MS Word printing problem

[rsim]

Printing a documennt from MS word and tops of capital and tall letters are cut off.  Often on everyother paragraph

[soybean]

Need more details.  Does this happen with all Word files?  What font and font size are you using?  Does changing font size affect this?  What if you print from WordPad?  Same thing happen?

[Peccavi]

See if the Line Spacing is correct.

[rsim]

Font type and size doesn't matter as we've tried changing it.  HP support had us change margins, didn't help. It still happens when printing from 3 different computers to the same printer.  Printer test looks good. HP thinks it may be a problem with word software.

It's an HP 1610 all in one, and it will print a copy of something ok.  Will also print emails ok. 

The Word version is 2003 and have not done all of the updates to it.
Just started happening recently. 
thanks for any ideas

[soybean]

Well, you could install SP2 for Office if you have not done so yet.  However, I have some doubt that that will fix this.  Will Excel print OK? 

So, the problem is limited to Word 2003, right?  Then, I believe the fix may be to find your Normal.dot file and delete or rename it, with Word closed, so that Word will create a new one then next time it's opened.  Normal.dot is the template file that stores the default settings for Word or any changes from menu options such as Tools, Options, or Tools, Customize.  So, keep in mind that you will lose any preferences you've changed from default settings.  I believe macros saved in Word would also be lost. 

But, a corrupt Normal.dot may indeed be the problem.  In the event it's not the problem and you want to restore the old Normal.dot, then rename Normal.dot to something such as Normal.old, rather than delete it.  That way, you can reverse this.

You'll find the Normal.dot file in c: / Documents and settings / <Username> / Application Data / Microsoft / Templates, assuming C is where your Windows is installed.

[rsim]

Yes, Excel prints ok, the problem is only in Word.

I searched for the Normal.dot file and don't find one.
I did go to:  c:\program files\MS Office\Templates\1033

Inside of the 1033 folder there were only specific types of reports like
professional letter.dot, professional FAX.dot, Elegant Report.dot, etc.

When I tried your path there wasn't a template folder inside of Microsoft, only internet explorer and then Quick Launch.

[soybean]

Try searching for it this way.  Right click on Start and select Search.  Select My Computer for the search so that you're including all folders on your hard drive.  Also, under "More advanced options" of the Search panel, check "Search system folders" and "Search hidden files and folders" and "Search subfolders".  And, of course, put Normal.dot in the box for the file name.   

[Spoiler]

The reason this happens is because the spaces between each row of text is set wrong. Go into the tools...options and than the print tab. Make sure it is set to Allow letter resizing.

This will re-format your paper for the printer and open a space so you are not chopping off the tops and bottoms of the text.

[rsim]

Thank you for being so patient!  I did find the Normal.dot file and renamed it to Normal.old.  I opened Word and tried printing and it is still cutting off tops of letters. 

When I started the search the following message popped up on my screen, and it has appeared before -- ususally when I try to open the Control Panel.  But then everything works after I click on the message.  This may be totally unrelated to the printing problem I am having.

"An error occurred while Windows was working with the Control Panel file:
c:\WINDOWS\System32\netsetup.cpl"

[soybean]

  What if you print from WordPad?  Same thing happen?

Have you tried Spoiler's suggestion?

I don't think there's any connection between the printing issue and the error message related to Control Panel. 

[CBMatt]

rsim said this happened with three different computers, which leads me to believe that it's the printer itself.

rsim, do you have another printer you can borrow (from a friend perhaps) to see if this still happens?
Do you still have the installation CD?  You may need uninstall the printer and then reinstall it.
You should also verify whether or not you have the latest driver.  What OS are you using?  (The link supplied is for XP.)
Are you absolutely sure this only happens with Word?  A clogged ink cartridge could be a possibility.

[rsim]

Thanks for the suggestion Spoiler, but that didn't fix it either.  It seems like there should be an easy fix like that but it's still cutting off tops of letters.

Guess my next step will be to check for driver updates and then reinstall the printer software.

We did try printing to a different printer and it was ok.  So the problem is isolated to this printer.

Yes this is only happening in Word which makes the problem even more strange.  It seems that is it was the printer, everything would print with tops of letters cut off.

I think recreating the Normal.dot file made it a little worse.

[rsim]

An interesting note on the printing issue:  I just printed the forum pages for my reference and they printed fine.  It is still a Word only issue.

[soybean]

Font type and size doesn't matter as we've tried changing it.  HP support had us change margins, didn't help. It still happens when printing from 3 different computers to the same printer.  Printer test looks good. HP thinks it may be a problem with word software.

So, the three computers normally share this printer?  How is this all setup?  Is the printer connected to one of the computers, to a router, to a print server? 

HP's assertion that it may be a problem with word software just doesn't make sense if the same thing happens with three computers.  If true, then that would indicate that all computers using Word 2003 have this problem. 

I think I'd be arguing this point with them with ferver.  Is the printer still under warranty?

Could you test that printer on a computer on which you have not used it yet, one with the same version of Word?

[rsim]

We have a router set up on our desktop computer.  We access the internet and the printer from this desktop as well as from 2 different laptops.  We have the same Office software on all 3 computers.  We get the same printing results from all 3 computers.  We tried printing to an old printer from one of the laptops and it printed fine.  Which makes me think it is the printer too.

I've been trying all kinds of combinations and today I discovered that if I change the scaling on the print window to 8.5 x 11 it improves the printing (still not perfect) but it reverts back to the default of No Scaling after each time you print.  That also indicates to me that something is off with the printer alignment.

Unfortunately the printer is not under warranty.  It is 4 years old.

Do you know what types of things to ask about when checking the printer?
Like printer head, etc.