PowerPoint 2010 won’t print with comments. Any possible workaround?
Microsoft Office is not my favorite subject, but since switching to MS 2010, I’ve written several posts about it as many issues have arisen. The latest issue I encountered was that I couldn’t print some PowerPoint 2010 slide decks no matter what I tried. After hours of looking into the problem, here’s what I found.
You can’t print PowerPoint 2010 slides with comment(s)
It’s like a bug in PPT 2010 as I saw many people posting the same complaint about the issue, but there was no clear solutions. You can’t print PowerPoint 2010 slides while there’s or are comments inside the file; even if it’s the only one comment located on the last slide.
Possible workarounds
Update printer driver
I heard in some cases, the problem is resolved after the printer driver got updated to the latest version. This also depends on what printer you’re using. This didn’t work for me.
Print without comments
Remove the comments and your file will print just fine. If it still doesn’t print for you, or if you want to keep the comments in the PPT file but want to print the file without the comments displayed, try the following:
Create XPS document: Open the presentation file, then go to File > Save & Send > Create PDF/XPS Document > Click on the button Create PDF/XPS > Save as type XPS Document (.xps). Click Publish. The XPS will be opened in Internet Explorer automatically. If not, you can open it with Internet Explorer, then print from there.
Create PDF documents: If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro, don’t print the PPT slides into PDF as it’s likely not working. Instead, do the same thing as above: go to File > Save & Send > Create PDF/XPS Document > Click on the button Create PDF/XPS > Save as type PDF (.pdf). Click Publish. The PDF will be created, and you can print it just fine. You can also do a Save As .pdf file; it works the same.
Print with comments
If you want to print the slide deck together with the comment(s), use the same steps as above plus one extra step described below. However, the comment(s) won’t be printed on top of the slide, but printed like a note on the next page.
Create XPS document or PDF document with comment(s): Open the presentation file, then go to File > Save & Send > Create PDF/XPS Document > Click on the button Create PDF/XPS > Save as type XPS Document (.xps) or PDF Document (.pdf). Then click on the Options button. A dialog box will appear; check the box Include comments and link markup; hit OK, then click Publish. The final XPS or PDF file will have both the slides and comment(s).
Don’t use comment
Avoid using comments altogether. Instead use text box to insert your comment. It’s not a perfect solution, but a workable solution. That way when printing you’ll your comment/text box on top of the slide being commented on.
3 Responses to PowerPoint 2010 Printing Issue and Workaround
Worked with 2010, XP and Acrobat 9.x . THANK YOU.
Why was were the two working together from the PPT print menu before lunch and then it just kept jumping back to the presentation with the print job waiting when I tried to close PPT. Another mystery of life.
This means more steps but at least it worked. Will try to reinstall Acrobat 9
Worked with 2010, XP and Acrobat 9.x . THANK YOU.
Why was were the two working together from the PPT print menu before lunch and then it just kept jumping back to the presentation with the print job waiting when I tried to close PPT. Another mystery of life.
This means more steps but at least it worked. Will try to reinstall Acrobat 9
This is a big help. I’ve told my coworkers we wouldn’t be able to print comments on the 2010 .ppt file, but looks like now we can.
Got here from Yahoo! Answers. Apparently many others got the same printing issues with PowerPoint 2010. Appreciate the tips!