Black or White

Is it better to use a black background or a white background in presentation slides? If you think back from the many presentations that you have created or attended, you will realised that most of us would generally use a white background on presentation slides.

As I asked around, many responded with one of the following 3 answers.

1. Corporate template is white background. Most corporate templates are designed with white backgrounds, which brings me to the next 2 most common responses to the question.
2. White background is printer friendly. We often print our presentation slides to give it out after the presentation. Having a white background makes printing easier and saves the tonner.
3. It's easier to paste images on white background. Most images out there that we use are in jpeg format. And so are most of images that we copy and paste from the internet. Images in jpeg format are filled usually with a white background.

Are the constrains mentioned above hindering us from doing the opposite? Would using a black background makes our presentation slides more exciting?

If you do not need to print out your presentation slides to give away. If you know how to make the white background of your jpeg images transparent. Would you then use a black background in your presentation slides?

Here are a couple of examples. One using a white background, another using black background. You decide, which one is better for your presentation.

Give it a try. See the difference in your presentation slides. See how your audience respond to your new presentation.