Knowledge Base

XL97: Separate Jobs Sent When Printing/Faxing Multiple Copies

PSS ID Number: 162152

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2002

The information in this article applies to:

This article was previously published under Q162152

SYMPTOMS

If you click Print on the File menu and specify a number in the Number Of Copies box to print multiple copies of a worksheet, chart, or other document, Microsoft Excel 97 creates a separate print job for each copy, and then sends the jobs to the printer. For example, if you print five copies of a worksheet, five print jobs are created and sent to the printer.

This behavior may cause the following problems:
  • It may take longer to print multiple copies in Microsoft Excel 97 than it does in earlier versions of Microsoft Excel.
  • If other users or other programs are printing to the same printer at the same time, some Microsoft Excel 97 print jobs may not be printed consecutively; they be printed separately before or after the other print jobs.
Since fax drivers act like printer drivers in Microsoft Windows, this behavior may also occur when you fax a worksheet, chart, or other document from Microsoft Excel 97.

CAUSE

These problems occur because the Collate check box in the Print dialog box is selected (checked) by default in Microsoft Excel 97. When this check box is selected, and you print multiple copies, Microsoft Excel creates a separate print job for each copy you request, and then sends each job to the printer.

In earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, the Collate check box is cleared by default.

WORKAROUND

To work around this behavior, clear the Collate check box before you click OK in the Print dialog box.

NOTE: If you clear the Collate check box, you must manually collate the printed output.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 97, you can print multiple copies by specifying a number in the Number Of Copies box in the Print dialog box. To do this, use the following steps:
  1. On the File menu, click Print.
  2. Change the value in the Number Of Copies box to the number of copies you want to print. (Microsoft Excel accepts any value from 1 to 32,767.)
  3. Click OK.
If the Collate check box is selected, Microsoft Excel creates and sends a separate identical print job to the printer for each copy you request. For example, if you print five copies of a three-page document, the following information is sent to the printer:

<Job 1> <Job 2> <Job 3> <Job 4> <Job 5>

where each print job consists of Page 1, Page 2, and Page 3. Microsoft Excel collates the pages.

If the Collate check box is cleared, Microsoft Excel creates one print job and sends it to the printer with instructions to print it five times. For example, if you print five copies of a three-page document, the following information is sent to the printer:

<Instructions to print each page in the next job five times> <Job 1>

Because the Collate check box is cleared, the printer prints five copies of Page 1, five copies of Page 2 and five copies of Page 3. You must manually collate the pages.

Additional query words: 97 XL97 microsoft fax delrina winfax pro faxworks faxit faxability multiple copies print jobs

Keywords: kbprint kbualink97 KB162152
Technology: kbExcel97Search kbExcelSearch kbExcelWinSearch kbZNotKeyword3


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