PP 2008 Wont Print Handouts

[AJMAC25]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I upgraded to PP 2008. I can no longer print handouts. I must say eliminating the PowerPoint Print option from the print function was not a good idea. I read that I must now go to "View -> Master ->Handout Master", select which handout I want, click "Close Master", then go to Print and I should see a preview of what I am going to print, assuming "Quick Preview" is on. However, this is not even an option n the Print Dialog window. If I just go for it and hit PRINT, I get a print error on any printer ( I have 5 of them between work and home and none work.) My Printer works on Xcel, Word, and Entourage, so it is not my computer or printers. Seems like a problem with PP 2008 and OX 10.5.6. Any Ideas?
PS: If MS is listening, please get rid of the Handout Master and go back to the PowerPoint option in the print dialog box like in Office 2004.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hello ________,

Please see the in line reply;

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I upgraded to PP 2008. I can no longer print handouts.

I'm fine to here

I must say eliminating the PowerPoint Print option from the print function was
not a good idea.

However, I have absolutely no idea what this means. Can you please describe
in detail exactly what you did or what you're referring to?

I read that I must now go to "View -> Master ->Handout Master", select which
handout I want, click "Close Master", then go to Print and I should see a
preview of what I am going to print, assuming "Quick Preview" is on. However,
this is not even an option n the Print Dialog window.

I don't know where you read this but it is totally inaccurate. Accessing the
Handouts Master has nothing to do with specifying which layout is used for
printing - it only provides for customizing the "templates" on which
printing of Handouts is based, just as the other Masters determine the
layout for slides & notes pages. But I'm getting the impression that the
Leopard Print Dialog interface is what's hanging you up...

If I just go for it and
hit PRINT,

Do you mean the Print button on the Standard Toolbar? Please clarify what
you mean by "hit PRINT". The button bypasses the Print Dialog which is where
you choose the layout you want to use for the print job. Those choices
should be found in the "Print What?" List of the Copies & Pages options. If
you are going into the Print dialog but those options aren't being presented
click the down-arrow button to the right of the "Printer:" list to expand
the Print Dialog. [I think this may be the source of your frustration ]

I get a print error on any printer ( I have 5 of them between work
and home and none work.) My Printer works on Xcel, Word, and Entourage, so it
is not my computer or printers. Seems like a problem with PP 2008 and OX
10.5.6.

Not necessarily OS X provides a wide array of print services in
conjunction with the driver software of the selected printer. Each program
uses a different assortment of those services, so the fact that you're able
to print from some programs is no guarantee that you can print from all or
any other. The program you're printing from simply calls for the services it
needs & hands the data off to the OS & printer to deliver the job.

Any Ideas?

Until you're able to provide the clarification requested above the only
interim suggestion I can offer is that you check to make sure that the
drivers for your printers are fully updated. That's usually the the most
likely breaking point in the printing process. Also, makes sure that your
installation of Office (12.1.5) & OS X (10.5.6) are completely updated &
that you've run Disk Utility - Repair Disk Permissions after any updates.

PS: If MS is listening, please get rid of the Handout Master and go back to
the PowerPoint option in the print dialog box like in Office 2004.

The Print dialog is where the option to print slides, handouts, outline or
notes pages _is_ located. I get the impression you may have been misled
about what the Masters are for and expanding the Print dialog will give you
all the capabilities you're looking for. Again, the Masters have nothing to
do with what you choose to print or where you make that choice - that is
determined in the Print dialog as described above along with specifications
made in File> Page Setup.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

Thanks Bob,

If I could attach a screenshot, it may be easier, but here goes. When I open my print dialog box, there is NOTHINg that says anything about PowerPoint options. Yes, I am an experienced user so I do have my arrow down to see the entire print box options. Yes, I used Print from the file menu and not the toolbar. There is no PRINT WHAT option. Mac OS 10.5.6 downloads its printer drivers using software updates, not directly from printer manufactures websites, but I check with mine and I am up to date.Sorry about the confusion regarding Handout Master, but if you go to PP help on the toolbar and type the word Handout, handout master is what comes up. MS needs to clarify.

