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Symptoms

You are previewing color slides in Grayscale mode, and you notice that color backgrounds in some or all of the slides are shown as white instead of in their actual colors.

Cause

When you print preview (print preview: A view of a document as it will appear when you print it.) slides in Grayscale mode, Microsoft PowerPoint shows color slides in a modified grayscale, because doing so often produces a more readable printed version than is produced when the colors are printed in true grayscale. For example, if your slide background is a dark color, it will print black or dark gray on a grayscale printer, and any text on top of that dark background might be difficult to read. The Grayscale mode preview shows you how the slide would look with the background switched to white.

Resolution

To see how your slides look when they are printed in true grayscale, on the View menu, point to Color/Grayscale, and then click Color.

After previewing the slides, you can decide whether or not to make any color changes for the sake of increased clarity in the printed slides.