First let me say I enjoy the Quick Queries, being able to see a quick and concise answer to some of the questions that have sometimes nagged me in the past.

But to the point, at the point where you discuss that you can't set the background color of the whole report because of printer limitations... That in itself answers how you CAN depending on your intent and if your willing to spend a little extra setup time.

In the Page Setup dialogue, choose "Use Specific Printer" and then "Microsoft Print to PDF". You can then set your margins to 0 and you'll be able to set the backcolor of every section. You just have to make sure to set the width of your report to the full width of your target and set make sure that the combined height of all sections add up to the exact height your want (ex: 8.5" x 11"). You'll need to create the space you want for margins inside the individual sections.

You'll be able to save the report as a pdf, word doc, etc., and as long as the format supports the settings, you'll get what you're looking for... and if you're just looking for a digital version, for example for emailing an invoice, then you'll be fine even if can grow/shrink is enabled.

You'll still, of course, be restricted if/when you do print a hard copy by printer limitations.