How to Print Black and White in PowerPoint 2010

Printing your PowerPoint 2010 presentation in black and white can be useful for saving color ink or creating handouts. Here is a comprehensive guide on the different ways to print black and white in PowerPoint 2010.

Set PowerPoint to Print in Pure Black and White

The easiest way is to set PowerPoint to print in “Pure Black and White”. Here are the steps:

1. Open your PowerPoint presentation
2. Click the File tab > Print
3. Under Settings, click the Color button
4. Select Pure Black and White

This will make PowerPoint send a black and white version to the printer.

However, some users have reported issues with PowerPoint 2010 not printing properly in black and white and printing in grayscale instead. If you face this, try the other methods below.

Change Printer Settings to Black and White

Instead of changing settings in PowerPoint, you can change your printer properties to print black and white:

1. Open your presentation in PowerPoint 2010
2. Click File > Print
3. Click Printer Properties
4. Go to the Color tab
5. Change the color setting to Black/White or Grayscale
6. Click OK to save printer settings
7. Click Print in PowerPoint

Tip: Check the print preview to confirm black and white output before printing.

Export Presentation as PDF

Another workaround is to export your presentation as a PDF file and then print the PDF in black and white:

1. In PowerPoint 2010, click File > Save As
2. Choose location to save the file
3. Change Save as Type to PDF
4. Click Save
5. Open the exported PDF file
6. Click File > Print
7. Select Grayscale or Black and White under printer properties
8. Click Print

The benefit of this method is that it works reliably to print black and white vs. changing settings in PowerPoint.

Video Tutorial

Here is a quick video tutorial demonstrating the different methods to print black and white in PowerPoint 2010:

Tips for Printing Black and White Presentations

Here are some additional tips when printing black and white presentations:

• Choose dark text colors like black or dark blue. Light text can be hard to read.
• Use high contrast background colors. Dark text on a light background works best.
• Limit red text or lines. Red usually appears light gray or disappears when printed in black and white.
• Check grayscale view in PowerPoint to preview before printing.
• Print 1-2 test pages first to confirm print quality.
• For handouts, print 3-4 slides per page to save paper.

Troubleshooting Issues Printing Black and White

Some common issues faced when printing black and white PowerPoint presentations:

• Prints in grayscale instead of black and white: Try the PDF method to reliably print in black and white.
• Text and images appear too light: Choose darker colors with higher contrast when authoring your presentation.
• Colors print incorrectly: Avoid using red text as it often disappears when printed.
• Slide background prints black: The background fill may be dark gray instead of white. Change it to white or automatic color.
• Prints cropped or scaled down: Check paper size settings match your printer paper size.

Tip: When troubleshooting, print only 1 test page first instead of the entire presentation.

Customizing Print Handouts

For presentations you plan to distribute as handouts, customize your print layout:

• Add borders – Under Settings > Printer Properties > Finishing, select Print Page Borders
• Add lines – Under Design tab, select Page Setup > Print Page Border and draw border lines around slides
• Add slide numbers – Click Insert > Header & Footer > Insert slide number

This makes your black and white handouts more readable and professional.

We have covered the most comprehensive guide on printing your PowerPoint 2010 presentation in black and white. The key things to remember are:

• Use the Pure Black and White print setting in PowerPoint (may not always work)
• Change printer properties to print grayscale or black and white
• Export presentation to PDF and print the PDF in black and white
• Choose high contrast colors and check grayscale view
• Troubleshoot test prints to resolve any issues

With these tips, you can easily print crisp black and white PowerPoint 2010 presentations.