OS/2 Shareware BBS: 5 Edit/05-Edit.zip/envhowto.zip/envhowto.txt

Text File | 1994-05-26 | 11KB | 170 lines

        Printing Envelopes in DeScribe v4.0, using a Dot-Matrix Printer
                                  26 May 1994


    This sort of thing does not seem to be in the DeScribe manuals, nor the various FIDOnet
    file sets. Another approach is Herb Tyson's 1992 macro found in the Hobbes OS/2
    CD-ROM. Herb provides a macro, document and layout. I just provide a document and a
    layout. If someone clever with a drawing program could illustrate this procedure, it would
    help this package be more understandable.

    Those who have complex expectations for envelopes under DeScribe, or those with a laser
    printer, or those with boxes full of expensive continuous-form style envelopes may wish
    to stop reading here and ignore these files. In all senses of the word, this procedure is a
    hack for ordinary run-of-the-mill loose envelopes to be printed via friction feed on an
    ordinary Epson LQ-800. Since I'm using the LQ-850 driver, it ought to work on an LQ-
    850 or -1050. Anyone using this procedure on exactly the same printer I'm using will still
    want to, or have to fiddle with the particulars; anyone with other dot-matrix printers will
    simply have to fiddle some more than this. In any case, the layouts and this document
    should prove helpful in fleshing out the sometimes turgid DeScribe documentation on
    envelopes. Anyone, even those with LQ-800s, should not expect envelopes to automati-
    cally fly out of their dot-matrix printer at the touch of a key <grin>!

    If you elect to continue, please read this entire document before trying envelopes. They
    are more expensive than paper (the ones I use are 1-1.5¢each), and the setup for each one
    costs many times that in your labor and frustration. Worse, a badly-botched print might
    end up printing on your platen.

    There are two layouts provided. NEWENV is a 4.125" by 9.5" size US envelope, the so-
    called "legal" size envelope (as opposed to a "letter" envelope). This type envelope will
    hold 8.5" wide by 11" or 17" long US letter or legal paper (should also be close to the
    envelope size for international "A4" paper). BIGENV is a 9" by 12" size US envelope
    (holds standard 8.5" by 11"  sheet, or, again, "A4" paper, without folding).

    I made these "layouts" by following the instructions in the "layouts" section of the
    DeScribe manual. I loaded their envelope layout and started hacking on it. You can start
    with these two layouts and hack yourself. It's not hard, and you can make some pretty
    nifty envelope prints.

    You should be aware, however, that printing envelopes on a dot-matrix printer is not fun!!
    It is somewhat more complex than loading a muzzle-loading flintlock and somewhat less
    complex than flying an airplane IFR. Here's what I have to do (do not try this 'till you
    have read & understood entire document!!):

      power off printer and remove tractor feed cover, remove paper separator,  & open
      printhead access door
      remove tractor feed paper, leaving pull tractor grip guides open
      set print head paper thickness adjustment for thick paper (reduces smudging during bar
    code print)
      insert 4.125" x 9.5" envelope (platen adjustment is still for tractor feed) lengthwise, flap
      open, with the flap pointing to the left and the end of the envelope where the stamp goes
      emerging from the printer first
      slide envelope into printer until this end where the stamp goes is just barely past the
      rollers on the paper bail- note that the "paper out" switch will fight with you, since
      positioning it with the envelope centered will have the flap tip catching the switch as
      you try to slide it around horizontally.
      inspect the remainder of the envelope protruding from the feed slot for proper vertical
      alignment (i.e., it's not gonna go thru catty-cornered) and engage the friction feed
      place a piece of paper in the paper feed slot so as to defeat the "paper out" alarm- under
      the envelope, and not slid in far enough to catch in the feed roller...this sheet has to be
      held carefully in the left hand while your right is guiding the envelope away from any







      obstruction during printing...
      power on printer, checking to make sure printhead power up activity does not jam on
      envelope edge
      in DeScribe, highlight the addressee and use the Utilities "Envelope" selection to
      Attach NEWENV
      in DeScribe, use the Utilities "Envelope" selection to Print
      position the mouse cursor over the "Print" box on the print window that appears
      move back to the printer and get ready to catch or assist the envelope's feed, and to
      make sure the paper used to fool the "paper out" alarm does not begin feeding with the
      envelope
      reach over and click the mouse to start the print and quickly shift to attend to the enve-
      lope
      repeat the above for any other envelopes you wish to print

    Once you get real good at this, you can BEGIN to REMOTELY approach the speed that
    the ordinary person can manually address an envelope with a pen. If, however, this
    manual addresser must also draw a US "ZIP+4" bar code, the printer method will come
    out ahead. Slightly <g>.

