problem printing business cards Avery 8871

[robinmain]

I have two business cards which I designed and printed without problems until I got my HP Officejet 6600. I have tried everything I can think of but the cards (on Avery 8871) print too high on the page. The strange thing is that they print PERFECTLY on plain paper, but when I use the card stock, it's off.  What do I need to do to fix this?

[banhien · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Could be due to the weight (thickness) of the paper. It only supports index card: Up to 200 g/m2 and for paper 60 to 105 g/m2

Regards.

[robinmain]

Finding out that the printer I bought is less capable than the one I replaced is quite disheartening but your explanation is probably correct considering that it prints my project correctly on regular paper... Thank you for your quick response.

[econobiker]

robinmain,

It is not your fault!

This is a KNOWN bug with HP printers. HP blames Avery, Avery blames HP.

I was able to tape 5 FIVE sheets of regular paper together (tape on the long sides) and even that thick pack would print but business card sheets freaked out the unit I had. I solved my problem by getting a competitor printer that pulls the sheet straight through versus an HP which pulls the sheet in, around, and then out.

I posted the original problem in 2009 and only in 2013 did someone from HP try to contact me about it.

Here is the explanation:

Be forwarned about the perforated sheet business card printing issue "wandering margin problem"  issue that HP seems to have with their printers. Some people have talked to HP which blames Avery/other card vendors and others have talked to Avery which blames HP.

This is called the "HP Wandering Margin Problem" that occurs with Avery and other sheet business card printing.

See these older posts along with searching the internet for HP printing business card alignment etc problems:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-printing-questions/Avery-Business-Card-Printing-quot-WANDERING-MA...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-printing-questions/Avery-sheet-business-card-printing-problem/m-p...

There are no known solutions to trying to print sheet business cards on (newer?) HPprinter products that flip the page around other than to purchase a pull through printer product.

I even posted the problem question on a "printer expert" weekend and got absolute no response even when ultra deep software issues were being answered.

[econobiker]

banhien,
You are WRONG with your explanation of thickness. I was able to tape FIVE sheets of standard paper together (tape on long sides) and this would print correct but perforated business cards would not print correctly.

Also:
Where does the the consumer see on on the outside of printer box the fact that the printer only supports index card: Up to 200 g/m2 and for paper 60 to 105 g/m2?

[robinmain]

Thanks everyone for your support and input.  I have spent further time working on this and have discovered that if I set my printer for the thickest paper it will take, (selected from the drop down menu in "properties") that I can print business cards with fairly reliable results.  Choose CARDSTOCK!

[Countrusty]

I have manage to get it right by setting the Layout Options to these settings.

Start Row 1

Start Column 1

Side .5

Top .5

Horizontal 0

Vertical 0

I hope this works for you.

[LittleWoman19]

The alignment on mine is messed up on regular paper and the business cards. When my parents' hp printer it did fine, occasissionaly I'd have the bottom 2 or 4 cards really close to the edge. But on my brand new 3830 its all off. I have tried moving the margin settings and it sort of helps, but then I also have to move a lot of my design to the right and some down. I printed it out on business cards to see if it would magically change, and of course it didnt. What baffles me is how messed up it is. on some rows its only slightly below the cut line, and on others its way off. Each row is different.