XL: Gray Shading Prints as Black to HP DeskJet 660c

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, version 7.0
• Microsoft Windows 95

SYMPTOMS

When you print to a Hewlett Packard DeskJet 660c printer, cells shaded with a gray fill color will print twice their expected intensity. A cell shaded 50% gray will print as a solid black color, 40% gray will print as 80% gray, 25% gray will print as 50% gray.

NOTE: This problem does not occur on a computer running Microsoft Windows NT.

WORKAROUND

This behavior can be corrected by performing either of the following:

• Shade another cell with a fill color other than gray.

  - or -

• Draw an object on the worksheet and format that object with a fill color other than gray.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

This is a result of the dithering algorithms used by the printer driver in Microsoft Windows 95. This problem does not exist in Microsoft Windows NT.

For additional information about problems printing to the Hewlett Packard 660c, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Article-ID: Q157066
   TITLE     : XL: Patterned Cells Printed Lighter with Object in Worksheet

REFERENCES

For more information about shading cells, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

 shading in cells