How to Print PowerPoint with Comments

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Being able to print PowerPoint presentations with comments is extremely useful for collaboration purposes. Whether you want feedback from colleagues or need to distribute handouts to an audience, printing comments alongside slides ensures context isn’t lost.

Fortunately, printing comments in PowerPoint is straightforward. This guide will cover everything you need to know, including:

Viewing Comments in PowerPoint

Before printing comments, it’s important to understand how to view them within PowerPoint itself:

  • To add comments, select the Review tab and click New Comment. A comment box will appear where you can type your comment.
  • To view comments, ensure the Review tab is selected and click Show Comments in the Comments group. This will display comment bubbles on slides.
  • To hide comments, click Show Comments again.

You can also double click on any comment bubble to edit or delete a specific comment.

Printing Comments Alongside Slides

Printing comments alongside slides only takes a few clicks:

  1. Open your PowerPoint presentation and ensure comments are visible (see above).
  2. Click File > Print or press Ctrl/Command + P.
  3. Under Settings, change the dropdown to Full Page Slides.
  4. Check the Print Comments checkbox.
  5. Click Print.

This will print slides with comments formatted underneath. The comment author and text will be included.

Tip: To save paper, change the Multiple Slides dropdown to print more slides per page.

Customizing Printed Comments

You can customize the appearance of printed comments in a few ways:

  • Change comment color: Right-click a comment bubble and select Edit Comment > Change Color. Pick a color to differentiate authors.
  • Simplify author details: Select File > Options > Proofing and deselect unnecessary data under Markup. This will remove details like date/time on printed comments.
  • Add headers/footers: Click View > Master and insert text boxes in the notes master for headers/footers. This is printed on comment pages.

Printing Handouts with Comments

Another option is to print handouts with slide thumbnails and comments formatted to the side:

  1. Click File > Print then change the dropdown to Notes Pages.
  2. Check the Print Comments checkbox.
  3. Click Print.

This prints slides and comments side-by-side for easy referencing.

Tip: Double click the Header area to add descriptive text, like a presentation title.

Considerations When Printing Comments

Keep these tips in mind when printing PowerPoint comments:

  • Test print a few pages first to check formatting is as expected.
  • Use page breaks between slides to prevent comments being split.
  • Print in color if using different comment colors for authors.
  • Ensure comments are visible before printing.
  • Explain the meaning of comments to audiences unfamiliar with PowerPoint.

Troubleshooting Printed Comments

Some things to try if comments aren’t printing correctly:

  • Verify comments are visible on slides before printing.
  • Check print settings – comments won’t print if Print Comments isn’t checked.
  • Try printing from an alternative PDF export if issues persist.
  • Reduce number of slides per page or use legal paper if comments are cut off.
  • Print a single test slide first if the problem is intermittent.

Summary

Printing PowerPoint comments alongside slides or as handouts is easy and enhances collaboration. Customize the look of comments, troubleshoot issues, and provide context where needed to get the most value. With the right settings, PowerPoint comments can move from the screen to paper flawlessly.

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