Lexmark T634 Printer Problem with Excel

[kiazd]

We have these printers on our network. Each has a 5 bin mailbox. I am not 100% sure that this is a printer problem, but I don't see how it can be an Excel problem

If an Excel document is sent via email within one of the offices and the receiver attempts to print the document, it prints in the originators mailbin not the recipients mailbin. For example if originator has bin 3 as his mailbin and the recipient has bin 1, the sheet prints to 3.

If the email is sent to an external office using the same printer, the excel attachment prints properly in the recipients mailbin. That is, if the recipient's mailbin is number 1, it prints to number 1.

There are no such problems with a Word attachment.

My co-worker and I have verified that both printers are configured the same. Note that we use a standard image which sets up applications, printer configuration, etc. for all of our employees. Running W2K on network; all users using Outlook for mail and Office XP.

Before I continue pulling out my very limited hair, has anyone got any suggestions.

[JoeP517]

Are Win2k & OfficeXP at the current service pack levels + up-to-date with hofixes? Are you running the latest Lexmark drivers?

Joe

[kiazd]

W2K, XP and drivers are the latest

[Leif]

Does this work with all Excel files? - I'm assuming there are only specific files that are emailed and so there might be something special within them that is causing this.

I know that Excel remembers specific printing attributes at the worksheet level, for example I have a workbook that has one worksheet set to print in colour and another in monochrome using the same printer. This print setup is retained through saving and re-opening the workbook.

What it sounds like is that the originator prints the file which then adopts and remembers that user's print setup. When the recipient prints it, it is routed to the originators bin.

I'm a bit out of my depth here - I'll see if some Excel guru has a view on it...

[JoeP517]

I'm with Leif - out of my depth when it comes to Excel printing.

Joe

[rory]

Hi,
How are the recipients printing the attachments? Are they opening them in Excel manually and then printing or are they printing the email and ticking the box to print attachments at the same time (if you are using Outlook?) Excel workbooks will store the paper bin settings with a workbook if it is set, otherwise they should use the Auto-select option.

[kiazd]

Attachment is opened by double click, and then printed. I just tested sending an Excel worksheet with a setting to print to bin 4 to a co-worker. He normally prints to bin 2 of the same printer that I do, and when he attempted to print it, it did so in bin 4 as I had set it.

Guess the question is, why would an Excel setting over-ride your default printer settings?

Will have to have clients involved, check to see if they have some unusual Excel settings.

Thanks for the clue.

[pieterse]

You haven't had a reply to your question, because we could't come up with useful information I'm afraid.

All I can say is that is sounds as if the bin settings are somehow stored with the Excel file, although I wouldn't have thought it to be the case.

Sorry to have been of so little help.

[kiazd]

RE: All I can say is that is sounds as if the bin settings are somehow stored with the Excel file, although I wouldn't have thought it to be the case.

It is indeed the case in both Word and Excel. Any item that you save in page setup such landscape or tray setting will stick. Can understand page orientation, but tray setting is strange.

[JoeP517]

OTOH, it is Microsoft. So, strange assumptions are not necessarily unusual. <img src=/S/shrug.gif border=0 alt=shrug width=39 height=15>

Joe

[Granville]

I'm running a number of the T6xx series printers on the network I administer.

I have found some odd results with papaer sizes and bin locations using the PostScript drivers. The solution is fairly simple.

Open the printer's Properties - select the Advanced tab - click Printing Defaults - select the PostScript tab and check the box "Disable PostScript Passthrough". HTH.