Why get "exceeds printable area" ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter George
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George

I got a new PC not along ago with PowerPointXP(2002), had been using PP2000.



But now when I pull up my previous presentations (Page Setup is Custom 11W x
8.5H) and go to print, it gives warning "slides exceed printable area...."



The important point is that everything worked well before, using my old
PP2000.



If I go back and redefine the Page Setup to Letter 10W x 7.5H (which is odd
by the way), it prints without a warning but shrinks inward about 10%.



I really don't want to go back and start tweeking objects and text just to
accomdate an upgrade, got any suggestions, am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
 
Did you change printers when you upgraded? That might have something to do
with it. It might also have to do with the fact that most printers won't
print edge to edge, so your slide size might really be too big for the
printed area.

What happens if instead of changing the page setup values, you select "Scale
to fit" on the Print Dialog box? Does it print right then?

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
Featured Presenter at PPT 2004 - http://www.pptlive.com
Need to learn about advanced PowerPoint Animations? Check out:
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/newclasses.htm#pptanim

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
Actually, I have two printers (one's new, one's the same old one) but I
believe the new PowerPoint it does this on both of them.

So, was just wondering why the new PowerPoint relates differently to the
same old printer...unless some settings got changed around (or didnt' get
set to begin with) somewhere along the line. The new PowerPoint wasn't an
upgrade per se, it was a whole new PC... I just copied all my old files over
to the new PC, and put it on the LAN, which of course routes to the print
server just like the old one routed to the print server, and then to the
HP4050 laser workhorse office printer.

I can select 'scale to fit page' every time, but I try to minimize the
"special-you-just-have-to-remember's" and keep things very clean, and was
wonderng if there's some other thing that would universally fix this across
the board without special changes each time.

Also, like many people, I re-use old PowerPoint formats and just swap out
the text. Do I need to start fresh and re-define the page size going
forward. For year's I've used 8.5 x 11 (I think they call it "custom" and
the one called "letter is actually 7.5 x 10, which is a complete mystery to
me). Most of my things are printed, then bound, then handed out...seemed
like the 7.5x10 thing left lots of white border space. Ideally, I'd like a
format that works great for BOTH printed presentations as well as projected
presentations. What does everyone else use?

Welcome suggestions,
thanks
 
I got a new PC not along ago with PowerPointXP(2002), had been using PP2000.

But now when I pull up my previous presentations (Page Setup is Custom 11W x
8.5H) and go to print, it gives warning "slides exceed printable area...."

The important point is that everything worked well before, using my old
PP2000.
Click to expand...

Most likely the only difference is that XP warns you and 2000 doesn't. If you
click Print Anyway, it should print the same as it did in 2000. If not, choose
the Scale to Page option when it asks.

Apparently it's looking at the defined page size in PPT, comparing that to the
imageable area of the printer as reported by the driver (nearly always a bit
less than the actual page size) and bellowing at you.
If I go back and redefine the Page Setup to Letter 10W x 7.5H (which is odd
by the way), it prints without a warning but shrinks inward about 10%.
Click to expand...

The default page size seems a bit odd but it works out pretty well in practice.
The proportions and size match between screen show and letter paper, so you're
not forever juggling the two. If you leave it at that, PPT will scale the
slide up as large as will fit on the page. For your existing presentations,
I'd let the page size be and hit Print Anyway.

I really don't want to go back and start tweeking objects and text just to
accomdate an upgrade, got any suggestions, am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
Click to expand...

--
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================
Featured Presenter, PowerPoint Live 2004
October 10-13, San Diego, CA www.PowerPointLive.com
================================================
 
Go with what Steve says. In addition, if you really want it to print bigger
than it is, you could print it to a PDF and see if that prints better. A
third option is to use a print service (Mimeo is one I've had good luck
with) and have them print your doc.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Author of Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint - Available now from Holy Macro! Books
Get PowerPoint answers at http://www.powerpointanswers.com
Featured Presenter at PPT 2004 - http://www.pptlive.com
Need to learn about advanced PowerPoint Animations? Check out:
http://www.eclecticacademy.com/newclasses.htm#pptanim

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived
 
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