Printing Letterhead and File Copy Letters...

[Guest]

Hi,

In our organisation nearly every letter is printed on both plain paper (for
the file copy) and on pre-printed letterheaded paper (the first page,
subsequent pages on plain).

On the HP Laserjet 4050 or 4100s that we have most of, the letterheaded
paper is in the middle tray (tray 2) and the plain paper is in the bottom
tray (tray 3).

Our users have to manually go into the print Properties box and switch
between the two sources each time they print each letter and this is a major
inconvenience with so many users. We are also wasting lots of expensive
letterhead paper when someone inadvertently prints a 150 page draft document
on letterhead.

We have tried recording a macro but the macro does not record any changes to
the print properties for some reason - Are changes to a printer's (or
networked printer's) properties not recorded?

QUESTION: The ideal solution would be to have a keyboard shortcut (i.e CTRL
+ P) which when clicked would go through the motions of printing on both
paper sources.

A solution would be a major benefit to many users!

Thanks for any advice or assistance.

Antony.

 

[Jay Freedman]

You'll need a custom macro. The problem is that seemingly every
printer model has a different set of values for specifying trays --
even your two HPs might have different values. The article at
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=101 will
give you an idea of what you're up against.

One possibility might be to define (in Windows, on each workstation)
two instances of the driver for each printer, one that prints only on
pre-printed paper and another that prints only on plain paper. Then
set up a macro that prints one copy to one instance, then a copy to
the second instance.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Jay Freedman]

You'll need a custom macro. The problem is that seemingly every
printer model has a different set of values for specifying trays --
even your two HPs might have different values. The article at
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=101 will
give you an idea of what you're up against.

One possibility might be to define (in Windows, on each workstation)
two instances of the driver for each printer, one that prints only on
pre-printed paper and another that prints only on plain paper. Then
set up a macro that prints one copy to one instance, then a copy to
the second instance.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the
newsgroup so all may benefit.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Some possiblities to consider. I hope these are some help.

1. Reorganize your paper trays so that plain paper is in the default tray.
That way it will be much more difficult for your colleagues to print huge
drafts on expensive letterehad paper. I assume that your letter template
uses letterhead only for the first page and then changes the paper selection
to plain paper for page 2 and all following pages. Of course you will have
to modify your template to how you have the paper trays organized. In this
scenario the worst that could happen with the next huge draft is that only
the first page would be on letterhead.

2. Figure out a way to have your printer print your letterhead on plain
paper. Then you won't have to worry about expensive letterhead. And you
won't have to go through the hazzle of changing the paper selection for your
file copy. That is, unless you really insist on a file copy sans
letterhead. Use an electronic signature and you will print an exact copy of
your original. Better yet, you may be able to dispense with paper file
copies altogether in favor of your electronic original which can also be
saved as a pdf file.

3. Make photcopies. At present your file copies are apparently unsigned
and not even on your letterhead. I recall that this was standard practice
in the pre-word processing days (and also apparently pre-Xerox) when carbon
copies were used. I am suprised that you adhere to a practice that has been
made obsolete by the march of technology. I think the standard practice
these days is to make a photocopy (or pdf) of the signed original letter for
a file copy. That way, the file copy is an exact copy of the original.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Some possiblities to consider. I hope these are some help.

1. Reorganize your paper trays so that plain paper is in the default tray.
That way it will be much more difficult for your colleagues to print huge
drafts on expensive letterehad paper. I assume that your letter template
uses letterhead only for the first page and then changes the paper selection
to plain paper for page 2 and all following pages. Of course you will have
to modify your template to how you have the paper trays organized. In this
scenario the worst that could happen with the next huge draft is that only
the first page would be on letterhead.

2. Figure out a way to have your printer print your letterhead on plain
paper. Then you won't have to worry about expensive letterhead. And you
won't have to go through the hazzle of changing the paper selection for your
file copy. That is, unless you really insist on a file copy sans
letterhead. Use an electronic signature and you will print an exact copy of
your original. Better yet, you may be able to dispense with paper file
copies altogether in favor of your electronic original which can also be
saved as a pdf file.

3. Make photcopies. At present your file copies are apparently unsigned
and not even on your letterhead. I recall that this was standard practice
in the pre-word processing days (and also apparently pre-Xerox) when carbon
copies were used. I am suprised that you adhere to a practice that has been
made obsolete by the march of technology. I think the standard practice
these days is to make a photocopy (or pdf) of the signed original letter for
a file copy. That way, the file copy is an exact copy of the original.