Ugly Printouts??

If the Shaded Areas Don't Print as Shaded
This website (like many others) uses shading (areas of colored background) to help group and organize content. Usually this helps to make the material more understandable on the screen. Sometimes though when you print stuff out the shading doesn't appear, and the "grouping" it provides disappears.

Usually, this is an issue only if you use Internet Explorer as your browser. The reason it happens is that IE gives you the option to turn background printing ON or OFF (to save toner). The default is OFF. You can turn it on easily though. To do so, follow the directions below.

1) When using Internet Explorer, click on "Tools" on the menubar at the top of the screen. Then click on "Internet Options" on the dropdown menu.

2) You will see a dialog box similar to the one shown at left. Click on the "Advanced" tab, then scroll down until you see the Printing area shown here.

3) Using your mouse, ensure that the checkbox next to "Print Background Colors and Images" is CHECKED. This will cause Internet Explorer to print the shading.

4) Click OK to dismiss the box.

This option stays on through reboots, etc until you turn it off.