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A line in one cell of my document won't print

Anonymous
2012-06-29T01:20:43+00:00

I created a table in a document, 2 x 2, with the left side of the lefthand cell at the left margin and the second cell (to the right) at about 2 inches in from that, extending to the righthand side of the page; the row below the top one extends down to the bottom of the page.  So there are four boxes: a top left box that is a square, the box next to that which is a horizontal cell across the top of the page, a box below the square that is a vertical row down the lefthand side of the page, and then most of the document is the last large box at the bottom right.  I drew one line from the left hand side of the page to the other at the bottom of the top box, and another line vertically along the divide between the lefthand cells and the cells to the right, and thickened the line.  All the lines show up on my screen and in print preview, but the horizontal line at the top will only extend slightly past the long vertical line when it is printed, so there is just a little stump of a line in that cell.  I did the same thing on the second page, and it prints out fine.  I have tried everything  I can think of and printed out this page about 50 times but I can't get the line to appear when it's printed. Yesterday it worked fine; today I added the second page (creating new rows of cells that start after the ones on the first page), and then this problem started happening.  Any ideas?  Thanks.

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Anonymous
2012-06-29T05:41:06+00:00

A while ago there was a post regarding an interaction between table cells that were vertically-centered or bottom-aligned, and graphic objects placed above it (particularly if they were in a header). In that case, the graphics that intruded on the table caused part of text in the last cell to disappear (that would be exactly the opposite of your problem). The solution was to top-align the cells or change the top object's position.

If that kind of alignment is not your case, consider replacing the lines by cell borders (use the Tables tab in the Ribbon). It will be better if your table is not floating (Table > Table properties > None), so it cannot occlude the floating lines.

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Anonymous
2012-07-01T05:59:47+00:00

With the tools I mentioned, you can apply individual borders to each cell, Jay. You don't have to apply them to the whole table or row.

Glad you solved your problem.

Don't imitate my beautiful table design—it's copyrighted.

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Anonymous
2012-06-30T21:42:34+00:00

Yes, the first link is failing now, but basically it instructed to use Format > Borders and Shadingin the main menu bar. You'll get this:

You'll need to select "Cell" in the "Apply to" dropdown menu, then click on the sides of the thumbnail text on the right to apply the individual borders.

In the palette there is a "Type" dropdown menu that shows similar choices:

Thus, in both cases you have individual control of the sides of the cell. You have to explore your options. That's the onlty way to learn Word.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-30T02:39:05+00:00

    The lines can be made of various thicknesses, colors and textures. You'll find those tools in the Ribbon's Table tab, to the right of the Borders tools. Select what you need and then apply a border (you may have to do this twice, since Word first takes them out, then adds them).

    By "top align" I referred to the text alignment inside the cell (Top left, Top center, Top right, etc.). To see those and other choices, click on a cell, then click on the purple tab that appears in the Ribbon. You'll see an Align button that is really a dropdown menu.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-06-29T15:26:00+00:00

    I'm not sure what you mean by top-aligning the cells. There is nothing above the table right now, and as I mentioned, I have the same lines on the second page and there's no problem.

    I did try it with borders and that's OK, but I was trying to make the lines different thicknesses, which seems not to be possible.  But I'll probably have to settle for that.

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