Printing a gradient background

[Steve Kiddy Newbie]

How can I get Word2003 to print a single full-page-stretched 2-colour
gradient background, rather than tiling the small image many times across the
page? The gradient background is displayed correctly in print preview, but
then prints wrongly. We've tried many different pages, PCs and printers -
all do the same so we presume the 'fault' is within Word.

 

[Steve Kiddy Newbie]

Sorry - i've just seen the post thread "back groung effects" (sic) and notice
there's no real solution?

 

[Jay Freedman]

That's correct. The feature has been broken for a long time.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Steve Kiddy Newbie]

Thanx. Any workarounds? - OpenOffice? Publisher? -I'm a schoolteacher
and my kids just love the gradient background for posters, pamphlets,
leaflets etc.

 

[Mary Sauer]

Copy the gradient, paste special as an image, .png would be the best choice.
This works in Publisher. You cannot copy/paste a background. If you draw a
rectangle the size of your page and fill with a gradient...

 

[Terry Farrell]

I've just played with this and agree with Mary's suggestion. Inserting a
picture certainly works correctly and as expected. So you need to get a
gradient fill effect saved in a graphics format (.gif or jpeg would be fine)
and then add a picture background using your fill effect graphic. There
seems to be a plethora of background effects available if you search Google.

Don't forget that if you want to print this, you need to check the 'Include
Background' option under Printer Options as normally the background is only
for web pages (but note this can be very greedy on ink!).

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If the background is added as a "watermark," the Print Options requirement
is not necessary.