HP Envelopes         Printing Envelopes on the HP laserjet

 This article is intended for all of you R&R/HP LaserJet users who call
 asking how to print envelopes with R&R, as well as anyone else who is
 tired of typing envelopes. Following the instructions given below, you can
 use R&R to print envelopes on any HP LaserJet that will accept either an
 HP envelope tray or envelope feeder. If you don't have either of these
 printer accessories, you can feed single envelopes into the printer
 manually.

 Basically, the procedure involves three steps:

 1. Customize your printer configuration by adding a printer control
    sequence that specifies paper source, envelope size, and top margin
    spacing.

 2. Create your report layout.

 3. Select the appropriate print options and print the report.

 Using the envelope feeder

 HP makes two envelope feeders, one for the LaserJet IID (HP part number
 33457A) and one for the LaserJet IIID (HP part number 33458A). Both are
 stack feeders that can hold up to 50 envelopes at a time and that attach
 above the printer's topmost paper tray. They support three envelope sizes:
 Commercial 10 (41/8" x 9112n), Monarch (3 7/8" x 7112n), and International
 DL (110 mm x 220 mm). For this article, we used the IIID feeder fflled
 with Commercial 10 envelopes on a LaserJet IIID.

 In order to use either envelope feeder with R&R, you must first customize
 your printer configuration.

 Run RRSETUP and select the Configuration option. Select the configuration
 file you want to customize. Select the Printers command and select the
 LaserJet IIID (either Duplex or Simplex) or add it to your list of
 printers. Select Customize, and press PgDn twice to display the screen
 with the auxiliary paper bin fields. Enter the following printer control
 sequence in either of the "Auxiliary paper bin" fields, being careful to
 use the letter I (which we have placed in italics for emphasis) after the
 ampersand, the number 1 after the number 8, and the number O instead of
 the letter o:

    27,"&l81a6hOeOL"

 In this sequence, the 81a selects the Commercial 10 envelope size. If you
 want to use Monarch size, use 80a instead. For DL envelopes, use 90a. The
 other parts of the sequence should remain the same no matter what envelope
 size you use: 6h selects the envelope feeder as the paper source; Oe sets
 the top margin to O lines; OL disables the perforation skip.

 Next, create your report layout. Insert name and address fields from your
 database or type names and addresses as text fields. If your envelopes do
 not have a printed return address, you can add the return address to the
 layout. In most cases, the address fields should be on body lines. The
 last line of the report should be a body line which is a new-page line
 (use the /Line Print New-Page command).

 Before you print the report, select the following /POP print option:

    Page length: envelope length, e.g. 4 inches for COM 10

    Lines per inch: whatever you want

    Top margin: whatever you want, e.g. 0.6 inches for envelopes on which
    you will print return addresses and 2 inches for envelopes with the
    return address already printed (HP recommends at least 0.6 inch)

    Bottom margin: doesn't matter

    Printer indent: whatever you want, e.g. 0.6 inches for envelopes on
    which you will print return addresses and 3.5 inches for envelopes on
    which you print only the mailing address (again, HP recommends at least
    0.6 inch)

    Pitch/Ruler pitch: whatever you want

    Right margin: doesn't matter

    Orientation: Landscape

 Select the bin with the envelope sequence as the /POC "Paper feed" option.

 Finally, fill the envelope feeder as explained in the HP manual. Envelopes
 will be face up, with the top edge flush against the left side of the
 paper guide.

 Using the envelope tray

 HP also makes several envelope trays, one for the LaserJet II or IID (HP
 part number 92295F), which also works on the LaserJet III, and one for the
 LaserJet IIP (HP part number 92275F), which will not work unless the IIP
 has the optional Lower Cassette. For this article, we used a LaserJet II
 tray with Commercial 10 envelopes on both a LaserJet II and LaserJet III.
 This tray can hold up to 15 envelopes and is inserted in place of the
 printer's regular paper tray. It supports envelopes from 3.4" x 7" to 7.4"
 x 10.5" (this includes Commercial 10, Monarch, International DL, and CS
 envelope sizes).

 In order to use this envelope tray with R&R, follow the instructions given
 above for using the envelope feeder with your version of R&R. However,
 substitute the following printer control sequence for the auxiliary paper
 bin sequence:

    27,"&l81aOeOL"

 As indicated earlier, for printing envelopes that are not Commercial 10,
 replace 81a in either sequence with the sequence for the envelope size you
 are using: 80a for Monarch, 90a for DL, or 91a for CS.

 Before you print the report, fill the envelope tray as explained in the HP
 manual. Envelopes will be face up, with the top edge flush against the
 left side of the paper guide.


 Using manual feed

 If you print so few envelopes that you don't want to invest in any printer
 accessories, you can hand feed single envelopes into your printer by
 following the instructions given above for using the envelope tray.
 However, substitute the following printer control sequence for the
 auxiliary paper bin sequence:

    27,"&l81a2hOeOL"

 Again, if you are using envelopes that are not Commercial 10, replace 81a
 in either sequence with the sequence for the envelope size you are using:
 80a for Monarch, 90a for DL, or 91a for C5.

 Before you print your report, place a single envelope in the printer's
 manual feed slot as explained in the HP manual. Adjust the paper guides to
 hold the envelope, which should be face up with its top edge against the
 left paper guide. After this first envelope has printed, the printer
 Control Panel will display a message asking you to insert another envelope
 of the specified size. For example, since we were using Commercial 10
 envelopes, the message was PE FEED COM-10. Insert envelopes as you are
 prompted for them.


 Hints and cautions

 In using all three methods of printing envelopes, we found only two
 potential problems. First, we always got a top margin slightly larger (by
 about a tenth of an inch) than the one we specified. We compensated for
 this by specifying a smaller top margin than we actually wanted.

 Second, we found that the quality of print on our envelopes was
 significantly poorer than the quality of print on our regular paper.
 Hewlett Packard's manuals give very specific guidelines for selecting
 envelopes and adjusting the printer to improve print quality. We strongly
 suggest that you follow these instructions.