Printing your PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes is an excellent way to create handouts for your audience or review notes yourself. On a Mac, printing notes with your presentation slides is simple with just a few clicks.
Why Print Presentation Notes
Here are some key reasons you may want to print your speaker notes:
- Create Handouts for Your Audience: Printed notes allow your audience to follow along and retain more information.
- Presenter Notes for Yourself: Having a printed version helps you remember key points and stay on track.
- Share Notes with Others: Print notes to review the presentation with colleagues before the big day.
- Archive Presentations: Printed slides and notes are useful records to file away for future reference.
How to Print PowerPoint Slides and Notes on Mac
Follow these simple steps to print your presentation with notes using PowerPoint on a Mac:
1. Open PowerPoint Presentation
Launch PowerPoint and open the presentation file you want to print notes for. Make sure notes have been added for the slides you want to print.
2. Access Print Menu
Go to the File menu in the top toolbar and select Print or use the keyboard shortcut Command + P.
3. Click Show Details
The print window will appear. Click Show Details at the bottom to view more printing options.
4. Select Notes under Layout
In the expanded print options box, click the dropdown menu next to Layout and select Notes.
5. Confirm Print Settings
Review other settings like which slides you want to print and the number of copies. Then click Print to print your presentation with notes.
Customize How Notes Print
Beyond the basic steps, there are a few ways to customize the look of your printed presentation notes:
Choose Number of Slides Per Page
Under the Layout dropdown, select the number of slides you want printed on each page such as 3 or 6 slides per page.
Print Slides and Notes Side-by-Side
Choose the Two Slides Handouts option to print slides and notes side-by-side instead of having notes below.
Print Outline View
Select Outline View from the Layout dropdown to print a text outline of your presentation with slide titles and main points.
Print Slides in Grayscale
If printing in black and white, check Grayscale in the print options to prevent slides with color from printing only in black.
Print from PowerPoint vs. Save As PDF
Instead of printing directly from PowerPoint, you can also save your presentation as a PDF with notes:
Save As PDF in PowerPoint
Go to File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document. In options, check Notes pages to include notes and export.
Use Third-Party PDF Software
Alternatively, use PDF editing software to convert your PowerPoint file to PDF and retain notes.
The benefit of using PDF over printing is having a digital file that’s easy to share electronically instead of printed paper copies.
Troubleshooting Print Issues
If you run into problems printing notes, here are some troubleshooting tips:
- Update Printer Drivers: Make sure you have the latest printer software and drivers installed. Outdated drivers can cause printing errors.
- Check PowerPoint Preferences: In PowerPoint go to Preferences > Print and confirm settings for paper size, orientation, and scale.
- Print a Test Page: Try printing a simple text document from another program. If that fails, the issue may not be PowerPoint related.
- Restart Computer and Printer: Turn devices fully off and back on again to clear any software errors.
Presentation Printing Tips
Here are some final best practices when printing your PowerPoint slides and speaker notes:
- Print one-sided to allow room for notes on the back of each printed slide.
- Use page numbers and slide numbers so notes can be matched to slides.
- Print slides in color for optimal viewing unless prohibitive in cost.
- For formal presentations, print on high quality, heavier weight paper.
- Staple printed handouts in the upper left corner to make packets for the audience.
Following these PowerPoint printing instructions for Mac makes it simple to print speaker notes alongside your presentation slides for handy reference during a presentation.
