background printing

what is it?

When you print out pages from the Internet on your computer you may notice that some items on the page disappear. Web pages often consist of background images and colours, and these are the items that are disappearing. Background printing is the setting on your Internet browser software that decides whether to print these background items or not.

Choosing not to print background images and colours saves on ink, and is a preferred option for many considering the cost of cartridges. However, maybe you would like to print a particular page with all background items, but then not on others.

how to do it

PC users - Internet Explorer

1. Make sure you are in Internet Explorer. Go to the 'Tools' pull-down menu across the top of the screen, and then select 'Internet options'.
2. A dialogue box will pop up. Select the 'Advanced' tab and scroll down to the printing options, indicated by a printer symbol.
3. To print the background items, make sure the 'Print background colours and images' box is checked. Alternatively if you don't want to print the background items make sure the box is unchecked.
4. Click 'OK' to close the dialogue box and confirm the new setting.

Mac users (OS 9.2 and X) - Internet Explorer

1. Make sure you are in Internet Explorer. Go to the 'File' pull-down menu across the top of the screen, and then select 'Print'.
2. A dialogue box will pop up.
   In OS 9.2 click on the pull-down menu that currently has 'Copies & pages' selected, and select the 'Internet Explorer' option.
   In OS X click on the pull-down menu that currently has 'General' selected, and select the 'Internet Explorer' option.
3. To print the background items, make sure the 'Print background' box is checked. Alternatively if you don't want to print the background items make sure the box is unchecked.
4. Click 'Print' to close the dialogue box and confirm the new setting, and print the page.

For instructions relating to other browser software not covered here please consult documentation supplied with your computer.

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In this section:
introduction | site map | font selector | privacy policy | journals on cassette or disk | background printing | saving & printing web text | printing web pages