"Backgrounds" are intended for Web pages only. Word 2003 allows you to opt
to "Print background colors and images" (Print tab of Tools | Options), but
previous versions do not have this option. If you need to share this
document with users of previous versions, create your "background" as a
watermark instead.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
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"michigan" wrote in message
...
i have windows xp with office 2003. after creating a document i needed to
change the background colour, i changed the colour, went to print preview
but
the background colour had reverted to white, i printed it but the
background
was white, how do i set the background colour and print in the chosen
colour.
many thanks.