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How to Print a Word Document with the Background Image Correctly
Question details
The user wants to print a Word document with a background image, ensuring it prints correctly without being cut off by margins.
- Product
- Word Processor
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing a document containing header or full-page background images, or exporting it to PDF.
- Observed behavior
- The background image looks correct on the screen but fails to print to the edge of the page or prints differently due to hardware margin limitations.
Ensure your printer drivers are up to date and verify whether your specific printer model supports borderless printing, as most standard printers have built-in hardware margins that cannot print edge-to-edge.
Use Larger Paper and Trim to Size
Since most standard printers have a non-printable margin, printing on a larger paper size and trimming the edges is the most reliable workaround for full-bleed backgrounds.
Standard home and office printers require a small unprinted margin to grip the paper as it feeds through the machine. If you need a background image to extend perfectly to the physical edge of the paper, you must bypass this hardware limitation by printing on larger paper.
Go to the Page Layout or Document Setup menu in your word processor and change the paper size to a format larger than your intended final output (e.g., choose A3 if your final document is A4).
Adjust the margins to center your document content and background image within the new, larger paper size.
Print the document normally using your standard printer. The unprintable hardware margin will now fall outside your actual document boundaries.
Use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut off the white margins and excess paper, resulting in a flawless, full-bleed background.
Enable Borderless Printing in Printer Properties
If you have a photo printer or a specialized printer that supports borderless printing, you can remove the margins entirely through the printer settings.
Enable Print Background Colors and Images
Sometimes the background image does not print at all because the software is configured to ignore backgrounds to save ink.
Easily Manage Page Backgrounds and Printing with WPS Office
WPS Office provides an intuitive interface for adjusting page layouts, inserting backgrounds, and managing print settings, ensuring your documents look exactly as intended on paper and in PDF.
- 1. Open Document: Launch WPS Writer and open the document containing your background image.
- 2. Adjust Background: Go to the 'Page Layout' tab and select 'Page Color' or 'Background' to verify your image placement.
- 3. Enable Background Printing: Click 'Menu' > 'Options' > 'Print' and check the 'Print background colors and images' box.
- 4. Print Document: Press 'Ctrl + P' to open the Print dialog, select your printer, adjust any borderless properties if available, and click 'Print'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my background image have a white border when printed?
Most standard printers have a hardware margin—an unprintable area at the edges used by the rollers to grip the paper. Unless you have a specific photo or borderless printer, this white margin will always appear, preventing edge-to-edge printing.
How do I save my Word document as a PDF without white margins?
When exporting to PDF, ensure your page margins are set to zero. However, if your default printer has hardware margins, your word processor might still enforce them. You can bypass this by setting a virtual PDF printer (like 'Microsoft Print to PDF') to a custom borderless paper size before exporting.
Why is my background image not printing at all?
By default, many word processors are set to ignore background colors and images during printing to save ink. You can fix this by going into the software's display or print options and checking the specific setting to 'Print background colors and images'.
Can I stretch a small image to fill the entire printed page?
Yes, you can insert the image into the document header or footer, set its text wrapping style to 'Behind Text', and then manually drag the corners of the image to cover the entire page. Alternatively, you can use the 'Fill Effects' > 'Picture' option located in the Page Color menu.
