Margins change when doc is opened on another computer

C

Carol NS

Hi. People email me Word docs to proof-read, which I
change, save on my computer and then email back to them.
This often throws the margins out when they reopen them
on their own computer, even though the margins settings
and paper size, width, height in Page Layout remain the
same.
I understand this may have something to do with the
computers having different printer drivers. Can anyone
shed some light?
What I'm really hoping is that someone will post 'oh, you
just open such-and-such a window and check the box
marked "Retain document settings no matter what computer
you open the file on". But I'm guessing that would be too
easy.

With thanks
Carol NS
 
C

Carol Ns

Thank you for your very informative article Ms Barnhill.
Just one more question: would it help at all if I found
out what printer my client uses, and then downloaded that
printer driver from the net?
Thanks again.
Carol NS
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

This would indeed be very helpful (provided you remember to select that
printer before working on the doc). You might not even have to download it;
you might find it in Windows. Two caveats, however:

1. There can be numerous drivers for the same printer model, so you'd have
to be very sure of getting the exact same one.

2. Every OS will have a different drivers for the same printer, so if your
OS is different from your client's you won't be able to install exactly the
same driver.

Still, printers differ more than drivers, and some printers don't differ
much. I have two HP printers, a LaserJet and a DeskJet. I can usually count
on getting identical output from both provided I allow for the unprintable
area of the DeskJet.
 
C

Carol NS

Thank you for the advice. So, both the client and I use
XP, my printer is HP Deskjet 710, hers is HP Deskjet 930c
Photo, the driver of which is already on Windows. So I
just go to Printers and Faxes, right click on my printer
icon and call up Properties, go to Advanced, then click
on New Driver to call up the Add Printer Driver Wizard?
Thanks for your patience - I've never done anything like
this before so I'm nervous.
Carol NS
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Not quite. Go to Printers and Faxes and double-click the Add Printer icon,
which will call up the Add Printer Wizard. At least that's how it works in
Windows 2000. There might also be a File menu item (there isn't in 2000). I
think if you did what you said you would be adding a new driver for your own
printer (which would replace the current driver, and you certainly don't
want that!).

After you've added the new printer, when you want to work on a document for
the client, go to File | Print in Word and select that printer from the
list. Click Close instead of OK to close the Print dialog without printing,
just change the active printer.

It would be worthwhile to compare the unprintable area of the two printers.
Do this by changing all the margin settings in Page Setup to 0". When you
click OK, Word will tell you that "one or more" of the margins is outside
the printable area and offer to fix them for you. Accept this offer and note
the minimum margins, then click the Cancel button to close the dialog
without saving.

You might also want to print out a document using your printer, then change
to the other printer and compare the layout onscreen to your printed copy to
see whether there are noticeable changes in line and page breaks.
 
J

Jay Freedman

Hi, Carol,

If it makes you more comfortable to have a step-by-step description of
setting up the printer driver, here it is:

- Select Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes > Add Printer. This
starts the Add Printer Wizard.
- Click Next.
- Leave 'Local printer' selected, leave 'Automatically detect'
unchecked, and click Next.
- Leave 'Use the following port' selected, with LPT1 in the box, and
click Next. (You don't need to have any actual hardware for this -- my
computer doesn't even have a parallel printer connector.)
- Select 'HP' in the Manufacturer column, and 'HP DeskJet
930C/932C/935C' in the Printers column. Click Next.
- You can leave the whole name as suggested, or shorten it to 'HP
DeskJet 930C' or put your client's name there. Leave 'No' for whether
it should be the default printer. Click Next.
- Leave 'Do not share' selected and click Next.
- Leave 'No' selected for printing a test page and click Next.
- Verify that the 'Completing' page shows the settings you made, and
click Finish. Wait until the wizard disappears.

If you look at Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes, the 930c should
appear in the list. You can now select it in Word as Suzanne
described.

Suzanne S. Barnhill said:
Not quite. Go to Printers and Faxes and double-click the Add Printer icon,
which will call up the Add Printer Wizard. At least that's how it works in
Windows 2000. There might also be a File menu item (there isn't in 2000). I
think if you did what you said you would be adding a new driver for your own
printer (which would replace the current driver, and you certainly don't
want that!).
[snip]


Carol NS said:
Thank you for the advice. So, both the client and I use
XP, my printer is HP Deskjet 710, hers is HP Deskjet 930c
Photo, the driver of which is already on Windows. So I
just go to Printers and Faxes, right click on my printer
icon and call up Properties, go to Advanced, then click
on New Driver to call up the Add Printer Driver Wizard?
Thanks for your patience - I've never done anything like
this before so I'm nervous.
Carol NS
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
C

