PPT2000: Colors on Screen and Color Printout May Not Match

• Microsoft PowerPoint 2000 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you print a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on a color printer, the colors on the screen may not exactly match the colors on the printout. This is also true for other programs that produce color output.

CAUSE

This discrepancy in color results from the fundamental differences between how color is produced on a video monitor and how it is produced on a color printer.

The discrepancy is particularly noticeable when you print the colors blue and yellow. Blue usually prints darker than it appears on the screen and has a purple tint. Yellow usually prints with a golden-brown tint. In both cases, you can attain the desired color by increasing the brightness of the color as it appears on the screen.

WORKAROUND

To avoid undesirable results in color printing requires experience. Identifying and using colors that print reliably is the best way to achieve predictable and desirable results.

To test how colors render on your device, print the PowerPoint color palette to your color printer. Keep this printout near your printer, and refer to it when applying color to your PowerPoint presentations.

You can obtain the Printme.exe file from the Microsoft World Wide Web Site at the following location. This file is a self-extracting archive that contains the Printme.ppt file. The first slide contains instructions on how to use the presentation.

http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/printme.exe

MORE INFORMATION

Your video display is based on a process that combines various amounts of red-, green-, and blue-emitted light to produce the various colors that you see on the screen. This is known as an additive color process. With this process, combining all three colors produces white; combining none of the colors produces black.

In contrast, almost all color printers produce color by combining various amounts of cyan, magenta, and yellow pigment (and sometimes black). This is known as a subtractive color process. With this process, combining all three colors produces black; combining none of the colors produces white (assuming you are printing on white paper).

REFERENCES

For more information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q163792 PPT97: Sample Color Wheel Available For PowerPoint 97

Additional query words: theory four pass powerpt Ppt powerpnt rgb values subtractive additive ppt9 win m_system ppt9 9.00 ppt9.0

Keywords          : 
Version           : WINDOWS:2000
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbinfo 

Last Reviewed: June 28, 1999