For detailed information about your desktop printer's color capabilities, be sure to read the printer documentation.
Some colors don't look good in print.
Depending on the desktop printer and the print settings you select, the colors in your printed publication might differ from the colors that you see on the screen. Printing a color sampler before you design your publication will help you decide what colors will work best with your printer.
I can only print a few of the colors I want.
Printers vary widely in the number of colors they support. Try formatting your publication in one or more of the following eight colors, and then print the publication again.
Black
Red
Blue
Violet
Bright Green
Yellow (on a colored background)
Orange
White (on a colored background)
Colors in clip art don't print well.
You can recolor a piece of clip art as a single color that prints well on your printer.
Every color swatch
in the sampler has an X instead of a color.
The printer you've selected probably prints only in black and white. If you have access to a color printer, select it for your publication, and print a color sampler to compare print and screen colors.
Some colors print as black and white or as shades of gray.
Many color printers cannot print certain shades or patterns, so they substitute a pure color such as black or gray instead.
Your color printer also might have an option to print only in black and gray, so you might need to change the option to color. Check your printer documentation for details.