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)

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:

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

Figure 1. The Print tab of the Options dialog box.

In the Printing Options area of the dialog box, make sure the Draft Output check box is selected.
Click on OK.
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. Learn more about Allen...

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