Printing in Black and White and Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 15, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021


Ken has a workbook containing 30 worksheets. He would like to print sheets 1 through 29 in black and white and sheet 30 in color. He wonders if there is a way to print all the worksheets at once and specify that a particular worksheet should print in color only.

This is easiest done with a macro. All it takes is to set the .BlackAndWhite property for each worksheet just before it is printed. For instance, consider the following simple macro:

Sub PrintSingleColorSheet()
    Dim w As Worksheet
    Dim S As Integer

    ' Set worksheet to be in color
    ' (All others will print in B/W)
    S = 30

    For Each w In Worksheets
        w.PageSetup.BlackAndWhite = True
        If w.Index = S Then
            w.PageSetup.BlackAndWhite = False
        End If
        w.PrintOut
    Next w
End Sub

The macro stores in the S variable the index number of the worksheet you want to be in color. (In this case, the index number is 30.) Then, each worksheet is stepped through and the .BlackAndWhite property set to True. If, however, the .Index property for the worksheet matches the value stored in S, then the .BlackAndWhite property is set to False, meaning it will print in color. The printout is then sent to the default printer.

You could, if you wanted, get fancier with the macro, meaning you could have it ask the user which worksheet to print in color:

Sub PrintSingleColorSheet()
    Dim w As Worksheet
    Dim S As Integer
    Dim sTemp As String
    Dim sMsg As String

    sMsg = "There are " & Worksheets.Count & " worksheets in this "
    sMsg = sMsg & "workbook. Please enter the number of the single "
    sMsg = sMsg & "worksheet you want to print in color. (All "
    sMsg = sMsg & "others will print in black and white.)"

    sTemp = InputBox(sMsg)
    S = Val(sTemp)
    If S > 0 And S <= Worksheets.Count Then
        For Each w In Worksheets
            w.PageSetup.BlackAndWhite = True
            If w.Index = S Then
                w.PageSetup.BlackAndWhite = False
            End If
            w.PrintOut
        Next w
    Else
        sMsg = "You entered a value that is out of range."
        If sTemp <> "" Then
            MsgBox sMsg
        End If
    End If
End Sub

This version of the macro asks the user to input a worksheet number. If the value entered is out of range, then an error message is displayed, and the macro doesn't print anything. If the user clicks Cancel or leaves the input box empty, then the macro simply exits without printing anything.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (13738) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

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

Relative References when Recording Macros

When you record a macro, make sure that you know how Excel is recording your cell movements. This tip explains the ...

Discover More

Inserting Hyperlinks

Connect your worksheets with other workbooks or with the world of the Internet. The ability to add hyperlinks makes this ...

Discover More

Adjusting a Range's Starting Point

Select a range of cells, and one of those cells will always be the starting point for the range. This tip explains how to ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Printing Multiple Worksheets on a Single Page

Got a bunch of worksheets and you want to save paper by printing multiple worksheets on a single piece of paper? There ...

Discover More

Omitting Page Numbers on Some Pages

Excel doesn't allow for as robust of headers and footers as Word does. Even so, there are some things you can do to ...

Discover More

Printing an Entire Workbook by Default

Need to print an entire workbook? It's as easy as adding a single line of code to your macros.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, 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 9?

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 Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, 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.