Color Printing option is unavailable on the Tools menu in Publisher 2003

When you try to click Color Printing (on the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools), the Color Printing option may be unavailable (appears dimmed) in Microsoft Office Publisher 2003.

The Color Printing option is unavailable if your publication is a mail merge publication. A mail merge publication can only be printed in Composite RGB format. A mail merge publication cannot be sent to a commercial printer for color separations and printed in cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) or spot color mode.

If you want to use spot color or you want to use CMYK color separations, you must cancel your mail merge or complete the mail merge as a new publication. To cancel your mail merge, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, point to Mail and Catalog Merge, and then click Cancel Merge.
2. Click Yes, when you receive the following message:
   Are you sure you want to cancel this merge?
   
   Click Yes to clear all merge information permanently and convert all merge fields to plain text. Click No to retain all merge information.
3. On the Tools menu, point to Commercial Printing Tools, and then click Color Printing.

To complete your mail merge as a new publication, follow these steps:

1. On the Tools menu, point to Mail and Catalog Merge, and then click Mail and Catalog Merge Wizard. The task pane for the Mail Merge Wizard is displayed.
2. Complete steps 1 through 4 in the Mail Merge task pane. To do this, click Next until you reach the Mail and Catalog Merge task pane (step 5 of 5).
3. Describes how the Color Printing option on the Tools menu may be unavailable (appears dimmed) when you try to print a mail merge publication in Publisher 2003. To resolve the problem, you must cancel the mail merge or complete the mail merge as a new publication.Under Merge, click Create new publication. In the newly merged publication, you can apply the Color Printing option.

You can use the Commercial Printing Tools settings when you are taking a publication to a print shop for color separations and printing from plates on an offset printer. You can use the Mail and Catalog Merge settings for printing envelopes, labels, and other documents. These two features are mutually exclusive in Microsoft Office Publisher.