When printing multiple copies of a presentation from Microsoft PowerPoint on a Windows NT system, the printout may not be collated even though the collate option is turned on. For example, when printing two slides of a presentation, slide 1 prints twice, slide 2 prints twice, and so on. This behavior only occurs when printing with a PostScript printer driver.

The following table compares the versions of PowerPoint and Windows NT with regard to collating using a PostScript driver, where Yes means that the print job collated and No means the print job did not collate:

                      PPT 4.0   PPT 95   PPT 97   PPT 97 SR-1
                      -------   ------   ------   -----------
   Windows NT 4.0       Yes       Yes      No        Yes
   Windows NT 3.51      Yes       No       No        No
				

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To work around this problem, use one of the following methods:

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Method 1

If possible, use a non-PostScript printer driver when printing multiple copies.

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Method 2

Print one copy at a time.

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Method 3

If you are running Windows NT version 4.0, upgrade to PowerPoint 97 for Windows Service Release 1.

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Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51 and 4.0. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

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The problem affects all types of printouts: slides, notes, handouts, and outlines.

This behavior does not occur in the other Office 95 applications, such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel, running under Windows NT. Printing PostScript in PowerPoint running under Windows 95 also collates as expected.

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