PPT2002: Graph Axis and Text Not Printed When You Use Grayscale Printing

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This article was previously published under Q314278

SYMPTOMS

When you print a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that contains a Microsoft Graph chart, the text on the chart axis may be printed in white. This may cause the text to not appear at all when printed.

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CAUSE

This problem may occur if either of the following conditions is true:

You manually change the presentation master by changing the text to a light color and the background to a dark color.

-or-
You select a template that has light-colored text and a dark-colored background, and you then add a graph to any slide layout other than a chart (object) layout.

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RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

307841 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307841/EN-US/ ) OFFXP: How to Obtain the Latest Office XP Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version      Size        File name
   ---------------------------------------------------------------
   28-JAN-2002  19:27  n/a          5,464,576   Powerpnt_Admin.msp
   28-JAN-2002  19:08  n/a          2,979,940   Powerpnt.msp

After the hotfix is installed, the following files will have the listed attributes or later:

   Date         Time   Version      Size        File name     
   ---------------------------------------------------------
   22-JAN-2002  23:32  10.0.3723.0  10,582,344  Powerpnt.exe

NOTE: This hotfix only prevents you from creating new graphs that have this problem. The hotfix does not correct presentations that you already created. To correct presentations that contain this problem, use the macro in the "Temporary Workaround" section of this article.

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Temporary Workaround

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs.
If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104 (https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104)

Microsoft Advisory Services - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice (http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice)

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;cntactms)
To temporarily work around this problem, use the following Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications macro. The macro changes all graph objects in your presentation to print in inverse grayscale.

Sub FixGraphPrintingProblem()

    Dim sld As Slide
    Dim sha As Shape
    
    For Each sld In ActivePresentation.Slides
        For Each sha In sld.Shapes
            
            If sha.Type = msoEmbeddedOLEObject Then
                If LCase(sha.OLEFormat.ProgID) = "msgraph.chart.8" Then
                    sha.BlackWhiteMode = msoBlackWhiteInverseGrayScale
                End If
            End If
        Next sha
    Next sld

End Sub

NOTE: Microsoft also provides a PowerPoint add-in that you can download that corrects existing graphs in your presentations. This add-in only updates graphs that contain text and lines that are lighter than the background. For additional information about the PowerPoint 2002 FixGraph Add-in, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

318130 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318130/EN-US/ ) PPT2002: Add-in to Correct Black and White Printing for Graphs

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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2).

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