print field data only for forms option prints a blank page

[Ken]

I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form. So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the form in
the printer.

When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?

I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.

Ken

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Does your document contain form fields?

When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the user and
can't be changed.

The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.

When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.

From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the form in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken

[Ken]

Thanks for responding.

Sorry I had mentioned that I tried it protected and unprotected, but forgot
to mention that I protected it with the editing restrictions set to Filling
in forms.
No other restrictions applied.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
Does your document contain form fields?
When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the user and
can't be changed.
The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.
When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.
From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the form in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

But, does your document contain actual form fields? The fact that you're
getting a blank document when you turn on "Print data only for forms" seems
to suggest that Word isn't seeing any fill-in form fields. And, by form
fields, I mean things like Text Form Field, Checkbox Form Field, and
Dropdown Form Field that can be inserted using the Forms toolbar.

When you turn off the "Print data only for forms" options, what prints then?
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Thanks for responding.
Sorry I had mentioned that I tried it protected and unprotected, but forgot
to mention that I protected it with the editing restrictions set to Filling
in forms.
No other restrictions applied.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
Does your document contain form fields?
When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the user and
can't be changed.
The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.
When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.
From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the
form
in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken

[Ken]

Herb,

My mistake. I was using the Insert|Fied option. Obviously this doesn't
work the same as the "Form Fields" but I never saw anywhere in the help that
the the fields in the Insert|Field options are not "Form Fields".
Anyway, it's working. Hopefully this may answer someone's question in the
future.

Was this change since earlier versions of Word? I didn't know that these 2
options were treated differently.

Thanks,
Ken

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
But, does your document contain actual form fields? The fact that you're
getting a blank document when you turn on "Print data only for forms" seems
to suggest that Word isn't seeing any fill-in form fields. And, by form
fields, I mean things like Text Form Field, Checkbox Form Field, and
Dropdown Form Field that can be inserted using the Forms toolbar.
When you turn off the "Print data only for forms" options, what prints then?
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Thanks for responding.
Sorry I had mentioned that I tried it protected and unprotected, but forgot
to mention that I protected it with the editing restrictions set to Filling
in forms.
No other restrictions applied.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
Does your document contain form fields?
When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the user and
can't be changed.
The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.
When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.
From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the
form
in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

No. It's pretty much been this way for as long as I can remember. The latest
version(s) of Word implement merge via the task pane, rather than the
mailmerge wizard (which still exists, btw, but which is harder to get to).
But the basics are still pretty much the same.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Herb,
My mistake. I was using the Insert|Fied option. Obviously this doesn't
work the same as the "Form Fields" but I never saw anywhere in the help that
the the fields in the Insert|Field options are not "Form Fields".
Anyway, it's working. Hopefully this may answer someone's question in the
future.
Was this change since earlier versions of Word? I didn't know that these 2
options were treated differently.
Thanks,
Ken

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
But, does your document contain actual form fields? The fact that you're
getting a blank document when you turn on "Print data only for forms" seems
to suggest that Word isn't seeing any fill-in form fields. And, by form
fields, I mean things like Text Form Field, Checkbox Form Field, and
Dropdown Form Field that can be inserted using the Forms toolbar.
When you turn off the "Print data only for forms" options, what prints then?
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Thanks for responding.
Sorry I had mentioned that I tried it protected and unprotected, but forgot
to mention that I protected it with the editing restrictions set to Filling
in forms.
No other restrictions applied.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
Does your document contain form fields?
When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the
user
and
can't be changed.
The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.
When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.
From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the
form
in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken

[Ken]

Thanks for you help.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
No. It's pretty much been this way for as long as I can remember. The latest
version(s) of Word implement merge via the task pane, rather than the
mailmerge wizard (which still exists, btw, but which is harder to get to).
But the basics are still pretty much the same.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Herb,
My mistake. I was using the Insert|Fied option. Obviously this doesn't
work the same as the "Form Fields" but I never saw anywhere in the help that
the the fields in the Insert|Field options are not "Form Fields".
Anyway, it's working. Hopefully this may answer someone's question in the
future.
Was this change since earlier versions of Word? I didn't know that these 2
options were treated differently.
Thanks,
Ken

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
But, does your document contain actual form fields? The fact that you're
getting a blank document when you turn on "Print data only for forms" seems
to suggest that Word isn't seeing any fill-in form fields. And, by form
fields, I mean things like Text Form Field, Checkbox Form Field, and
Dropdown Form Field that can be inserted using the Forms toolbar.
When you turn off the "Print data only for forms" options, what prints then?
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
Thanks for responding.
Sorry I had mentioned that I tried it protected and unprotected, but forgot
to mention that I protected it with the editing restrictions set to Filling
in forms.
No other restrictions applied.

Post by Herb Tyson [MVP]
Does your document contain form fields?
When you set up a form, there are two types of information. One is the fixed
text. This corresponds to what's on the pre-printed form. When you protect a
document for forms entry, the fixed text is now inaccessible to the
user
and
can't be changed.
The other type of information consists of form fields. These are the places
that are reserved for user entry. When a document is protected for forms,
the user can enter text only in those places that are provided.
When you choose the "Print data only for forms" option, the fixed text is
suppressed, and only the form fields data gets printed.
From your question, it's not clear that this is what you were doing. Press
F1 and type "forms" and press Enter. Click on "Create forms that users
complete in Word" for additional help.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Please respond in the newsgroups so everyone can follow along.

Post by Ken
I have created a Word template that is formatted to a pre-printed form.
So,
I want to only print the data entered into the fields to print on the
form
in
the printer.
When I select the option in File|Print|Options "Print data only for forms",
the printer spits out a blank page. Why?
I've tried different ways of creating the document, protected,
unprotected... I don't know. Please advise.
Ken