    Still, if the ribbon is OK, a printer-generated envelope looks spiffy. If the address uses the
    proper USPS state abbreviations and ZIP or ZIP+4 code, the layout provided should gen-
    erate a proper address Bar Code on the envelope. Right now, the DeScribe-generated bar
    code does not make personal letters go faster than the add-on bar code that the USPS puts
    on letters. For commercial mailers, the bar code may be required; after the first 100 enve-
    lopes using this technique on a dot-matrix printer, I expect any "commercial" mailer
    would get a proper laser printer...<g>. I suggest you play with the scheme and see what
    you think. In my case, only mass-produced envelopes make sense. When I print enve-
    lopes, I try to do "batch": 10 or more at a time, picking any addresses I'm likely to send
    letters to later on. Note the previous steps- that's not a joke or something, you pretty much
    have to trash your entire printer station to get envelopes printing; it's silly to just print one
    and then put the printer back together.

    Fine. Now some nitty-gritty. There are two basic tricks- a "Return Address" in a global
    glossary and printing in "Landscape" format. For some reason, I had problems with the
    canned DeScribe envelope layout while hacking it, and could not get the return address
    field to hold my static text. Probably, it was linked to a blank glossary entry. I read the
    DeScribe manual about glossaries, and then created my own "global" glossary and put an
    entry, "Return Address", in it. That seemed to fix the problem. I even applied a "Bold"
    attribute to the ZIP+4 numbers in the entry. The next problem was that no matter how I
    dragged the fields around, they wanted to be centered in the middle of an 8.5" x 11" page.
    I'd get the envelope all lined up, feeding normally (horizontally), and the print would kick
    the entire envelope out, rotate the platen some more, and then begin printing on the platen!
    After some reflection, I switched the page layout to "Landscape" in the Printer Setup.
    Don't worry- it only applies to that layout. Now, the printer will print sideways, essentially
    creating what it sees as an 11" x 8.5" page. The fields are still centered,  but the centering
    is now horizontal, not vertical. You have to put the envelope through the center of the
    printer, lengthwise (vertically). Actually, this helps control paper motion better, but there
    is no edge reference possible (my LQ-800 friction feed edge guide doesn't come out that
    far). Once these two items were mastered, the rest of  the modified layout was simple. On
    the BIGENV, you're forced to use Landscape print, since that wide an envelope will only
    fit a narrow carriage printer that way. Using these two tricks and the canned DeScribe
    envelope layout, you should be able to print envelopes on 'most any dot-matrix printer.

    Anyone, even someone with an LQ-850, is nuts if they chuck an envelope into the printer
    and try the layout provided here "out of the box". What you do is leave the regular paper
    in the printer, or better, load some old printout you no longer treasure and print test pat-
    terns on the back of it. In my case, I used this approach to figure out what was going
    wrong, and later on, to adjust the rubber rollers on the paper bail to give me a crude
    alignment guide for the envelope when inserting it. Only once you can lay the target
    envelope over the version printed on regular paper and see that it registers should you
    even consider trying to print real envelopes. Again, you might want to use carefully-
    opened used envelopes for your initial testing. Remove any stamps and don't use wrinkled
    ones if you do; the print head may "catch" on these obstructions. Since you're not terribly
    concerned with print quality while testing, you might consider fitting the printer with one
    of its old ribbons for this period.








    Remember to reset your paper thickness adjustment on the printhead and to turn off
    the friction feed when you're done!

    Here's an example address:
                                -
                                Anyone e. cummings
                                24 E. Anyhow Lane NW
                                Young Anywhere-on-Earth, MN 53045-2617

    Note there is an extra line, denoted by the "-". I use this to fit either 3 or 4-line addresses
    into the text box I use. A 4-line address permits a Post Office Box number or company
    name to be added without redoing the layout. Sometimes I use a smaller character, like "."
    as the line placeholder to make the resulting address look more professional.

    I've also set the text field for the address on the layout to 14 point Times New Roman
    Bold and the text field for the return address to 10 point Times New Roman. I marked the
    Zip+4 in my return address glossary entry and set it to Bold. You can use these ideas to
    improve your envelopes once you've gotten started. Below is a screen grab (courtesy PM
    Camera/2) of the NewEnv layout with the Printer Setup menu's Job Properties menu up.
    Note the choice of Landscape Print mode.


    Happy envelope printing!    Brian Converse
                                via Fernwood 1:141/209