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This article references the Student Virtual Desktop currently available in the CAL computer resource rooms across campus and online via https://student.desktop.otago.ac.nz

The virtual desktop is being discontinued and will be replaced with a new setup by the end of December 2024. The information in this article remains current until December 2024. For further information about the new environment:

Student Desktop (VDI) Replacement — Frequently Asked Questions

If the file causes an error at the Uniprintstation/printer (49.xx, 49.0E00 or 49.C02) and can't be printed, this is caused by Microsoft "objects" such as graphs, drawings, or Visio items in PowerPoint files that have then been converted into PDFs.

By default, PDFs are set to "print as image" on the Student Desktop. If you get this error, it most likely means this option has been turned off in your profile. To turn this on:

  1. From the File menu, choose Print.
  2. When the print box comes up, click the ADVANCED button at the bottom of the box.
  3. An advanced print setup box will appear and at the bottom of that box, tick Print as image.
  4. Click OK and OK again.
  5. Once the document is printed change the Print as image setting back to the default.

One of the common problems reported from Blackboard is printing. This is intended as a quick guide to help avoid some of the common pitfalls.

PowerPoint slides

If you choose to upload a PowerPoint presentation for students in Blackboard here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Set the colour scheme to black and white, with black writing on white background
  • Make sure to remove any background images from the slides
  • Reduce the resolution of any images to the lowest setting (72dpi if possible)
  • Use JPEG or GIF for the image format rather than bitmap (BMP) or TIFF
  • Remove any transitions from the slides to avoid repetition of information
  • If the presentation is mainly text then you can save the file as a Rich Text Format file for students to print out; it will save on paper, time, money, and forests! Note that this only prints out the text and not any images or pictures
  • You can make the PowerPoint unprintable by saving it as a "Show", but put a note advising the students of this
  • Mac users: remember to put the .ppt file extension on the document

Blackboard Helpsite page about printing PowerPoint slides

PDF files

Although PDFs are a great format for your documents, there a few things to keep in mind when creating them:

  • Make the writing black on a white background
  • Remove any background images or patterns. They may look nice but are they are not nice to print!
  • Make sure that any images in the document are set to the lowest resolution possible (preferably 72dpi). An image may look small but this can be misleading as the image will still contain the same amount of data as the larger original version, making the file very big when it goes to the printer
  • Make sure that there are no transparent GIFs (a type of image) in the PDF as these cause problems with printing
  • If you do not want the students to print out notes you can make the PDF unprintable (this is an option available in Acrobat Distiller security settings), but put a note advising the students of this
  • Mac users: remember to put the .pdf file extension on the document
Keywords: print, printing, blackboard