Hope that helps. Ideas?

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Thanks Bob,

If I could attach a screenshot, it may be easier, but here goes. When I open my print dialog box, there is NOTHINg that says anything about PowerPoint options. Yes, I am an experienced user so I do have my arrow down to see the entire print box options. Yes, I used Print from the file menu and not the toolbar. There is no PRINT WHAT option. Mac OS 10.5.6 downloads its printer drivers using software updates, not directly from printer manufactures websites, but I check with mine and I am up to date.Sorry about the confusion regarding Handout Master, but if you go to PP help on the toolbar and type the word Handout, handout master is what comes up. MS needs to clarify.

Hope that helps. Ideas?

Hi,

May I intervene?

The Print pane is the result of a combination of different sources. It's
partly MacOSX, partly printer driver, and partly application.

A fault by any one of those three things could result in a Print pane
that does not have all of the expected parts.

If I were trying to figure this one out, this is what I would do:

* Make sure all Office updates are installed
* Make sure all MacOSX updates are installed
* Run Alsoft DiskWarrior on the startup disc
* Run Apple's Disk Utility and repair permissions on the startup disc
* Try File > Print from PowerPoint and see if the problem is resolved
* If not resolved, then plug a different brand and model printer into
the computer - one that we know produces a correct dialog box on another
machine with PowerPoint 2008, the same version of MacOSX and the same
kind of processor (Intel or PPC).
* Try File > Print from PowerPoint. If the dialog box is OK, then we
know that PowerPoint, MacOSX and the Printer driver for THAT printer are
OK. If the same screwy dialog box appears then there's something wrong
with the install of either MacOSX, the printer driver or PowerPoint.
* If the other printer was just fine, then it's time to try to
coordinate service with Apple, the printer manufacturer, and PowerPoint.
It could be any one of the three or a certain combination of hardware
that's causing the problem.
* Try your printer on another computer that's OK and see if the same
thing happens there. If yes, then you have narrowed it down a little bit.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

The features you seek should most definitely be contained in the Copies &
Pages display of the Print dialog unless - as Jim points out - there is a
break in the chain. I've seen several occurrences of similar circumstances &
none have been traceable to the application being used. In my experience
every situation was attributable to the OS or the driver software. A couple
of adjuncts to Jim's excellent suggestions:

Update OS X using the Combo 10.5.6 Updater from the Apple Downloads site:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

The updates delivered via Software Update are not as comprehensive and can
even cause new problems. FWIW, I never use SU for OS X updates other than to
advise me when new ones are available. I then go to the site & retrieve the
Combo version.

That philosophy also extends to any non-Apple device drivers. What's
furnished by SU isn't always the most current, nor are all drivers included.

If you don't have Disk Warrior run Apple's Disk Utility - Verify Disk &
proceed with Repair Disk if errors are found. If necessary run it as many
times as it takes to repair all errors. It isn't as capable as DW but it can
do a good job if the problems aren't too advanced.

Also, the current build of Office is 12.1.5, so make sure to be updated to
that level.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. So I re-applied the Mac OS 10.5.6 combo updater. ALl MS Office 2008 updates applied. I have a MAc Book Pro Unibody, so unfortunately DIskwarrior will not work with it for now, but I did use Drive Genius and all check out ok. I used Disk Utility and all checked out ok. My printer will work with PP 2008 on my other laptop, so I guess that means the printer and driver are ok. But so far, no printer will work with my computer. Interesting no problems printing anything else from my computer to my printers. Looks like a slight problem between PP 2008 and Mac OS 10.5.6 on the MBP unibody computer. WIll take it to Apple Store and see if they have an idea.
Thanks and any other ideas would be appreciated. I may try to uninstall MS OFfice 2008 and re-install.

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry you're still having difficulty, but it's about 95% certain that
reinstalling Office will not correct it - it rarely does since the program
files are not usually the ones that cause problems & they're the only ones
that get removed & replaced... Not to mention that you would then have to go
through the complete updating of Office again after reinstalling. At least
wait until after you've made the trip to the Genius Bar.

