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- Re: HP printer software won't let me print to "U.S. Letter" ...
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11-27-2017 05:14 AM
Dear HP Community,
Please help me fix the following printer 'software’ problem.
< BACKGROUND >
1. Bought this 'all-in-one' 14 months ago at an U.S. 'Office Depot' store.
2. Mostly used w/ Mac (OS X.9) & PC (XP) to 'scan’, and Mac to 'print'.
3. Product only printed 100 B&W pages and 24 color pages since new.
4. Today tried (for 1st time) to print (1-page) Mac “Pages” document,
on “US Letter” sized paper - with “US Letter” sized copy paper in
printer’s (‘default’ and only) "Tray 1" tray.
5. In the “Pages” ‘Document>“Printer & Paper Size”’ control box,
I chose “HP Officejet Pro 8720” & “US Letter”.
6. Clicked on "Pages" toolbar ‘File > Page Setup…’ buttons, which
opened a small window where I set these variables’ values:
Settings: “Page Attributes”
Format for: “HP Officejet Pro 8720”
Paper Size: “US Letter”
(from sub-list of: “Index card Letter 8.5x11 in.”,
“US Letter”, and
“Borderless 8.5x11 in.”)
Orientation: “Portrait”
Scale: “100%”
7. Then clicked on window's ‘Settings: “Page Attributes” button,
next on its just-opened “Save as Default” option, and finally
clicking “OK” button to ‘lock in’ these changes & close window.
< PROBLEM >
8. When re-open “Page’s” ‘File > Page Setup…’, to verify changes are
indeed “locked in”, I find they are not! My (“US Letter” ‘Paper Size’
selection ALWAYS gets changed to “Index card Letter 8.5x11 in.”
9. Thus, when I open “Page’s” ‘File > Print…’ command, and click “Print”
(to have document printed on its “US Letter” sized paper), an error
message icon immediately leaps from Mac’s desktop tray to announce:
“Paper Size Error:
Specified custom paper size is not supported in selected tray. < OK >”
and lists its “Stopped - ‘Filter’ failed, 1 page” error message.
10. This is another “HAL 9000, NOMAD, CATCH-22” problem, in which:
a) the printer first forcefully changes the correct “Paper Size” selection
to an incorrect selection, and then (logically?!)
b) refuses to print, since this incorrect selection does not match
the correct ‘Paper Size’ paper stored in its default tray.
< RESOLUTION? >
I have made numerous attempts to circumvent this problem, including:
a) trying other ‘Paper Size’ options;
b) turning OfficeJet’s “Settings > Setup > Tray & Paper Management >
Override A4/Letter” switch on “On” and “Off”; and
c) choosing (but not printing with) “OfficeJet 8270 (Fax)” as “printer”,
(for which “US Letter” ‘Paper Size’ is accepted),
but none of these attempts have enabled me to print my ‘document’.
However, if I:
d) run the ‘test print’ diagnostic,
the printer prints out a ‘test print page’ just fine)!
I am not a ‘happy camper’! A few weeks ago I spent hours (and $120)
to install new ink cartridges, and now find myself again spending
more hours just to print a 1-page document!! (This product needs to
devote a fraction of its “verifying genuine HP ink is being used”
’ smarts’ on making things easier for the user!)
Any help in resolving this problem would be most appreciated.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
My-oh-my
Solved! Go to Solution.
Accepted Solutions
11-28-2017 02:17 PM
Hi @My-oh-my,
Welcome to HP Forums, this is a great place to get support, find answers and tips.
Thank you for posting your query. I'll be more than glad to help you.
I understand that you are facing issues with your HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 All-in-One Printer wherein it does not print US letter.
Let's go through a few steps that may help to fix this issue from the link: Print Driver Settings Guide (Mac)
Also, you may follow the steps in the link: Printing Documents (Mac)
Let me know if this works.
You have a good day ahead.
11-28-2017 02:17 PM
Hi @My-oh-my,
Welcome to HP Forums, this is a great place to get support, find answers and tips.
Thank you for posting your query. I'll be more than glad to help you.
I understand that you are facing issues with your HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 All-in-One Printer wherein it does not print US letter.
Let's go through a few steps that may help to fix this issue from the link: Print Driver Settings Guide (Mac)
Also, you may follow the steps in the link: Printing Documents (Mac)
Let me know if this works.
You have a good day ahead.
11-29-2017 04:30 AM
Dear HP Expert ‘Rainbow23’,
Thank you very much for kindly quickly supplying me with an easy solution
to my personally frustrating “product won’t let me print to ‘U.S. Letter’ sized
paper” problem.
Just as ‘TV Secret Agent #86 (Maxwell Smart)’ would (sarcastically) say (in
paraphrased fashion):
“Ohhhh! It's the old {Unnamed print options pop-up menu list} trick,
ehhhh?! Why didn’t I think of that?!!”
I am similarly compelled to (sarcastically) say:
“Ohhhh! It’s the old {after clicking ‘print’, to then:
(1) click on a non-descript ‘layout’ button; next,
(2) open its options list of “color matching, paper handling, cover page,
paper type/quality, supply levels”; and
(3) then click on “type/quality”; so as to find that
(4), for some unknown reason, my ‘Paper Type’ had been changed from
‘plain paper’ to ‘brochure paper > other matte inkjet papers’!} trick,
ehhhh?! Why didn’t I think of that?!!”
In my initial post, I had (incorrectly stated) that this problem appeared
when I first attempted to print a Mac “Pages” document. But, in fact,
I now recall having previously printed both “Pages” and “Numbers”
documents without ever having encountered this problem. So, the
question is: “Why did my ