The background is not printed when you use a black-and-white printer to print a PowerPoint presentation that contains a colored background

When you use a black-and-white printer to print a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that contains a colored background, the background is not printed.

This behavior occurs because PowerPoint optimizes the way that slides that contain colored backgrounds are printed to black-and-white printers.

By default, a colored background in a PowerPoint presentation is not printed to a black-and-white printer. This is because the colored background may obstruct the information that is on the slides when the presentation is printed to a black-and-white printer.

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1

1. Open the PowerPoint presentation that contains the colored background.
2. In Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003 and in earlier versions of PowerPoint, click Print on the File menu.
   
   In Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, point to Print, and then click Print.
3. In the Color/grayscale list, click Color.

Method 2

1. Open the PowerPoint presentation that contains the colored background.
2. In PowerPoint 2003 and in earlier versions of PowerPoint, point to Master on the View menu, and then click Slide Master.
   
   In PowerPoint 2007, click the View tab, and then click Slide Master in the Presentation Views group.
3. In PowerPoint 2003 and in earlier versions of PowerPoint, point to Color/Grayscale on the View menu, and then click Grayscale.
   
   In PowerPoint 2007, click Grayscale in the Color/Grayscale group on the View tab.
4. Right-click the background, click Grayscale Setting, and then click Automatic.

Method 3

You can use this method to change the look of any object in the presentation.

1. In PowerPoint 2003 and in earlier versions of PowerPoint, point to Color/Grayscale on the View menu, and then click Grayscale or Pure Black and White.
   
   In PowerPoint 2007, click the View tab, and then click Grayscale or Pure Black and White in the Color/Grayscale group.
2. Use one of the following methods:
   • To adjust the look of any object, right-click the object, point to Grayscale Setting or Black and White Setting, and then click the setting that you want.
   • To select multiple objects, hold down SHIFT and right-click each object, point to Grayscale Setting or Black and White Setting, and then click the setting that you want.
   Note You can apply different grayscale or black-and-white settings to different objects on the same slide.

This behavior is by design.