer you
want does not know that the printer supports A3, so the paper size will not
be offered.

Hmm. I don't have a printer that supports A3 but I still see it in the
list. I suspect it is a difference between Mac OS X 10.2.8 and Mac OS X
10.3.7 (which I have)