Two other ideas in the mean while;

While no Office apps are running go to User/Library/Preferences & locate a
file by the name of:

com.microsoft.Powerpoint.plist

Drag it to the trash then launch PPt & see if there's any improvement.

Also, check the Apple downloads site to see if there are any firmware or
other updates specific to your type of Mac. BTW - have you restarted after
the other updating you've done?

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[nosebutter]

AJMac25, I'm having THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM since upgrading. I use powerpoint in university and I'm used to printing slideshows 3 or 4 slides to a page but there aren't any print options whatsoever available to me within powerpoint...can't print notes/handouts/anything.

I'm using a brother printer.

Right now i'm exporting to PDF and trying to print from there but it doesn't work the same as the old PPT settings used to work. I'm equally as frustrated, let me know if you come up with a solution please.

 

[CyberTaz]

If you're having " THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM " follow the exact same
suggestions offered to the OP - starting from the beginning of the thread.
There is no inherent "flaw" or "bug" in PPT that would cause this to happen.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

NoseButter, I too have a Brother printer, but that is not the problem. I agree you should try the advice above, even though none of it worked for me. I have even tried a few various printer utilities without luck and have re-installed all of the drivers for my printers without luck.
So, last night, I upgraded from Office 2004 to 2008 on my other Mac. Mind you, no problems printing from this prior to the upgrade. All drivers and all software up to date. Mac 10.5.6 running. The new install allowed me to print handouts from PP 2008 UNTIL I upgraded Office 2008 per the Auto-update software included in Office 2008. Once the software was finished updating MS Office 2008 to the final 12.1.5 version, the handout printing option was no longer there. So despite the good folks here saying this is not a MS problem,that always worries me, it sure looks to be at least an incompatibility between Office 2008 and Mac OS 10.5.6. I will say this problem may be intermittent, as I have no problems with PP 2008 on my other MacBook Pro (early 2008). Or maybe it is incompatible with the new unibody MacBook Pros, which is what my computers that I am having problems with happen to be. Sounds strange, but there are other reported problems with the unibodies that make little sense. Heading to Mac Genius this weekend, let you know what they say. Good luck

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

NoseButter, I too have a Brother printer, but that is not the problem. I agree you should try the advice above, even though none of it worked for me. I have even tried a few various printer utilities without luck and have re-installed all of the drivers for my printers without luck.
So, last night, I upgraded from Office 2004 to 2008 on my other Mac. Mind you, no problems printing from this prior to the upgrade. All drivers and all software up to date. Mac 10.5.6 running. The new install allowed me to print handouts from PP 2008 UNTIL I upgraded Office 2008 per the Auto-update software included in Office 2008. Once the software was finished updating MS Office 2008 to the final 12.1.5 version, the handout printing option was no longer there. So despite the good folks here saying this is not a MS problem,that always worries me, it sure looks to be at least an incompatibility between Office 2008 and Mac OS 10.5.6. I will say this problem may be intermittent, as I have no problems with PP 2008 on my other MacBook Pro (early 2008). Or maybe it is incompatible with the new unibody MacBook Pros, which is what my computers that I am having problems with happen to be. Sounds strange, but there are other reported problems with the unibodies that make little sens

e. Heading to Mac Genius this weekend, let you know what they say. Good luck

This is excellent troubleshooting information! Thank you VERY much for
joining in the discussion and for posting it. Please keep coming and
helping. It's appreciated more than you know.

If you would let MacBU know your discovery it will most likely result in
a fix in a update. Please let them know by telling them here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/suggestions.mspx?product=powerpoint

It wouldn't hurt to include contact information, and be sure to mention
the title of this thread so MacBU can read the whole story: PP 2008 Wont
Print Handouts

Again, thank you to all who posted about this topic and I hope you stick
around and participate. Oh, and have some fun here while you help out.

-Jim

 

[CyberTaz]

Thanks for the feedback - as Jim pointed out the information will certainly
be helpful to others somewhere along the line. Anything further you
determine would be much appreciated as well. It will be interesting to know
what the outcome is.

