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Overriding automatic page scale down when printing 2 pages on 1 sheet

Anonymous
2012-06-14T13:19:00+00:00

Using MS Word 2003 or 2007, how can I print 2 letter size pages on 1 tabloid sheet without the printer automatically scaling down each letter size page to about 95% of the original size? In the Print dialogue box, I have set the zoom to 'no scaling'. When I use the booklet option in Page Set-up which prints 2 pages on 1 sheet, the pages print correctly at 100% of the size, but if I use the print dialogue box to set-up the same 2 (letter-size) page per (tabloid) sheet, a 95% reduction in print size appears automatically. The problem may be an internal MS Word command that automatically shrinks pages and possibly inserts a thin intervening gutter between the two pages. The Print Properties boxes offer me no options to correct this problem.

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-14T21:58:27+00:00

    I was afraid that would be your answer.

    I'm using Windows 7 and an HP Deskjet 1220C purchased a few years ago. The printer drivers are automatically installed and updated by Windows and HP offers no updates on its website. I’ve exhausted my search at HP for new drivers. HP at its site: The Driver for Your Product Is Included in the Windows 7 Operating System states, “The drivers for your HP product are already included in the new Windows 7 operating system! You do not need to download drivers to use the product. (their emphasis, not mine) Simply connect the printer to your computer with a USB cable, and Windows Update automatically installs the driver for your product.”

    If you know of a better way please do let me know. On the ‘net I’ve read of other similar problems. The issue of drivers appears to be circular, leading to no solutions but only frustration. Perhaps I’m missing something. If you know what else I can do, please let me know.

    I’ve also read some suggestion that a macro might be the answer (perhaps by your colleague Suzanne Barnhill?). I have never worked with a macro, but if you know of one please let me know where I can find it and how to use it as I have never used a macro before.

    As a temporary work-around, I have created a new and slightly larger page size (than tabloid) in the Printer Server Properties that in turn increases the automatically scaled-down letter size. The solution is not elegant and has its own distortions.

    My challenge to you is to find a real solution. You'll be helping a number of people if you can.

    Thanks.

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  2. Paul Edstein 82,861 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-06-15T21:16:56+00:00

    If it works correctly when 'printed; to PDF then its a problem with your other printer's driver, not Word.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-06-15T18:52:09+00:00

    Hi Paul,

    Many thanks.

    My project has several pages that need to be printed as 8-sheet signatures (32 page sections with different headers, footers, high-res images and notes) not in sequential order. It is also indexed. These features introduce limitations on the extent of manipulation that can take place.

    To answer your question, no the page setup does not have a gutter margin. And yes, 'printing' or converting to a pdf is a viable option even though quality suffers marginally in the conversion. It was my plan B. Using a page-layout program from the outset was another option, though for several reasons including productivity, I settled on workng with Word consistently.

    My hope in this correspondence was to see if the one bug in the final output as a printed document could be resolved. The booklet option works well except for certain limitations which can be overcome by having the 2-page option (which I mentioned in my first post) available in parallel. The problem in using both output systems is that the booklet output does not match the 2-page output because of the the automatic 95% reduction in size using the second method. I still feel that if you can find a way to overcome this 'bug', you will help MS Word realize the powerful potential it has as a text processing and publishing tool - without the need to use other options or programs at the very end stages.

    Thanks again and cheers

    Ed

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  4. Paul Edstein 82,861 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-06-15T05:23:21+00:00

    Does your page setup have a gutter margin?

    As an experiment, I created a 2-page letter document with equal-size borders all round, which I then:

    • reconfigured as a 2-column landscape tabloid document with a column space equal to a double-margin width; and

    • reconfigured as a bookfold landscape tabloid document with no gutter.

    Both came out with the same size type & margins as the original letter document.

    If you have a PDF printer, you may be able to 'print' to that before printing the PDF to paper. At print time, you can scale PDFs by whatever amount you want.

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  5. Paul Edstein 82,861 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-06-14T13:51:38+00:00

    The problem might instead be due to your printer's driver, which provides Word with the information on how the data can be laid out on the page. Check for an updated driver from the maker's website and see if that makes a difference.

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