Lesson · 10 min

Printing Presentations

Learn how to print slides, handouts, and notes pages, and understand PowerPoint’s print settings for different presentation needs.

By the end of this lesson you can

Choose an appropriate print layout for a given purpose
Print handouts with a sensible number of slides per page
Print speaker notes for yourself
Reduce ink and improve legibility on printed slides

Video

Watch the lesson video, then complete the reading and challenge.

Lesson Notes

Read through the key concepts before you try the challenge.

A printed deck serves a different purpose from a projected one

On the job

You prepare materials for the board meeting at Lakeside Medical Associates.

You print forty slides full page, one per sheet, on a dark-backgrounded theme. Forty sheets per attendee, most of the toner cartridge, and pages so dark the text is barely legible on paper.

Your task: Pick the print layout that matches what the reader will do with it.

Layout	Produces	Use for
Full Page Slides	One slide per sheet	Rarely — only when detail genuinely needs the size
Notes Pages	Slide plus your notes	Your own copy while presenting
Handouts, 3 per page	Slides with ruled lines beside them	Audience handouts — the lines invite notes
Handouts, 6 per page	Six thumbnails per sheet	A compact reference after the session
Outline	Text only	Reviewing the argument without design

Print layouts

For a dark-themed deck, choose Color/Grayscale > Pure Black and White in the print settings. It prints readable text on a white background instead of reproducing the dark background, saving most of the toner and producing something people can actually read and annotate.

Accessing the Print Screen

To print a presentation, open the File tab to enter Backstage view, then select Print. This opens the print workspace where you can preview and adjust all print settings.

Print option selected in PowerPoint File tab

Check the preview before every print job, not just the settings. The page count is the fastest check available: a deck that shows 12 slides and previews 13 pages has a stray blank, and finding it now costs thirty seconds instead of a stack of wasted paper.

Understanding Print Settings

PowerPoint provides several print settings that allow you to control how your presentation will appear when printed.

Printing a range matters more than it sounds. When one slide changes after you have printed forty packets, printing just that page and swapping it is a few minutes; reprinting everything is an afternoon and a full toner cartridge.

For a dark-themed deck, choose Pure Black and White rather than Color. It prints readable dark text on white instead of reproducing the dark background, which saves most of the toner and produces something people can actually annotate.

Print Layout Types

One of the most important decisions when printing is choosing the correct layout. PowerPoint offers several formats depending on how the presentation will be used.

Full Page is rarely the right choice for an audience. It uses one sheet per slide and leaves no room to write. Handouts at 3 per page add ruled lines beside each slide, which is what people actually want to take notes on.

Handouts allow you to print multiple slides per page. This is useful for audiences who want to follow along during a presentation.

Handout layout with multiple slides per page

Notes Pages include each slide along with speaker notes beneath it. This is helpful when presenting or reviewing detailed talking points.

Printing the outline is a good way to check your own argument before you worry about design. Stripped of images and layout, a deck that does not make sense as a list of headings will not make sense to an audience either.

Outline view showing text-only slide content

If you're presenting to an audience, print handouts with 3 slides per page so viewers can take notes during your presentation.

Using Print Preview

Before printing, always review the print preview to ensure your slides appear correctly. This helps avoid issues such as incorrect layouts or cut-off content.