If I were a betting man I'd lay odds on the printer driver not yet being
available... Brother has been known to be a little slow on the uptake,
especially where new hardware configurations are concerned. I still think
that's where the resolution will come from

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

So, I went to the Apple Store last night and spent a great deal of time with two Apple Geniuses. They were puzzled. We check one of their new MacBook Pros running 10.5.6 and Office for Mac 2008 version 12.1.5. It worked fine on their computer. So it looks like Office 2008 can run and print on a MacBook Pro unibody with the latest OS and MS updates. Next, we tried my computer printing to one of their printers, a Lexmark and an HP, and no success. So it looks like it is not a printer driver problem. We took a PP file from my computer and put it on one of their computers to rule out a corrupt file and it worked fine. So, I am still not sure what is causing this error. They suggested that I completely un-install MS Office 2008 and re-install, but what a pain, but I think I will try that this weekend

 

[CyberTaz]

Sorry you're still having the problem - this one's really a poser

One suggestion before you go the re-install route: Download the 12.1.5
updater from here:

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx?pid=Mactopia_Office2008&fid=395
D1487-A3A6-4106-A0F8-4D6E1D6D89D2#viewer>

Try reapplying it, repair permissions, restart the Mac & see if it makes any
difference... It's always possible that there may have been a hiccup in your
original attempt & perhaps all didn't go as cleanly as it appeared to.

Still interested in further results so keep us posted.

Thanks,

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

Hi Bob,

So how do I re-install an update. The updater your link pointed to, will not let me re-install the update, as it is already on my computer. I even tried deleting the "receipts packages" without success.

Thank you.

AJ

 

[CyberTaz]

Yeah, I was afraid that might be the case. Take a moment to get the update
from this KB page & see if it will "take". If not it means that the original
update installed better than I had suspected.

<http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AB31A564-43D2-45BD
-98BF-19E9CA477B62&displaylang=en>

Keep in mind that this is just one of those "shot in the dark" suggestions
since nothing else seems to make any sense

Another thought that comes to mind, though - Have you tried running PPt from
a different User Account? Create a new one if necessary & see if that makes
any difference. If it does it's an indication of a problem with the other
account but I'm not certain what would need to be done to correct it - that
doesn't explicitly point to what that problem might be. I don't see where I
previously suggested that but I'm surprised that the Genius Bar overlooked
it as well. Based on what you reported last it's about the only
troubleshooting step left.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[AJMAC25]

I have reset the Printers and re-added the printers and no success. I contacted tech support at Brother, my main printer, and they said to not use the CUPS driver and instead use the Post-Script driver. Tried that with no success. Still looking for a solution. Any ideas are appreciated.

 

[M&M]

Hi, if anybody would please help me. My situation is that I don't have a
printer pop-up panel show up when I want to print in the Mac 2008 PP.
Sometimes the PP program just exists out, and I've send the problem to Apple
and now it only exists out sometimes. But still I just bought this laptop and
the printer, and I cannot print any of my slides on my PP 2008; and I need
for my university. Any help is greatly appreaciated.

Thanks,
Mari

 

[Nate Hamilton]

I have reset the Printers and re-added the printers and no success. I
contacted tech support at Brother, my main printer, and they said to not use
the CUPS driver and instead use the Post-Script driver. Tried that with no
success. Still looking for a solution. Any ideas are appreciated.

Hello,

I have recently started working on the Mac PowerPoint test team and noticed
your problem on this thread - I would like to help narrow down the issue you
are having. One thing I would ask is if you mind telling me what printer
driver you are using with 10.5.6?

Thanks,
--
Nate Hamilton
Microsoft Mac PowerPoint Test Team
v-nahamiATmicrosoftDOTcom

Disclaimer: This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers
no rights.

 

[markrlindsey]

It appears that an un-updated Microsoft Office 2008 does NOT have this problem: I installed Office 2008 on an external drive so that it's running PowerPoint 12.0. In that version, I *am* able to see the "Print What" option.

However, in PowerPoint 12.1.5, I cannot see the "Print What" option. I have no tried the older updates.

The MicroSoft team seems to be fixated on the printer drivers in use. I've tried this with these drivers: Brother MFC5840, Canon iP4200, CUPS-PDF, and several HP printers.