Printing very slowly - 2007

[Linda Adams]

We've been trying to troubleshoot an issue with PowerPoint 2007. We recently
received a new template. It has high graphics on the first page and the last
page (500K each) and a banner across the top and bottom of the other sides.
The banner and the accompanying text were both made in PowerPoint--autoshape
and text, so nothing special.

But when we print, that blue banner takes forever to print. I had to print
a presentation of 23 slides, and it took over two hours to print eight
copies. Normally it would take half an hour. I also had to print one slide
on a plotter printer. I removed all graphics except for the blue banner
page. Blue banner: 8 hours. No blue banner: 20 minutes.

I tried resaving the blue banner as an image, and guess what? Zipped right
out at normal speed. Are there any issues with autoshapes that might be
causing this?

 

[John Wilson]

Is the image partly transparent?

 

[Linda Adams]

No. It actually consists of two layed autoshapes and one Smart Art text.
The first layer is a straight, one color box. The second box is also solid,
but with a five point soft edges on it. The Smart Art (at least I'm
assuming it is) has shadow on, though when I check the text effects, it
doesn't show up there.

 

[Linda Adams]

That did it! I removed the soft edge autoshape from the same presentation
that took several hours to print--one full set came out in five minutes.
That made a huge difference. Thanks! I'll pass it along to the people here.