Before you print – advanced look and feel settings for MS Project

Introduction

The default look and feel of MS Project is OK – but here are some look and feel settings that can increase the readability of an MS Project print-out.  These tweaks can make a real difference in a large meeting where up to 30 project managers could be sitting around a table reviewing the cross-dependencies in a large program or project.

Format – Gridlines

• Middle Tier Column
  • Type = ‘blank’
  • Color = ‘Automatic’
• Bottom Tier Column
  • Type = “……..”
  • Color = ‘Automatic’
• Current Date
  • Type = ‘- – – -“
  • Color = “Fuchsia’

Format – Bar Styles

•  Task – choose the ‘Text’ tab
  • Change the Right Text from ‘Resource Names’ to ‘Name’.
  • This will display the name of the task instead of the Resource Name.
  • This is one of the most important changes you can make.
• Milestone – choose the ‘Text’ tab
  • Change the Right Text from ‘Resource Names’ to ‘Name’.
  • Change the Left Text to ‘Date’.  This shows the date for each milestone.

Format – Text Styles

• I’ve never used the Text Styles myself – I have another macro I use to edit the colors of the text and bars.  Check out the macro here.
• You might change the color of the text for ‘Critical Tasks’ to ‘Red’.
• You might change the color of text for ‘Milestones’ to ‘Teal’.

Format – Layout

• Change the ‘Links’ to the first option. i.e. No links shown
• Uncheck the ‘Show bar splits’ option.  (An annoying feature – its so much easier to add another task).