Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Printing a Draft of a Document.

Printing a Draft of a Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 17, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Word allows you to print drafts of your documents. This can be very helpful in speeding up the printing process, particularly if you have a complex document with lots of fonts and graphics. When printing drafts, the final fonts are not used, nor are the graphics printed in place. To print a draft, follow these steps:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the Print tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)
  3. Figure 1. The Print tab of the Options dialog box.

  4. In the Printing Options area of the dialog box, make sure the Draft Output check box is selected.
  5. Click on OK.
  6. Print your document.

Remember that the exact way in which draft printing is implemented is, in large part, up to your printer. Don't be surprised if you get different results doing a draft print on one printer as compared to another.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (990) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Printing a Draft of a Document.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Canceling a Command

Tired of waiting for a command to finish running? You can use the same shortcut to cancel a command that you use to ...

Discover More

Ages in Years and Months

Calculating an age is a common task when working with dates. If you want to figure out the number of years and months ...

Discover More

Typing Pronunciations of Words

Take a look in a dictionary at the way that words are phonetically spelled. Those special characters used to type those ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2013. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2013 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Printing without Headings

The writer uses headline styles to create a story outline. He does not want to see the headlines when he prints the ...

Discover More

Canceling Printing

Need to stop the printing of a long document? Here's how to stop Word, along with why stopping Word may not be the only ...

Discover More

Reversing Print Order

When you print a document, does it come out of the printer in the order you need? Here's how to reverse the print order ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is three less than 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.