Carol Ns

Thank you very much to Suzanne and Jay for all their
help. I've learned a lot today.
I can't help thinking however that all this could be done
away with if there was just a box called "retain original
printer settings" that one could check. Or is this
impossible for reasons too complicated to explain to a
non-computer expert? If so, then it's a pity because it's
a problem that comes up again and again. I've seen a hard-
boiled executive almost in tears because she couldn't get
her document to print out from her work computer as it
did on her home one.
Thanks again for your help - you guys are true
philanthropists.
Carol NS
-----Original Message-----
Hi, Carol,

If it makes you more comfortable to have a step-by-step description of
setting up the printer driver, here it is:

- Select Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes > Add Printer. This
starts the Add Printer Wizard.
- Click Next.
- Leave 'Local printer' selected, leave 'Automatically detect'
unchecked, and click Next.
- Leave 'Use the following port' selected, with LPT1 in the box, and
click Next. (You don't need to have any actual hardware for this -- my
computer doesn't even have a parallel printer connector.)
- Select 'HP' in the Manufacturer column, and 'HP DeskJet
930C/932C/935C' in the Printers column. Click Next.
- You can leave the whole name as suggested, or shorten it to 'HP
DeskJet 930C' or put your client's name there. Leave 'No' for whether
it should be the default printer. Click Next.
- Leave 'Do not share' selected and click Next.
- Leave 'No' selected for printing a test page and click Next.
- Verify that the 'Completing' page shows the settings you made, and
click Finish. Wait until the wizard disappears.

If you look at Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes, the 930c should
appear in the list. You can now select it in Word as Suzanne
described.

Suzanne S. Barnhill said:
Not quite. Go to Printers and Faxes and double-click the Add Printer icon,
which will call up the Add Printer Wizard. At least that's how it works in
Windows 2000. There might also be a File menu item (there isn't in 2000). I
think if you did what you said you would be adding a new driver for your own
printer (which would replace the current driver, and you certainly don't
want that!).
[snip]
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow- ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Thank you for the advice. So, both the client and I use
XP, my printer is HP Deskjet 710, hers is HP Deskjet 930c
Photo, the driver of which is already on Windows. So I
just go to Printers and Faxes, right click on my printer
icon and call up Properties, go to Advanced, then click
on New Driver to call up the Add Printer Driver Wizard?
Thanks for your patience - I've never done anything like
this before so I'm nervous.
Carol NS
Click to expand...
Click to expand...


--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word
.
Click to expand...
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

There is a Compatibility Option worth experimenting with (turning off): "Use
printer metrics to lay out document." But this is disabled by default, so
that should not be a factor in any discrepancy between docs.



Carol Ns said:
Thank you very much to Suzanne and Jay for all their
help. I've learned a lot today.
I can't help thinking however that all this could be done
away with if there was just a box called "retain original
printer settings" that one could check. Or is this
impossible for reasons too complicated to explain to a
non-computer expert? If so, then it's a pity because it's
a problem that comes up again and again. I've seen a hard-
boiled executive almost in tears because she couldn't get
her document to print out from her work computer as it
did on her home one.
Thanks again for your help - you guys are true
philanthropists.
Carol NS
-----Original Message-----
Hi, Carol,

If it makes you more comfortable to have a step-by-step description of
setting up the printer driver, here it is:

- Select Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes > Add Printer. This
starts the Add Printer Wizard.
- Click Next.
- Leave 'Local printer' selected, leave 'Automatically detect'
unchecked, and click Next.
- Leave 'Use the following port' selected, with LPT1 in the box, and
click Next. (You don't need to have any actual hardware for this -- my
computer doesn't even have a parallel printer connector.)
- Select 'HP' in the Manufacturer column, and 'HP DeskJet
930C/932C/935C' in the Printers column. Click Next.
- You can leave the whole name as suggested, or shorten it to 'HP
DeskJet 930C' or put your client's name there. Leave 'No' for whether
it should be the default printer. Click Next.
- Leave 'Do not share' selected and click Next.
- Leave 'No' selected for printing a test page and click Next.
- Verify that the 'Completing' page shows the settings you made, and
click Finish. Wait until the wizard disappears.

If you look at Start > Settings > Printers and Faxes, the 930c should
appear in the list. You can now select it in Word as Suzanne
described.

Suzanne S. Barnhill said:
Not quite. Go to Printers and Faxes and double-click the Add Printer icon,
which will call up the Add Printer Wizard. At least that's how it works in
Windows 2000. There might also be a File menu item (there isn't in 2000). I
think if you did what you said you would be adding a new driver for your own
printer (which would replace the current driver, and you certainly don't
want that!).
[snip]
--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow- ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Thank you for the advice. So, both the client and I use
XP, my printer is HP Deskjet 710, hers is HP Deskjet 930c
Photo, the driver of which is already on Windows. So I
just go to Printers and Faxes, right click on my printer
icon and call up Properties, go to Advanced, then click
on New Driver to call up the Add Printer Driver Wizard?
Thanks for your patience - I've never done anything like
this before so I'm nervous.
Carol NS
Click to expand...


--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://www.mvps.org/word
.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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