Check Your Printer Manual.
The first stop should be your printer manual. Find the section on printing envelopes and follow your manufacturer’s instructions.
Envelope Printing Requires Testing.
Printing envelopes on a particular printer always requires testing. What might be the best loading technique for one printer model might not be best for another. Plan to print several tests before you find the perfect loading technique for your printer.
A few quick points: You do not need to open the envelope flap before printing. Keeping the flap closed will help the envelope to run through the printer smoothly, and will have less of a chance of getting caught. Keep in mind that lined envelopes may be too thick for certain printers. The best practice is to order a sample envelope to test it on your printer.
Envelope Face Up Or Face Down?
If you are printing addresses on the front of the envelope, load the envelope front side up. If you are printing on the envelope flap, load the envelope flap side down.
Envelope Orientation In The Printer: Left, Right Or Bottom?
In our testing, we have found that turning the envelope on its side–with the flap on the left side–is the best loading scenario for printing success. Since the envelope is rotated 90 degrees, both the document template and the printer driver orientation setting should be set to Landscape as opposed to the typical Portrait orientation. Otherwise, the text will not be properly oriented on the envelope.
If the flap on the left doesn’t work with your printer, try to load the envelope with the flap feeding directly into the printer. If your printer is a front loading model, the flap would be on top.
If your printer is a top loading model, the flap would be at the bottom
Quick Tip To Avoid Wasting Envelopes
Within the document template, change your ink color to a very light shade of gray. By slightly darkening the ink color with every envelope test print, you can run the same envelope through the printer several times.
How many envelopes should I load at once?
Some printers can print 10 or 20 envelopes loaded into the paper tray at a time, while others can only print one at a time. Check you printer’s manual and test to find the best method.
