Re: Printing envelopes

On 26-Feb-08, Bart Mathias wrote:
>
> My note on my original attempt some months back says "This was PS4,
>; custom size 3.7" x 6.5" Portrait." So I tried printing an envelope
> from my existing file, as portrait, but it printed part of the
> address across the envelope, top to bottom. So I tried landscape
> printing, and got exactly the same result! I tried switching things
> around in PrinterPS, but it made no difference. I can't remember
> what I could have done differently a year or so ago.

Some printers have a problem with anything smaller than US Letter
(8.5 x 11 inch) stock. For these, the problem is setting the Master Page
option and the Print Size settings to US Letter (8.5 x 11 in)
or A4.
Then, set up the envelope pattern to the upper left corner of
a letter-size sheet by laying out the envelope pattern to a
rectangle 6.5" X and 3/4"Y (for US #6-3/4) or equivalent
for small envelopes and 3.5" X and 9.5" Y (for US #10)
for "business" envelopes -- the latter being rotated
counter-clockwise to put the return address in the lower left corner
and the space for the addressee in the upper right of the
allotted space.

The envelope to be printed is hooked over the edge of
an 8.5 x 11" (or A5) sheet: as a csarrier --the long edge
for a "business" size envelope (#10 or equivalent))
or the leading edge for a "letter" size envlope .

For the latter, it should be positioned to be in the upper
left-hand corner of the page as printed. The print command
is executed using the letter-size sheet as a carrier for the
envelope, and using a "letter size" as the page size for printing.

This solution is adequate for addressing the odd envelope
for single letters, where the total print time is just a few
minutes. For bulk mailing where a few minutes per copy
is too much, either use Avery labels with preset layouts,
or Mail Merge using a printer which can directly address
small documents -- like envelopes -- without creating
the huge blank areas required where larger master
page sizes must be addressed with areas of
";nothing, nothing nothing" code.

--Geoff
--
ggass%40teleport.com">ggassteleport.com Geoffrey A. Gass Foulecourt Press
Also at this address: T. Bain Stokes Fignewton Frogberry

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Geoffrey:

> ...Some printers have a problem with anything smaller than US Letter
> (8.5 x 11 inch) stock. For these, the problem is setting the Master Page
>; option and the Print Size settings to US Letter (8.5 x 11 in)
> or A4....
>

Man, it's been a long time since I've encountered the problem on this
scale---in fact, my Amiga 2000 days. But there are those occasional
problems like small, oddball forms. For those I would print a rectangle
slightly larger than the form on a sheet of paper, then use it as a
carrier. I'd tape the form within the box using no-residue masking
tape, print and then lift it off. I still have a few Avery shipping
labels that were in small packages with just four to a sheet perfed in
pairs so that, hopefully you didn't have to waste more than one. I
printed those in that way.

> Then, set up the envelope pattern to the upper left corner of
> a letter-size sheet by laying out the envelope... for the addressee in the upper right of the
> allotted space.
>

The actual setup would depend on the particular model of printer. My
printers expect the envelope in different orientations. One of them
expects the flap to be in the middle of the sheet, so you couldn't wrap
it around the carrier sheet. But although I've seen modern printers
misfeed, they do print envelopes, especially when new. Most modern
printers are smart enough to recognize a misfeed and instead of
attempting to print, they prompt you to reload. My older printer will
sometimes cant an envelope a little bit printing the text at a slight
angle, and you have to decide how important that is. It seems to depend
on the humidity in the room. My newer printer either feeds and prints
perfectly or not at all and waits for you to reset. Particularly with an
Amiga, I'd make sure that the major features can be controlled on the
printer itself. Some cheap printers rely on Windows software for everything.

HB

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