Microsoft KB Archive/254583

Knowledge Base

Visio5: The Lower and Right Edges of a Visio Object Embedded in a Word or Excel File Appear Cropped

PSS ID Number: 254583

Article Last Modified on 11/25/2003

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The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visio Standard 5.0x
• Microsoft Visio Professional 5.0x
• Microsoft Visio Technical 5.0x
• Microsoft Visio Enterprise 5.0x

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This article was previously published under Q254583

SYMPTOMS

When you copy an object in a Visio drawing and then paste it into a Microsoft Word document or a Microsoft Excel worksheet, the image may appear cropped on the lower and right edges, as shown in the following picture:

[GRAPHIC: Picture of cropped object]

CAUSE

When you copy an object in one program and then paste it into another, the object appears on the screen as a metafile. Sometimes a metafile may appear cropped because the function that Windows-based programs use to display metafiles excludes the lower and right edges of the metafile.

The amount of cropping and the frequency of the behavior depend on the screen's resolution. The lower the screen resolution, the more apparent the behavior. In addition, an object does not appear cropped under the following conditions:

• When you paste an object into a Visio drawing (including a Visio shape that you paste as a metafile).
• When you use a Visio version earlier than 5.0x to copy an object that you want to paste into another program.

In these cases, Visio adds a thin border around the metafile, which may appear on the screen as a band of white space. Because many people said they did not want this border, this feature was removed from Visio 5.0x.

RESOLUTION

If a Visio object appears cropped on the screen, try printing the Word or Excel file to see if it appears as it should on the printed page. You can also zoom to a higher level to see how the metafile's edges adjust.

To ensure that a Visio object will not appear cropped in a Word or Excel file, you can manually create a thin border of white space around the shapes that you want to copy.

To create a border manually:

1. In the Visio drawing, click the Rectangle tool, and then draw a rectangle that completely surrounds the shapes that you want to copy to a Word or Excel file.
2. With the rectangle selected, press CTRL+B to send the rectangle behind the other shapes.
3. Click the Pointer tool, and then size and position the rectangle to create the amount of white space that you want on all sides.
4. With the rectangle still selected, click Line on the Format menu.
5. In the Line dialog box, for Pattern, click None (scroll up to the top of the pattern list), and then click OK.
6. Select the shapes, including the "invisible" rectangle, and then press CTRL+C to copy them.
7. Open the Word or Excel document that you want to paste the shapes into, click where you want the shapes to appear, and then press CTRL+V.
   

Note that the shapes appear with a white border.

Keywords: kbGraphxLink kbgraphxlinkcritical KB254583
Technology: kbVisio500xSearch kbVisioSearch kbZNotKeyword3

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