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aldeboro 
Posts:98
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| 05/10/2008 3:55 PM |
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As I continue to check my installion from Windows XP to Vista and restoring my BD data with my backup, I find minor problems. This time it is in the print process. When I print a report (i.e, checklist, sightings, etc), the text in the header (i.e., total records 15) and in the footer (i.e., Page 1 of 5) gets clipped so that only half of the last character (i.e., 5) shows in the print. The text of the report is OK because the column widths are set so they fall within the margins. However, I don't seem to have control of the margins in the header and footer so I don't know how to fix this. I measured the margins with a ruler on the paper copy and found the left margin lines up exactly 1/2 inch. The right margin cuts off at 9/16 inch. If the right margin were 1/2 inch I think the report would print correctly. How do I get that extra 1/16 of an inch.
Regards, Al Borodayko |
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:103
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| 05/10/2008 8:33 PM |
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Al,
One thing I'd suggest checking is whether your computer is using a full-featured printer driver for your printer, or a "less-than-complete" one.
It's been my (limited) experience that many Vista printer drivers for pre-Vista printers are "bare-bones" - they don't allow access to nearly all the features the printer is physically capable of. In those cases, the "bare-bones" printer driver may not know that your particular printer can print closer to the edge than 9/16, so it automatically stops printing there.
Another thing (which I assumed you've checked, but just in case....): check the default margin settings for your printer driver outside of BD. If the printer is set with a default of 9/16, try changing it to 0.5 or 0.25 even.
Finally, one possible workaround: if you can't make it print properly no matter what, chose the PDF option, and create a PDF file. Then open the PDF in Acrobat Reader, print it from there, and choose "Fit to page". It will almost certainly scale the page down a few percent so that the entire thing fits on the page. |
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aldeboro
Posts:98
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| 05/11/2008 9:36 AM |
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I went to the HP driver download page on the internet to get the latest. When I entered my parameters, the message was my driver is the latest. But I did further checking. I ran copies of some reports on Dec 11, 2007 that printed correctly. The margin on the left side measures 1/2 inch and the margin on the right side measures 9/16. So, even though the margins are the same, the current prints of reports clip the header and footer.
Al Borodayko |
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SteveO
Posts:278
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| 05/11/2008 11:05 AM |
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I ran copies of some reports on Dec 11, 2007 that printed correctly. Al, I assume you are looking at reports you printed last year rather that reports you created last year and printed now.
Like Kevin, I suspect it is something between Vista and the printer rather than between BD and Vista.
Is there a printer properties setup somewhere that allows you to adjust margins?
I'm not sure how flexible the third party software is fo adjusting things internally. Jeff can answer that when he returns. |
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Regards,
Steve |
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aldeboro
Posts:98
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| 05/11/2008 1:03 PM |
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Steve,
Periodically, I print all my reports as the ultimate backup to my sightings (Several Checklists, Several Sighting Lists filtered by Location) which together reflect my entire record). The last time I did this was on Dec 11, 2007. At that time I was running on MS Windows XP and BD v3.6.49 and the report printouts were fine.
Unfortunately I made three changes, Installed Vista, Re-installed BDv3.6.49 and Re-installed my data (database_bck,mdb) from my backup CD. Therefore, I don't know which of the three functions caused this event.
I found no properties setup that allows setting margins. There is in MS Word for example, but not in general print. On the HP help site (HP 960c printer) it lists standards for printable area and these reports fall within those paramaters.
Al
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:103
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| 05/12/2008 12:10 AM |
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Well, looking at your 3 changes (installing vista, re-installing BD, restoring your data): assuming you were using BD 3.6.49 before, then you didn't change anything there. The program is what it is.
Likewise with your database; there's nothing (insofar as I can tell) related to printing settings stored in the database. Those things are stored in the registry.
So by process of elimination, it has to be between Vista and the printer. Unfortunately, you're right that there doesn't seem to be a way to set default margins on a printer "outside" of a particular application, at least not as far as I can see. I'm not sure why Vista isn't communicating better with BD as to what will fit on a page, but I suggest you try the PDF option I mentioned, and see if it puts the whole thing on the page. If so, we'll at least know one more part of the story. |
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aldeboro
Posts:98
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| 05/12/2008 12:21 PM |
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Here is another piece of data that may muddy up the water. I measured the distance from the left margin to the edge of the P of Page 1 of 5 on the right side of the page in the footer. There is 1/16 inch difference in length between the Dec and current report copy (current copy being longer). I don't think Vista and the printer can add spaces. Now the question is is it universal or is it just my installation.
Al Borodayko |
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:103
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| 05/13/2008 1:33 AM |
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| Actually, Vista (or rather, the printer driver) can indeed add space, in a sense. If you look closely, you'll see that the "Page x of y" in the footer is right-aligned - essentially, an application tells your printer "Move to the right margin of the page, then move back enough to accommodate this given text using this font and this font size, then display it". If the printer driver thinks that the right margin is in a new location, it might screw up those calculations. In any event, though, this still sounds like a printer driver problem. |
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aldeboro
Posts:98
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| 05/14/2008 1:29 PM |
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I have narrowed down the problem to the printer/driver. I installed Brother multifunction printer/fax/scanner and tried printing to it. The reports printed correctly with no clipped headers or footers. Now, I have to see what I have to do to make the HP printer work. I have other issues with it as well.
Thank you for inspiring me to dig deeper into the bowels of my computer to find the culprit and exclude Birder's Diary from the list of suspects.
Regards, Al Borodayko |
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cowboyinbrla
Posts:103
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| 05/16/2008 4:50 PM |
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| You're very welcome Al - This is one area I have had a little experience with as there's been a lot of chatter on the internet about Vista printer drivers only supporting "some" features of a printer. My guess is that in addition to that, some of the supported features changed their default configurations (like minimum margins). |
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