There's a black box around the images when I print

A black box that appears to be behind the images when printing a PDF file is an issue that is usually due to printing the file from a preview, or browser window, rather than printing directly from the file using a PDF viewer. This problem can also occur when using an older version of PDF viewing software, or when printer drivers are out of date. 

If you are experiencing this with PDF files you have created, I would recommend downloading the latest version of Adobe Acrobat and printing directly from within Acrobat (open the file in Acrobat and then print). I would also recommend updating your printer drivers! 

You might also like to try using the "Print as image" option in the print dialogue box, you'll find that option by clicking the "Advanced" tab after selecting print. Flattening the illustrations with the background before inserting them into the document can also help get around this problem.

There's a coloured box behind the images when I add them to my document

A black or white box that appears to be behind the illustration when you insert the illustration into your document can be caused by copying and pasting the clip art into your document. Some software treats the copied and pasted image as a jpg rather than a png file, resulting in the coloured box and the loss of those lovely transparent edges! To prevent this, ensure that you have extracted the images from the zip file download and use your software's "Insert Picture" or "Insert Image" command to add the clip art to your document rather than copying and pasting the illustration into your file.

If you are still having problems with coloured boxes around the illustrations, please get in touch!