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Printing envelopes 1

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nschultz

Programmer
Oct 21, 2003
28
US
How do you format a report to print envelopes?

I click on the page format in the printer setup menu and indicate a No. 10 envelope and close the window. At that point it reverts to an 8.5 by 11 sheet format.

Norm

 
This may sound ultra simple, but did you click on the Page setup and put it into Landscape mode?

Tom
 
I tried it in both modes. Neither would hold the envelope page selection. When I reopened the page setup screen and checked the page tab it always reverted to 8.5 x 11.

Norm

 
Norm
I have never encountered that problem and just constructed an envelope design myself with no difficulty. Some thoughts...

1. Have you tried constructing it using the Label Wizard?
2. I am using Access 2000. If you are using Access 2002, is there something different in it?
3. Does it have anything to do with your default printer?

Other than this, I don't know what to say.
Tom
 
Tom,

I am using Access 2002. I have several problems.

1. The application is one that I distribute as a runtime mde file.
2. My user base is mostly in their 70’s or 80’s and need a point and click operation.
3. I do not seem to understand how to access the label wizard.

Norm
 
Norm
I haven't had any exposure to Access 2002, but I can't imagine it's a whole lot different from Access 2000.

The only reason I suggested trying the Label Wizard is that it might help get the Envelope in proper form, given that the page size and orientation you entered didn't hold. Which seems odd in itself, since there is a specific #10 envelope size given.

However, to get the Label Wizard in Access 2000, you click to make a New report, and one of the selection is Label Wizard.

If you can't get anything there, then I wonder about trying this...
1. Make a new report.
2. Set the page size (height and width) to be the same as a #10 envelope, with no headers or footers. Make sure to look in the Columns tab of the Page Setup and see that the Height is correct.
3. Put the fields on it in the same places you would put them if you were typing an envelope.

Dunno. It's worth a try.

Tom
 
I tried you advice. The result was a report that looked like to be in the envelope format. However when I attempted to print it is wanted to print the "envelope" at the top of an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

When you opened the print setup window it showed an 8.5 x 11 page format and when you attemptd to print it in a landscape mode the result was the address information printed on its side and still in the 8.5 x 11 format.

Norm
 
Norm
That's weird. And I'm sure it's frustrating for you.

As I said, I haven't gone to Access 2002. I am still using Office 2000. I am wondering if there is some bug in the Envelope set-up for Access 2002. Might help to do a search of the Microsoft Knowledge Base and see if there is anything posted there about this problem.

One very wild thought I had was there is some kind of bug in Access 2000 that throws some things off if the Auto Name Change feature is turned on. For that reason, I never use that feature. Could it be something like this? I don't know. Just trying to brainstorm.

If you're still getting nowhere, try a fresh post in the Reports Section of Tek-Tips. You might also take a look at one of the other Access support places, such as Woody's Office Portal,
Ain't computers wonderful?

Good luck. If you find a solution I'd be interested in hearing about it.
Tom
 
Tom,

I checked the knowledge base and could not find a single reference to envelope or envelopes or prining the same. I did find a section on labels and that you could make a custom label. However the assumption seems to be that any label is either on continus forms or a 8.5 x 11 inch sheet.

It seems to appear that although there is the claim you can print an envelope, in fact you can not.

Norm
 
Not to be able to design a report to print on envelopes just doesn't make any sense to me. Does it to you? Wish I had Access 2002 so I could try it here. Surely there must be a solution.

In Access 2000, I have had no problem with doing what you want.

I know you said your user base was in their 70's and 80's, and you need the simplest possible approach. But, is mail merging into Word an option at all?

Tom
 
Norm
I just checked my settings in an envelope design. It shows Landscape mode, and a #10 envelope.

What printer are you using? I have 2 printers connected to my computer. One is an HP Laserjet, the other is an HP 842C. I find that I can print the envelopes just fine through the envelope slot in the 842C. But the Laserjet doesn't like the envelope coming through the envelope slot, even though it will print from the Tools (Envelopes and Labels) in a Word document just fine.

I wonder therefore if your problems have anything to do with your printer.

Tom
 
Well now that's interesting. I slogged through the LaserJet Printer Properties, selected the Envelope Tray manually, rather than leaving it on Automatic, and it printed from the envelope slot just fine.

Tom
 
Tom,

With relationship to the printer;

1. It never gets that far. It will not get past the print set up screen not excepting the envelope format.

2. I do not know which printer the over 1400 users of the software are using. ;-)

Norm
 
Norm
Yep, I get it. I was just hoping that if you could figure it out on your set-up, then that would be a bonus.

Tell me, do all 1400 users have Access 2002? Or maybe you're distributing it as an .mde file.

But it still makes no sense why it won't format an Envelope report. It sits right there in the options.

If I come up with any other brilliant suggestions, I'll send them. For the moment, it appears to me there is a bug in the program.

Darn gremlins!

Tom
 
Tom,

I have no idea if they have Access or not much less what version and yes, I send them an installation package which includes an mde file.

Microsoft does not admit to a bug in this area.

Norm
 
Norm
I have looked all over the place to see if I could find an answer to this envelope dilemma. No luck. Other than a suggestion on the Microsoft site that printers and printer drivers can cause problems...which is probably not your situation.

I had one last wild idea. Do you have any friends who use Access 2002? Do they have any trouble designing and printing envelopes? If so that would tend to indicate there is a bug in Access 2002.

I have sent an e-mail to the only friend I know who uses Access 2002. Hope to hear back from him in a day. I'll let you know what I find out.

Alternatively, is there a way you can test your .mde file on a computer running Access 2000, and see if it works there?

Beyond that, since I have been of absolutely no help at all, you might want to put another post in the REPORTS section of this site, and name it something specific like "Problem printing #10 envelopes."

There has to be an answer out there somewhere.

Tom
 
Tom,

The "answer" was apparently that Access had a bad installation and reinstalling it made it work. I thank you for all of your help. I feel somewhat a fool for not thinking of a Bill Gastes SNAFU as the first thing to check.

Norm
 
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