Microsoft KB Archive/218696

= PUB2000: Text Is Printed in Black When You Use a PCL Printer Driver =

Article ID: 218696

Article Last Modified on 9/7/2001

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Publisher 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q218696



SYMPTOMS
When you print a Microsoft Publisher 2000 publication to a black and white printer that uses a Printer Control Language (PCL) printer driver, the text is printed in black, regardless of how light the color of the text used in the publication appears on the screen.

As a result, if you print light-colored text on a dark background, the printed text may not be visible.

NOTE: If you attempt to print very light-colored text, the text may be printed in white.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because PCL printer drivers are unable to print text in shades of gray. PCL printer drivers are able to print text in black or white only.



RESOLUTION
To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1
Use a PostScript printer driver instead of a PCL printer driver. Many printers support both PCL and PostScript drivers.

Method 2
Print the publication to a color printer.

Method 3
If you are printing light-colored text on a dark background, change the background color to a lighter color.

Method 4
If you are printing light-colored (such as light yellow) text on a white background, change the color of the text to a darker color.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Publisher 2000.



MORE INFORMATION
PCL is a document description language used by Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printers. It is a superset of the HP-GL/2 language.

The third-party products that are discussed in this article are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.

Additional query words: mspub pub2k 9.0 pub9 gamma gray grey

Keywords: kbbug kbprint kbpending KB218696

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