Leopard document size set at 4 x 4 inches default

[sar]

When I open a new document in excel 2004 the document opens up to a default
of 4 x 4 inches at 100% size even though all settings are set at letter size
(both in preferences and print settings) There seems to be no changing this.
When I open up an old documents they too are set at 4x4 inches even though
they used to open in letter size before the os 10.5.1 upgrade. I have tried
changing page views, preferences, installing new printer drivers, the new
office update and trashing .plist files. I have read other people have the
exact same problem but does anyone have a solution yet? (also won't print
preview properly).

Thanks

 

[CyberTaz]

Have you checked for an updated driver for your printer since upgrading to
Leopard? That sounds like what's causing both problems.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[sar]

Yup have installed a new driver as well as the microsoft update
Thanks

 

[CyberTaz]

Then I believe you'll need to furnish a bit more info as well as some
clarification of what the issues really are - see the interjections to your
op, below:

Are you actually referring to the size of the file *window* when you open a
workbook? If so, that has nothing to do with printer settings, nor is there
a specific preference for window dimensions. Workbooks should reopen based
on whatever window size, position & zoom was in effect the last time the
file was saved before it was closed. It makes no difference what the paper
size, orientation, margins, etc. are set for.

How did you go about upgrading to Leopard? I understand that there are a few
methods and which you used may have bearing on the results.

Specifically ~what~ preferences are you referring to? Again, there are none
that regulate the size of the workbook window. Nor are there any
"preferences" [Excel> Preferences] for print settings - they're handled
through Page Setup.

Exactly what ".plist" files have you trashed - there are several prefs &
plist files used by Excel... And not all are stored in the same place.

I'm afraid "won't print preview properly" isn't very descriptive What
specifically do you mean by that? This is probably a separate issue.

Although there have been a number of reported problems with Leopard upgrades
there really doesn't seem to be a common cause - and many have had no
problems at all. Unfortunately there are so many variables based on
individual installations that a universal "fix" doesn't appear to be likely.
You may wind up having to Remove Office & reinstall, but I'd wait for more
input before doing so.

Hopefully some others will have suggestions to offer as I haven't moved to
Leopard myself - am waiting until after the first of the year. Since I'm
still using Tiger I can't do any real investigation that may help you much
more, but the info requested above will be useful to anyone who can.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[boris.klatser]

The same problem here.
After installing Leopard (10.5.1) and upgrading to Excel / Office
(11.3.6)

Pages new and old open up in 4x4 (in my case 12cmx12cm)

(re) Setting the 'page setup' doesn't effect the document.
Wheter it's set to A4 or Letter, the size remains the same.
Even my standard lay-out, that i've been using for year's, open up in
this wrong format.
Instead of 1 page, the document is spread over 9 pages.
Resetting the page break's doesn't solve the problem, since the
'fysical' sice of the document doesn't chance.
The problem is not related to a printer driver. I use the 'any
prinrter' option. And it also shows in 'page break preview', 'page
layout', 'print preview' and 'print to PDF'.

So in short the problem is the system only 'knows' a 4x4 document and
that can't be changed.

 

[boris.klatser]

PS I allready tried to Remove Office & reinstall, that din't solve the
problem. (this is on my MacBook Pro)
Installing Office on my G5, also under Leopard, had the same effect =
4x4 pages.
To continue working i'm now have to switch to 'numbers' a lot of
hassle......

 

[JE McGimpsey]

The same problem here.
After installing Leopard (10.5.1) and upgrading to Excel / Office
(11.3.6)

Pages new and old open up in 4x4 (in my case 12cmx12cm)

(re) Setting the 'page setup' doesn't effect the document.
Wheter it's set to A4 or Letter, the size remains the same.
Even my standard lay-out, that i've been using for year's, open up in
this wrong format.
Instead of 1 page, the document is spread over 9 pages.
Resetting the page break's doesn't solve the problem, since the
'fysical' sice of the document doesn't chance.

Your terminology is somewhat confusing to me - "open up" to me implies
what the file window looks like on screen - which has nothing to do with
printing. Neither does "wrong format", really.

If the problem is *only* printing, what did you do when "Setting the
'page setup'"? What is the scaling set to in Page Setup? If you click
Options, what is the Paper Size that's listed? What are the Margins set
to?

The problem is not related to a printer driver. I use the 'any
prinrter' option. And it also shows in 'page break preview', 'page
layout', 'print preview' and 'print to PDF'.

Does it change when you use the correct driver for your printer? Page
Break Preview, Page Layout and Print to PDF all *should* look exactly
the same as your physical print out, since they all use the system print
driver.

So in short the problem is the system only 'knows' a 4x4 document and
that can't be changed.

What about other Office apps - any strange printing with them?

 

[JE McGimpsey]

PS I allready tried to Remove Office & reinstall, that din't solve the
problem. (this is on my MacBook Pro)

Yeah, that's almost always a waste of time. Mac applications just don't
corrupt that frequently (neither do Windows apps, but reinstalling often
resets their registry settings). Almost all strangeness due to
corruption in Office apps occurs in the Preferences. Heavily edited docs
can get corrupted, too, but that wouldn't affect new docs.

