PUB: "Automatically Choose Extra Paper Sizes" Unavailable on NT

If you run Microsoft Publisher 97 or Microsoft Publisher for Windows 95, version 3.0, on Microsoft Windows NT, version 4.0, the "Automatically Choose 'Extra' Paper Sizes" check box in the Outside Printer Setup Wizard is always unavailable. If you then use the "Print to Outside Printer" command, the paper size matches the page size by default, resulting in no printable area for crop marks or registration marks.

If you want to use extra paper sizes on Windows NT, change the paper size manually by following these steps:

1. Open the publication.
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
3. In the Page Setup dialog box, click Special Size. In the Width and Height boxes, type the dimensions for your publication. For example, if you want your finished publication to be letter-size (8.5" x 11"), type 8.5" in the Width box and 11" in the Height box.
4. Click OK.
5. On the File menu, click "Print to Outside Printer."
   
   NOTE: In order for this step to work, you must have previously run the Outside Printer Setup Wizard.
6. Click Properties.
7. Click the Advanced tab.
8. If there is a plus sign next to the Paper/Output icon, click it. Click the Paper Size icon.
9. In the "Change Paper Size Setting" list, click the paper size you want to use. For example, if your publication is letter-size, click Letter.Extra. If your publication is legal-size, click Legal.Extra.
10. Click OK.
11. Make any additional printing choices you want and then click OK.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Publisher 98.

Extra paper sizes are about one inch taller and wider than standard paper sizes. For example, Letter Extra is 9.5" x 12" (standard Letter paper is 8.5" x 11".) The extra half-inch margin provides room to print crop marks, registration marks, and other information you do not want to appear in the final printed publication. When you print to extra-sized paper, you usually crop that extra half-inch off on the final product.

In Windows 95 and Windows NT, version 3.51, you can set your publication up for a standard paper size and then instruct Publisher to automatically print it using the appropriate extra paper size when you use the "Print to Outside Printer" command. Publisher places the crop marks and registration marks in the margin. Publisher cannot do this automatically under Windows NT, version 4.0.

For more information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: