When creating presentations in PowerPoint, background images can add visual interest and reinforce your message. However, you may wish to remove or hide the background image when printing handouts of your slides to avoid wasting ink or toner.
Fortunately, PowerPoint makes it easy to toggle background images on and off. In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps for hiding background images for printing while keeping them visible during your on-screen presentation.
Why Hide Background Images for Printouts?
Before jumping into the how-to, you may be wondering why you’d want to hide background images when printing slides. Here are some of the top reasons:
- Save ink/toner: Printers use more ink or toner when printing background images, especially dark or high-contrast images. By hiding them, you can conserve resources.
- Reduce messy backgrounds: Detailed background images can appear muddy or busy in black and white printouts. Hiding them cleans up the look.
- Focus attention on text/graphics: With a plain white background, the textual and graphic elements of your slides become the focal point instead of competing with a busy backdrop.
- Professional appearance: Printouts without background images tend to look cleaner and more professional.
Three Ways to Hide Background Graphics for Printing
In PowerPoint, you have a few options for toggling background graphics on and off. Here are three easy methods:
1. Use the Print Dialog Box
This straightforward approach works for printing an active presentation:
- Go to File > Print to open the print dialog box.
- Check the box next to Pure Black and White.
- Click Print.
The pure black and white setting automatically hides any background graphics and colors, resulting in a plain white background.
2. Change Placeholder Settings
You can also hide backgrounds by changing the placeholder settings:
- Click the Design tab and go to Slide Master.
- Click the main text placeholder, then go to Format Background.
- Open the Fill menu and choose Hide Background Graphics.
- Click Apply to All to hide backgrounds on all slides.
This method keeps backgrounds hidden whenever you print directly from PowerPoint until you reverse the setting.
3. Use Print Handout Settings
Finally, PowerPoint’s print handout feature has a dedicated option to omit backgrounds:
- Go to File > Print to open the print dialog box.
- Under settings, choose Handouts instead of Slides.
- Check the box next to Print background graphics.
- Adjust any other handout settings as needed, then click Print.
The handout feature outputs slides in different formats, but unchecking that box always hides background graphics for printing.
Handling Text Visibility Issues
Hiding backgrounds can make brightly colored text harder to read. When you print slides without backgrounds:
- Preview the printout to check for text visibility issues.
- Adjust text colors if needed to increase contrast against the white.
- For best visibility, use dark text colors like black, dark blue, or dark green.
You can select all text boxes on a given slide at once and change the font color across all text. This ensures consistency.
Additional Tips for Printing PowerPoint Slides
- Check margins in the print settings to prevent content cutoff.
- Enable two-sided printing to conserve paper.
- Print 3-5 small slides per page to save paper.
- Export slides as a PDF file to print from other applications.
Why PowerPoint Printing Matters
While digital slide decks displayed on a screen are common, printed handouts still play an important role in presentations. Consider the following advantages:
- Engagement: Handouts help the audience focus without distractions from laptops and devices.
- Note-taking: Blank space on handouts provides room for attendees to take notes.
- Recall: Having slides as a physical takeaway helps reinforce and retain key messages.
- Accessibility: Those unable to view digital slides can still participate.
Recap and Next Steps
The ability to toggle PowerPoint background images on and off is key for adaptable presentations. Use the techniques outlined in this article to:
- Save ink and improve print quality
- Highlight key text and graphics
- Create professional, readable handouts
As you prepare presentations, experiment with hiding and showing backgrounds to determine the best format for your needs. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!