 

[sar]

Hi,

I was talking about document size, not window size. I have tried changing
the document size in page set-up and in the printer preferences. I have
done all updates including software, os and printer drivers. The plist files
I dumped were in the user library under MS. What seemed to work
temporarily was trashing all files related to the brother controlcentre2 (a
program which is installed during my printer/scanner update, I have a Brother
MFC 420CN Printer/Scanner and Brother issued a 10.5 update recently) After I
trashed all the files related to the controlcentre2 documents started to open
properly at letter size (again not talking about window size). So I saved
all my current excel documents at letter size, but now when I open excel,
everything goes back to 4x4inch. I haven't touched or added anything since
last time I opened the files, no printer additions, nothing.

Sar

Then I believe you'll need to furnish a bit more info as well as some
clarification of what the issues really are - see the interjections to your
op, below:

Are you actually referring to the size of the file *window* when you open a
workbook? If so, that has nothing to do with printer settings, nor is there
a specific preference for window dimensions. Workbooks should reopen based
on whatever window size, position & zoom was in effect the last time the
file was saved before it was closed. It makes no difference what the paper
size, orientation, margins, etc. are set for.

How did you go about upgrading to Leopard? I understand that there are a few
methods and which you used may have bearing on the results.

Specifically ~what~ preferences are you referring to? Again, there are none
that regulate the size of the workbook window. Nor are there any
"preferences" [Excel> Preferences] for print settings - they're handled
through Page Setup.

Exactly what ".plist" files have you trashed - there are several prefs &
plist files used by Excel... And not all are stored in the same place.

I'm afraid "won't print preview properly" isn't very descriptive What
specifically do you mean by that? This is probably a separate issue.

Although there have been a number of reported problems with Leopard upgrades
there really doesn't seem to be a common cause - and many have had no
problems at all. Unfortunately there are so many variables based on
individual installations that a universal "fix" doesn't appear to be likely.
You may wind up having to Remove Office & reinstall, but I'd wait for more
input before doing so.

Hopefully some others will have suggestions to offer as I haven't moved to
Leopard myself - am waiting until after the first of the year. Since I'm
still using Tiger I can't do any real investigation that may help you much
more, but the info requested above will be useful to anyone who can.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[CyberTaz]

Okay - that narrows it down quite a bit

Since the removal of the Brother software rectified the problem - even tough
temporarily - it suggests that the problem lies there. Keep in mind that
Excel simply supplies data to & receives instructions from the OS print
services & the driver software, so it is not likely to be the culprit here -
especially if the Excel prefs you deleted made no difference. The changes
from 10.5 to 10.5.1 may have outrun the Brother update, so I'd suggest
checking along that route again to see if yet another might be available or
if Brother support is having similar reports from other users.
--
Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

Hi,

I was talking about document size, not window size. I have tried changing
the document size in page set-up and in the printer preferences. I have
done all updates including software, os and printer drivers. The plist
files
I dumped were in the user library under MS. What seemed to work
temporarily was trashing all files related to the brother controlcentre2
(a
program which is installed during my printer/scanner update, I have a
Brother
MFC 420CN Printer/Scanner and Brother issued a 10.5 update recently)
After I
trashed all the files related to the controlcentre2 documents started to
open
properly at letter size (again not talking about window size). So I saved
all my current excel documents at letter size, but now when I open excel,
everything goes back to 4x4inch. I haven't touched or added anything
since
last time I opened the files, no printer additions, nothing.

Sar

Then I believe you'll need to furnish a bit more info as well as some
clarification of what the issues really are - see the interjections to
your
op, below:

On 11/30/07 6:18 PM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "sar"

When I open a new document in excel 2004 the document opens up to a
default
of 4 x 4 inches at 100% size even though all settings are set at
letter size
(both in preferences and print settings) There seems to be no
changing
this.

Are you actually referring to the size of the file *window* when you open
a
workbook? If so, that has nothing to do with printer settings, nor is
there
a specific preference for window dimensions. Workbooks should reopen
based
on whatever window size, position & zoom was in effect the last time the
file was saved before it was closed. It makes no difference what the
paper
size, orientation, margins, etc. are set for.

When I open up an old documents they too are set at 4x4 inches even
though
they used to open in letter size before the os 10.5.1 upgrade.

How did you go about upgrading to Leopard? I understand that there are a
few
methods and which you used may have bearing on the results.

I have tried
changing page views, *preferences*,

Specifically ~what~ preferences are you referring to? Again, there are
none
that regulate the size of the workbook window. Nor are there any
"preferences" [Excel> Preferences] for print settings - they're handled
through Page Setup.

installing new printer drivers, the new
office update and trashing *.plist files*.

Exactly what ".plist" files have you trashed - there are several prefs &
plist files used by Excel... And not all are stored in the same place.

I have read other people have the
exact same problem but does anyone have a solution yet? (also won't
print
preview properly).

I'm afraid "won't print preview properly" isn't very descriptive What
specifically do you mean by that? This is probably a separate issue.

Although there have been a number of reported problems with Leopard
upgrades
there really doesn't seem to be a common cause - and many have had no
problems at all. Unfortunately there are so many variables based on
individual installations that a universal "fix" doesn't appear to be
likely.
You may wind up having to Remove Office & reinstall, but I'd wait for
more
input before doing so.

Hopefully some others will have suggestions to offer as I haven't moved
to
Leopard myself - am waiting until after the first of the year. Since I'm
still using Tiger I can't do any real investigation that may help you
much
more, but the info requested above will be useful to anyone who can.

Thanks

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[cinematicz]

I have just bought a Brother Printer and immediately started having the exact same problem. I have downloaded and installed the latest software available from the brother website, yet it still happens.

Has anyone found a solution for this problem????