Trouble Printing on Envelopes?

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Are you struggling to print on envelopes?

Here are some tips for avoiding these issues and printing envelopes more easily:

First and foremost, be sure you have a printer that supports printing on envelopes, such as the HP LaserJet 4200.  Just putting an envelope in the standard paper tray and hoping for the best will rarely get you good results.  If your printer is capable of printing on envelopes, it will usually have a specialty tray or a slot to manually feed the envelopes.

Use the internet or the user’s guide for your machine to determine the weight and size of envelopes your printer is capable of printing on, and which tray should be used.  If the envelope is too thick, it may get jammed or wrinkled in the printing process.  If the envelope is too big, it may not fit through the paper path.

If the envelopes are not of high quality, it is possible that the adhesive tab will be sealed by the heat used to fuse the toner to the page (laser printers only).  If your envelopes are coming out of the printer already closed, you might need to find more durable envelopes to print on.

Verify that the alignment is properly set and make sure you select the correct envelope details, such as type and size of envelope.  You can find a list of envelope styles and sizes here.

DO NOT:

• Overload the envelope tray.
• Use envelopes that are too big for your machine.
• Put the envelopes in upside down or backwards.

TIP:  If you are using thick envelopes that seem to have an issue making it safely through the curved paper path, some printers have the option of opening the back panel of the unit so the envelopes can take a straight paper path.  Consult your printer’s documentation to find out if this is a feature of your device.