How the Envelope Feed Option Icon Works

Q110085

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The Printing Options dialog box implies that you can choose any envelope feed position and direction, and that will be how the envelope prints from the printer. THIS IS NOT WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

(To locate the Printing Options dialog box, choose Envelopes And Labels from the Tools menu, select the Envelope tab, choose the Options button, and then select the Printing Options tab.)

The following information applies to every printer EXCEPT the Hewlett- Packard (HP) DeskJet printer, which are covered in a later section.


MORE INFORMATION

How Does the Icon Work?

When you send an envelope to the printer, Word tells the printer that the paper is an envelope (such as COM 10) and tells the printer what text to print and where to print it.

Most printers are preset to print an envelope a certain way. If the envelope feed option icon matches the way a printer physically feeds an envelope, then there is no problem. If the icon does not match, several incorrect results are possible. The printer may:

The feed option icon is used to correct Word when the printer driver tells Word the incorrect feed method. This can be due to:

An example of the second condition is a Panasonic printer running a LaserJet II emulation. Windows uses a LaserJet II driver that tells Word that the envelope feeds in the center, which is the feed method that Word suggests. The Panasonic printer, however, physically feeds the envelope on the right side.

If you print an envelope with the feed option icon suggesting a center feed, almost anything can happen. Word sends commands to feed center, while the printer hardware tries to override the center feed option because it internally "knows" how to print an envelope.

To correctly print the envelope, use the envelope feed option icon. By choosing the correct feed method option, the commands that Word sends to the printer match what the printer hardware is trying to do, and the envelope prints correctly.

In summary, you can correct Word's automatic feed choice when Word chooses a method that is different from the physical way the printer feeds envelopes. Word cannot, however, force the printer to print envelopes any differently than the hardware is designed to print envelopes.

What About the Clockwise Rotation Option?

When printing envelopes in landscape, most printers can only rotate text 90 degrees in one direction (either clockwise or counterclockwise). Word asks the printer driver which way it can rotate text. ("Do you do landscape by rotating clockwise 90 degrees from portrait or counterclockwise 90 degrees?") If the driver reports this information correctly (that is, the printer driver reports the correct way that the printer is capable of rotating text), then Word arranges the envelope so that the printer can successfully print the envelope. If the printer driver reports this information incorrectly, then Word may try to send commands to the printer that the printer cannot handle. Anything can happen then.

Again, this may happen if:

In either case, selecting or clearing the Clockwise rotation check box tells Word the correct feed method so that the printer commands meshes with the printer hardware.

What about envelopes that are not COM 10?

If the printer driver tells Word that the printer can handle a certain size envelope and the printer really can handle it, then everything happens as explained in the above section.

If the driver says the printer can't handle a certain size and the printer really can't, then Word sends the envelope as an 8.5-by-11-inch letter with "fudged" margins. Fudged margins are when Word sets up a larger piece of paper and increases the margins so that the text falls in the correct position on the smaller piece of paper when printed. In this situation, the envelope will still print out correctly, since Word can work around the printer hardware limitations.

If the printer driver tells Word that the printer can handle a certain size envelope, but the printer really can't (such as might happen with an emulation), then the commands that Word sends to the printer might not mesh with what the printer can actually do. The envelope might come out incorrectly printed.

A fairly safe bet is custom envelopes. If you try to print a 5-by-7-inch envelope, the printer driver will probably tell Word that the printer can't handle 5-by-7-inch envelopes. You can also be fairly sure that the printer hardware isn't designed for 5-by-7-inch envelopes. Word will send the envelope as an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet with fudged margins. The printer will print the 8.5-by-11-inch sheet just like Word told it to do.

Possible Issue: "I have a No-Name printer that does an HP II emulation and it isn't printing my #12 envelope correctly."

Method 1: Format an 8.5-by-11-inch landscape document with fudged margins and put your envelope information on it. Note: Since this is being sent as a letter-size document, the printer's envelope feeder will not work, since an envelope feeder will not pull letter paper on most printers.

Method 2: Create a custom envelope with the #12 dimensions. It will also be sent as a 8.5-by-11-inch document with fudged margins.

Why can't Word have supreme control over the printer?

Word could do that by sending every envelope, regardless of dimensions, as an 8.5-by-11-inch document with fudged margins. The problem is that most envelope feeders expect a signal from the software telling it the paper is a "real" envelope. If we sent every envelope as a letter-size request, none of the envelope feeders would work, since envelope feeders only feed envelopes and not letter-size pieces of paper.

What about the DeskJets?

The DeskJet 550 and 510 print text in three directions, something that most printers don't do. The DeskJet prints normal, portrait documents in portrait. It prints envelopes it recognizes (such as COM 10, DL, and #12) by rotating clockwise 90 degrees. It rotates envelopes it doesn't know about counterclockwise 90 degrees.

To solve the problem of "Who knows which way it will rotate," the DeskJet has been set up as a special case internally to Word. To print envelopes reliably with Word 6.0, you must have the 3.1 driver from HP. It is the driver Word was designed and tested for.

For more information on how to print envelopes correctly using the DeskJet printers, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
word6 and deskjet and envelopes

Special Exception for PostScript

You can change the rotation of PostScript envelopes. The PostScript driver looks at a special WIN.INI entry of the following form: 

   [HP LaserJet IIISi PostScript,LPT2]    '(or other PostScript printer)
   LandscapeOrient=270
If LandscapeOrient is missing, the default is 90 degrees. Landscape rotates text either 90 degrees or 270 degrees in the counterclockwise direction.

THIS WILL ONLY WORK with the Windows 3.1 PostScript driver (PSCRIPT.DRV). You should find the section in the WIN.INI file that looks like [<Printer Model>, <Port>] and add this entry.

If you restart Word and go into the Envelope Options dialog box, you should notice that the Clockwise rotation box is now selected. If it's not, try choosing the Reset button in the dialog box. If it's still not selected, the WIN.INI entry did not get properly set.

For more information on printing envelopes correctly on PostScript printers, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
W_Print and postscript and envelopes

Additional query words: 6.0 winword word6 word7

Keywords : kbprint
Issue type :
Technology :


Last Reviewed: November 4, 2000
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