Page orientation is incorrectly set to Portrait when you open a template that was saved in Landscape page orientation in Visio 2002

In Microsoft Visio 2002, when you create a custom template whose page orientation is set to Landscape, the page orientation of the template is unexpectedly set to Portrait the next time that you open the template. If you create a new drawing that is based on the template, the page orientation of the drawing is also unexpectedly set to Portrait.

This problem occurs if the following conditions are true, in the order that they are presented:

• You create a new drawing in Visio 2002 whose page orientation is set to Portrait.
• You change the page orientation of the drawing from Portrait to Landscape, save the drawing as a template (.vst file), and then close the template.
• You use one of the following methods to open the template:
  • Double-click the template in Microsoft Windows Explorer.
  • In Visio 2002, point to New on the File menu, click Choose Drawing Type, and then click the name of the template under New from template.

In this situation, Visio 2002 incorrectly sets the page orientation of the template or the page orientation of the drawing that is based on the template to Portrait.

To work around this problem, use one of the following methods, depending on your situation.

Method 1: Set the paper orientation to Landscape in the Print Setup tab of the Page Setup dialog box when you create or open the template

When you create or open the template, set the paper orientation to Landscape in the Print Setup tab of the Page Setup dialog box.

To do this:

1. Start Visio 2002 (if it is not already started), and then open the template.
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
3. Click the Print Setup tab (if it is not already selected), and then click Landscape under Paper orientation.
4. Click the Page Size tab, and then click the page size that you want under Pre-defined size.
5. Click OK
6. On the File menu, click Save.

Method 2: Set the paper orientation to Landscape in the printer settings of Control Panel before you create or open the template

Before you create or open the template, set the paper orientation to Landscape in the printer settings of Control Panel. If you use this method to set the paper orientation to Landscape, the page orientation of all drawings that you open in Visio 2002 are set to Landscape. This issue occurs because Visio 2002 uses the default printer settings that are set on the operating system to print documents.

To do this:

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
2. Right-click the printer that is configured as the default printer, and then click Properties.
3. Click the General tab (if it is not already selected), and then click Printing Preferences.
4. Under Paper Orientation, click Landscape, and then click OK.
5. Click OK.
6. Start Visio 2002, and then create or open the template.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Office Visio 2003.