Win98/XP upgrade-Mailing labels changed size!

[tsoyptc]

I upgraded my OS from Win 98 to Win XP Pro, and then re-installed Access 2000 and our mailing database, which had been working like a charm before the upgrade. We print 300-1000 mailing labels at a time using a tractor feed printer (Panasonic KX-P1091i dot matrix), onto Avery 4014 tractor labels (about 10 cm wide by 3.5 cm high, single column). The mailing label reports were created & formatted for this size label and this particular printer. Have correct driver (the only driver!) for the printer.

Now, since the upgrade, although I've now got everything else working great, the mailing label text 'migrates' down the page when printing -- i.e. over the course of several dozen labels, the text works its way further and further down the label until it is straddling two labels. We're wasting a lot of labels and money.

I've tried making the page setup for the labels a narrower height -- that hasn't fixed it. Currently under page setup the column size is 9.27 x 2.6 cm (almost a cm less than the actual size of the label), but the "same as detail" box is NOT checked. When I check it, the height returns to its original value of 2.81cm. Now, I'm thinking *maybe* if i could just find the "detail" in question I could adjust *it* and I might be off to the races.

Would appreciate any help you folks could give me to solve this. I've tried searches but come up nothing very relevant (except for one person using the same label printer as me, but his problem wasn't the same!)


jennifer

 

[Rich]

If you've re-installed the printer have you re-set the page setup etc. on the file menu?

 

[Pat Hartman]

I don't know if this will help but I had a similar problem except it was with a 3x10 page of labels. When I upgraded to A2003 my preview showed only 9 rows of labels instead of 10 and when printed, they crept up the page also. I resolved the issue by decreasing my top margin from .5 to .4 and increasing the bottom margin from .516 (Access no longer allowed the bottom margin to be .5) to .6. I also adjusted the label controls down a little to compensate for the margin change.

 

[tsoyptc]

If you've re-installed the printer have you re-set the page setup etc. on the file menu?

Yep, that's the first thing I tried -- no appreciable effect. The margins on the labels are set to...
top: 0
bottom: 0
left: 6.35 mm
right: 0
... so there isn't any wiggle room there! These are the same settings as worked just fine before the upgrade.

I've also tried adjusting the level of the page footer in desiogn mode, and I'm currently printing some labels to see if that has any effect.

sigh...

jennifer

 

[tsoyptc]

I've also tried adjusting the level of the page footer in desiogn mode, and I'm currently printing some labels to see if that has any effect.

Okay, so I've been messing around with the page footer level and the font size. When I made the font size smaller (went from 10pt to 9pt), the label text started migrating UP the page instead of down, which looked like a good sign, except that when i adjusted the page footer level down to compensate, I was unable to reach a balance before the labels started printing every other page (i.e. page footer too far down). I then returned to 10 pt. font and am now trying to make the page footer level sufficiently high to compensate for the DOWNward migration that resulted. Unfortunately, some of the last lines of the addresses are now being cut off, and i have yet to reach a balance where each address is printed starting at exactly the same place on each label. It's like some nightmarish catch-22!

How could an OS upgrade bugger up just this one thing so badly?

More importantly, how can I fix it?

I don't think it's relevant, but here's the label code:

Report header (empty)

Page header (empty)

Addresses.Categories header
(prints a single 'title page' label indicating which sub-list the following addresses come from)

Detail
=Trim(IIf([fullname] Is Null,"",[fullname] & "
") & IIf([Address] Is Null,"",[Address] & "
") & IIf([city] Is Null,"",[City] & ", ") & IIf([Short Form] Is Null,[StateOrProvince],[Short Form]) & " " & [PostalCode] & "
" & IIf([country]="Canada","",[country]))

Then a tiny text box containing my initials which sits right up overlapping the above coding, but off to the right margin (this helps us identify which database the labels came from)

Page Footer (empty)

Report Footer (empty)

Under Page Setup, the Column Size is currently set to 9.27 cm wide by 2.728cm high (whereas the label itself is actually 3.5 cm high). I've been gradually reducing the height of the column size but nothing seems to make a difference.

Help!

 

[Pat Hartman]

Fix the controls so they don't overlap. The can shrink and can grow don't work properly when any controls overlap.

 

[tsoyptc]

Fix the controls so they don't overlap. The can shrink and can grow don't work properly when any controls overlap.

Will try!

jen

 

[tsoyptc]

Fix the controls so they don't overlap. The can shrink and can grow don't work properly when any controls overlap.

Tried it, and it doesn't seem to make any difference. The text block is still slowly migrating down the 'page', label by label.


jennifer

 

[Pat Hartman]

very frustrating. Try running the db on a PC with the original configuration to satisfy yourself that it is the current PC that has the problem rather than the db being corrupted or something.