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Black and White Blues

Summary: Getting a chart looking its best on a black-and-white printer can be a challenge. This tip examines different ways you can improve the printout. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and Excel 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Black and White Blues.)

Excel allows you to create a colorful masterpiece on your screen. What you get when you print, however, depends entirely on the printer you are using. Some black-and-white printers do a great job of translating colors into shades of gray. Others, however, leave quite a bit to be desired in their output.

If you are having problems printing color Excel information on your black-and-white printer, try these steps:

  1. Choose Page Setup from the File menu. Excel displays the Page Setup dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Sheet tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.) (If you selected a chart or were viewing a chart before starting these steps, there will not be a Sheet tab. In this case, select the Chart tab.)
  3. Make sure the Black and White check box is selected.
  4. Click OK.

You are now ready to print, and you should do so as you normally would. You should notice a marked improvement in your printer output.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2848) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Black and White Blues.

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