Microsoft KB Archive/918893

= The paper source settings or tray settings change when you select a different printer in Word =

Article ID: 918893

Article Last Modified on 10/16/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Office Word 2003
 * Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Word 97 Standard Edition

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SYMPTOMS
The paper source settings or the tray settings change when you try to print a document in Microsoft Word.

Note This behavior is not specific to Word. You may experience these symptoms in other programs such as Notepad, WordPad, and Microsoft Excel.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because tray settings in documents are not preserved when one of the following conditions is true:
 * You use a different printer.
 * You change the version of the operating system.
 * You change the version of the printer driver.

This behavior occurs because the printer driver for one printer may not contain the same tray ID, page sizes, or other settings as another printer driver. Therefore, the page setup of documents will change as the printer changes.

When you select a different printer, the paper settings are reacquired from the new driver. This behavior is by design. Naming conventions are not consistent for these settings across all printer drivers. Therefore, the program rereads the printer driver because the program detects that the printer has changed.



WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1
Add custom forms to Microsoft Windows. Then, select the names of those forms in the Page Setup dialog box. For more information about how to add custom forms to Windows, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

282474 How to print using custom page sizes on Windows NT and Windows 2000

157172 How to create custom forms in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000

Method 2
In Word, you may be able to work around this behavior by using a macro to set the tray settings to the desired setting. For example, you can use the following macro to set all pages in the document to manual feed. Sub tray With ActiveDocument.PageSetup .FirstPageTray = wdPrinterManualFeed .OtherPagesTray = wdPrinterManualFeed End With End Sub Note If your document has multiple sections, this macro will apply to the whole document. However, if you need different tray assignments for different document sections, this macro will not work. You will have to modify the macro.



STATUS
This behavior is by design.

Additional query words: Kbword2003 print trays bin output wd2000 wd2002 wd2003 printing paper tray letterhead

Keywords: kbtshoot kbprint kbprb kbprinters kbsettings kbexpertisebeginner KB918893

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