Printing #10 Envelope - Return Address "off the page" & Address Very High

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Level 1

82 points

Printing #10 Envelope - Return Address "off the page" & Address Very High

I'm having trouble printing a #10 envelope.

I have an Okidata B410d printer that Pages seems to subtitle a "Generic PCL Laser Printer."

I went -- File / Open From Template Chooser / Word Processing / Envelopes / Classic Envelope

I fill in the fields and the page attributes shows my printer, #10 Envelope and a landscape orientation.

But when I feed through the bypass tray -- following the little icons telling me face down, flap left, ... -- the result prints the address two lines from the top of the paper and no sign of the return address field (if it existed it would be an inch off the paper to the top if you follow.

So I figure there might be some way to change the setup / margins / headers / ...

I managed to get something sorta acceptable by changing the default header from 0.95 cm to 4.2 cm -- it wouldn't let me go any more. The result had the return field hugging the top of the paper and the main address starting maybe 1 1/2" from the top. the envelope looks funny by I had to get something in the mail today.

Now I'd like to make this right.

Any advice?

Thanks

iMac 21 1/2", Mac OS X (10.6.5), Pages '09 4.0.5 Okidata Laser B410d

Posted on Feb 22, 2011 11:53 AM

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Answer 1

Barry

Level 9

60,048 points

Feb 22, 2011 11:52 PM in response to jayessemm

Trial and error, using plain paper cut to the size of a # 10 envelope. The two pieces of right-sized paper you can get from a US letter sheet are good for at least four trails.

Set the header and footer both to zero.
Use the left and top margin settings to push the return address onto the page/envelope.

Once that's in the right place, use returns to push the outgoing address block down, and set a tab stop to determine the left-right position of the block.

Whe you've got it right, print an actual envelope, make any necessary final adjustments, and save the result as a template.

Regards,
Barry

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Answer 2

Feb 23, 2011 5:21 AM in response to jayessemm

Hi Jay,

There must be some printer issue that makes the top of the envelope not be where Pages thinks it is. You are on the right track, but since you ran out of room with the Header position adjustment, you can abandon the Header and use the return address mode that some of the other envelope templates use, as I recall them. That is to use a Floating Text Box for the return address.

I imagine that you also have difficulty with Pages thinking that your addressee information is off the page at the bottom, when in fact it's going where you want it. If that's the case, you may have to fool Pages with a false paper size.

When you get it the way you want it, don't forget to Save as as Template so you don't have to do this all over again.

I must chide Barry for suggesting that you use returns to move the text down the page and tabs for moving right. Please don't do that. You have all the control you need in the Document Inspector and Layout Inspector.

Jerry

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Answer 3

jayessemm Author

Level 1

82 points

Feb 23, 2011 6:19 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

Thanks Barry & Jerry,

I'll try to get some time later today and work through the permutations and combinations

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Answer 4

jayessemm Author

Level 1

82 points

Feb 23, 2011 10:33 AM in response to jayessemm

Who knows what I've done but after much trial and error (and more than a few of those pages cut to match a #10 envelope I seem to have something I can work with.

I guess, as you said, there is some funny business between my printer and Pages.

I'll detail the steps as much so I can retrieve if necessary. What I did:

* Found a template that used a floating text box for the return rather than a header.

* Changed the page size from the #10 default of 24.13 cm wide x 10.48 cm high to 24.13 cm wide x 24.0 cm high to "fool" it to working.

* Left side margins unchanged

* Set top margin to 11.5 cm and bottom to 0.0 cm

* Dragged the return address floating text box so it is centred top to bottom on the envelope (a look I like)

* Finished output has return address flush left, centred top to bottom and the address filed aligned with top line of address and return address fileds the same.

* Saved as a template in my templates.

* Tested that I could retrieve the template, type in info and print okay.

Like I said ... it ain't elegant but now I can print out a proper looking #10 through the bypass feed of my Oki printer.

Thanks for your help.

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Answer 5

Feb 24, 2011 11:42 AM in response to jayessemm

Jay,

Without a lot of experimentation, it would be difficult to say where the problem is, but it's probably not pages. Have you tried printing on envelopes using Text Edit? Have you tried other drivers for your Okidata printer?

I used one of those Okis back in the '80s and it was bomb proof. It could easily outlive the driver update lifetime. HP gave up on one of my printers after only 5 years.

Jerry

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Answer 6

jayessemm Author

Level 1

82 points

Feb 24, 2011 2:11 PM in response to Jerrold Green1

Jerry,

I'm with you -- my gut tells me the problem isn't with Pages.

I haven't done the things you suggest -- everything else with the printer works so well and now that I've got my work around for the #10 I bet I won't get around to trying more.

I did check and I have the current Oki drivers. Also I first asked my question of Oki -- I think I got an automated reply designed to look like a personal and I sent them an email detailing the steps I took -- as above. They don't seem interested.

All of which is not a big knock on Oki. I like the printer, it was great value. And I've lived through a series of Hp printers and scanners orphaned by the company.

So I'll keep on with my printer and the wonky little work around for envelopes through the bypass tray.

Thanks again for your help and interest!

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Answer 7

RISCHead

Level 1

0 points

Apr 14, 2011 9:56 AM in response to jayessemm

I think its a PCL printer driver issue - I remember in the OS X 10.5 days with the HP specific drivers, I could (still can) print envelopes perfectly on my HP Laserjet 1012. With my new MBA and OS X 10.6 and the generic PCL drivers (HP doesn't provide 10.6 drivers anymore), it doesn't seem to map to the centered envelope tray on the printer and still prints as if printing to the A4 letter tray alignment.

You can (and I have) make it work by creating a custom envelope layout (in Address Book) that does enough of an offset to print both recepient and sender addresses, but is a hack.

To me this is an obvious bug and needs to be reported and fixed.
I have low expectations however.

rgds.

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