Microsoft Office 365 Powerpoint Printing

Question

While using older Microsoft Home & Student Edition I set up stamp album pages in powerpoint. Here when a box outline was selected, (for example a rectangle), the size & position was described in cm. When printed the box reflected exactly the size format. For example a rectangle showing on a powerpoint slide as 3cm x 5cm, printed on A4 paper exactly 3cm x 5cm. However, since upgrading to 365, I have found that the printed size is approx. 10% larger when printed. Why is this so. How can I create a picture sized in powerpoint & have it printed to actual size?

Answer 1

In PowerPoint, shapes are defined in real-world units (cm/inches), but the final printed size also depends on:

1. The slide size settings in PowerPoint
2. The printer’s scaling settings (e.g., “Fit to page”, “Shrink/Enlarge to printable area”)
3. Printer margins and how the driver interprets the slide

With Microsoft 365, default slide sizes and print options may differ from the older version, so a 3 cm × 5 cm shape on the slide can end up scaled by the printer (often around 10%) when sent to paper.

To get shapes to print at actual size:

1. In PowerPoint, set a fixed slide size
   1. Go to Design > Slide Size > Custom Slide Size.
   2. In Slides sized for, choose a paper format that matches the physical paper (for example A4 Paper (210x297 mm)), or manually set Width and Height to match the paper size.
   3. Click OK and choose Ensure Fit so content is scaled consistently.
2. Ensure no scaling in the printer dialog
   1. In File > Print, select the physical printer.
   2. In the printer’s properties or preferences, turn off options like Fit to page, Scale to fit, or similar; use Actual size or 100% scaling if available.
   3. Make sure the paper size in the printer settings matches the slide size (e.g., both A4).
3. Be aware of printer margins PowerPoint slides have no internal margins; the slide is edge-to-edge, but most printers cannot print to the very edge and will add white borders. This can cause some drivers to auto-scale. If exact size is critical, a workaround is:
   1. Set the slide size to match the paper.
   2. Leave a margin inside the slide so the printer does not try to shrink or expand content.

If white edges are an issue while keeping exact sizes, use the notes-master workaround so the slide image is slightly smaller than the full page and fully inside the printer’s printable area; this avoids auto-scaling by the printer.

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References:

• Change the size of your PowerPoint slides
• Change the page layout
• Workaround for printing slides without white edges