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Printed gantt chart rows are too wide

Anonymous
2013-06-13T19:37:52+00:00

When printing a moderate sized project (about 800 tasks) in Project 2010, the data rows to the left of the Gantt chart consistently print with extra white space below the Name field text.  

  • The extra space does not appear on the screen view.
  • I have verified the bar heights are smaller than font size
  • There are no text displays above or below bars
  • All the text fields (excluding Name) are wide enough not to wrap
  • There are no line-breaks at the ends of task names

I don't know how to attach files, or I would show samples of the screen display and the printed output.

VR

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John Project 49,705 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2013-06-14T14:52:29+00:00

VC,

You say the problem only occurs with some files. Is there any common element in those files where it does occur (e.g. file size, custom formatting, custom views, etc.)?

Here's a couple of things to try,

First, try the Task Sheet view (if you haven't already). The Task Sheet view is the same of the Gantt Chart view but without the Gantt graphic. Is the excess white space still there when you print preview the Task Sheet view?

Second, save the file as XML and then re-open in Project. Note: you will lose custom formatting. If the problem goes away, the file probably had some corruption and this process cleared it.

Third, on a copy of one of the files where the problem occurs, delete half the tasks and see if the extra white space disappears. If not, half the file again. See if you can narrow it down to a small sample.

Since hotfixes, either individually or in cumulative updates, are not fully tested I don't normally recommend that users update to the latest. However, if none of the above helps, you could try installing the latest cumulative update which is June 2013. You can get it at, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ee748587

John

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-15T18:30:39+00:00

    I changed the font of the task names and then the row heights were then fixed :)

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-10-23T15:27:50+00:00

    Well, I'm back again, with the same problem.  This time, however, it is on a tiny file - only 15 tasks.  As with my previous larger file, the extra space does not appear on screen but does in print preview for all printers; no text around bars, extraneous fields are wide so are not causing the wrap, and there are no line breaks.  

    This is a brand-new file, created "from scratch" this morning.  I have tried saving as older versions of Project, saving as xml and re-opening, but nothing helps - all the row heights are approximately double what they should be, making my end product look clunky and unprofessional.  I now see a way to insert a picture - so here goes!

    The file as it appears on the data entry screen

    The file as it appears in print preview

    Lots of empty space.....

    Thanks for any further suggestions!

    
Discovery - it's something in the "fit to page" option.  Upon my first preview, I used "Fit to 1 page wide and 1 page tall" to pull the timescale from two pages to one.  I just thought to return to 100% view, and the extra horizontal space went away
**while keeping the timescale on one page**.  I clicked the "fit to page" option on and off several times, and that is definitely what is creating the extra space.

It appears that Project tries to expand all rows enough to fill the vertical space - but it looks like it has a problem with increments of row height.  Even set to 1 high by 1 wide, the program spilled my Task 12 onto a second page, I had to reset margins
 to pull it back in (that's why I forgot I had fit-to-page selected - it wasn't fitting to a single page).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-07-30T20:21:52+00:00

    Certainly not a fix but now my go-to work-around.  Change the font on the Task Names, then change them back to the original.  So far, it works every time.

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  4. John Project 49,705 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2013-06-13T20:27:26+00:00

    VR TC,

    The first question to you is, do you have SP1 installed? If not, go to, http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ee748587, download and install it.

    Does this occur with all Project files or just this one file?

    Do you also get the extra white space in Print Preview or just in the print itself? It could be an issue with your print driver. First make sure you have the latest driver update for your printer. Is another printer available that you could try?

    By the way, thanks for a well stated post. You already answered a lot of question I would normally have to ask with regard to bar heights and text around bars. I appreciate that.

    John

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