Pictures in documents that were created in an earlier version of Office appear flipped in Office XP and Office 2003 (312838)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Word 2002
  • Microsoft PowerPoint 2002
  • Microsoft Excel 2002
  • Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003
  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Office Excel 2003
This article was previously published under Q312838

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003, when you open a document that was created in an earlier version of a Microsoft Office 97 or a Microsoft Office 2000 program, the images in the document may appear flipped horizontally, vertically, or in both directions.

CAUSE

This problem occurs when you open documents that were created in the following versions of Microsoft Office:
  • Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 1 (SR-1)
  • Microsoft Office 97 Service Release 2 (SR-2)
  • Microsoft Office 2000
  • Microsoft Office 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1)
These earlier versions of Microsoft Office ignore the FlipVertical and FlipHorizontal properties when you open a document. This is why this problem does not appear to occur in the earlier versions of Office.

However, because Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 read these properties when you open a document, the images appear flipped, even if that was not the original intent of the author.

Note This problem may occur even if the picture does not appear flipped, but the flipped properties are set. This can occur when you drag the handles of an image past the image boundary in Office 97 SR-1, Office 97 SR-2, and Office 2000. In Office 2000 SR-1 and Office XP, when you drag the handles of an image past the image boundary, the image visually flips and the flipped properties are set.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 How to obtain the latest Office XP service pack


After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the QFE_FlipPictures registry key and to activate the hotfix.
Additionally, the you must configure the registry key if you have Microsoft Office 2003.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office XP Service Pack SP-2.

MORE INFORMATION

After you install the fix, you must turn it on by setting the following registry key to the QFE_FlipPictures value:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common\Draw


Note The QFE_FlipPictures registry key location for Microsoft Office 2003 will be:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Draw



To add the required registry key, follow these steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
  3. In the left pane of Registry Editor, locate and then select the following key (folder):

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Common

    In Microsoft Office 2003, the registry key is:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common

  4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
  5. Type Draw, and then press ENTER.
  6. While the new Draw key is selected, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
  7. Type QFE_FlipPictures.
  8. In the right-pane of Registry Editor, double-click the QFE_FlipPictures entry.
  9. In the Value data box, type the appropriate value from the following table, based on how you want to handle the flipped images.

    Value = 0

    This is the default (off) setting. No images will be corrected when you open a document in Office XP or Office 2003. This is the same behavior that you experience if you do not have the fix installed.

    Value = 1

    If you open an older file that was never edited in Office XP or Office 2003, all incorrectly flipped images that do not contain the new OK property will be restored. When you save the document, the new OK property is set.

    Note This is the preferred setting for this fix.

    Value = 2

    Whether or not you open an older file that was never edited in Office XP or Office 2003, this setting restores all incorrectly flipped images that do not have the new OK property.

    In some cases this setting may create problems for newer documents that were initially created in Office XP (before this fix was applied) and have images that the author intended to be flipped. When you save the document, the new OK property is set for all images in the document.

    Note This setting is for advanced users only. If you have already opened, edited, and saved affected documents, this setting may be helpful for correcting images that are not corrected when the QFE_FlipPictures setting is 1.

    Value = 3

    This setting resets all incorrectly flipped images whether or not they have the new OK property. This affects all documents no matter which version they were created in, including documents that were created after this fix was installed. When you save the document, the new OK property is set for all images in the document, whether it was already set or not.

    Note This setting is for advanced users only. Do not use this setting unless you have several documents that were not corrected when you set QFE_FlipPictures to 1 or 2.

    Value = 4

    If you do not have any affected documents and do not expect to receive any affected documents from any other users, use this setting to verify that all flipped images from earlier versions of Office are ignored. The new OK property will be set.

    Note This setting is for advanced users only and is really is not intended to be used. Please use this setting with caution.
  10. Click OK.
  11. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/26/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbOfficeXPsp2fix KB312838
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.