Page borders may be displayed or printed incorrectly in Word 2002 and in Word 2003

When you print or view a Microsoft Word document in print preview, the page borders in your document may not be printed or displayed as expected, and you may receive the following error message:

This problem occurs because the default page border is only 24 points (about 5/16 inch) from the edge of the page, regardless of the actual nonprintable region for your printer. Even though your document margins may fit in the printable region of the page, the page border may still be in the nonprintable region defined by your printer driver.

This problem affects Hewlett-Packard (HP) DeskJet printers more than any other printers. The bottom nonprintable region of an HP DeskJet printer is 0.67 inch or larger. The specific setting depends on the DeskJet series printer driver.

To work around this problem and make it more likely that the page border will be printed, use one of the following methods to change the margin settings for the page border.

Method 1: Position the Page Border Relative to the Outside Edge of the Page

1. On the Format menu, click Borders and Shading.
2. Click the Page Border tab.
3. Click Options.
4. In the Border and Shading Options dialog box, change the default 24-point setting in the Margin pane to a new measurement. For example, change the value for the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margin settings to 31 points.
   
   Note The page border margins are adjustable only between 0 and 31 points. A measurement of 31 points is equal to approximately 0.5 inch.

Method 2: Position the Page Border Relative to the Page Margin

To set the position of the inside edge of the page border relative to the page margin, follow these steps:

1. On the Format menu, click Borders and Shading.
2. Click the Page Borders tab, and then click Options.
3. In the Measure from list, click Text.
4. If necessary, change the margins to at least 10 pts.
5. Click OK twice.

Note Depending on your default printer, you may also need to change the bottom margin settings for your page. To do this, click Page Setup on the File menu. Then, on the Margins tab, change the bottom margin to 0.8" or greater.

Method 3: Position the Border Relative to the Page Margin and Change the Margin Setting for the Page

1. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Margins tab.
3. Increase the bottom margin to at least 0.67 inch, and then click OK.
   
   Note Changing the margin settings may affect the formatting of the document.
4. On the Format menu, click Borders and Shading.
5. Click the Page Border tab, and then click Options.
6. In the Measure from list, click Text, and then click OK twice.

Method 4: Change the Paper Size to a Custom Size

1. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
2. Click the Paper tab.
3. In the Height box, change the setting to 10 inches.
   
   This also changes the Paper Size setting to Custom Size.
   
   Note Changing the paper size settings may affect the formatting of the document.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Most printers cannot print all the way to the edge of the paper because of physical limitations in the way that the printer handles paper.

If you set your document margins closer to the edge of the paper than your printer is capable of printing, Word and Microsoft Word Viewer return a warning message for each copy that you send to the printer.

Most laser printers, such as the HP LaserJet, cannot print closer than 0.25 inch to any edge of the paper. Some laser printers, such as the HP LaserJet Series II, require 0.5-inch margins. DeskJet printers generally cannot print closer to the bottom edge than 0.67 inch. Most PostScript and dot-matrix printers have their own internal printer driver setting for margins.

For additional information about nonprintable regions, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To Change or Add a Page Border

1. On the Format menu, click Borders and Shading.
2. Click the Page Border tab, and then select the options that you want for your page border.
3. To change the margins of the page border, click Options.
   
   Set the options that you want, and then click OK two times.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.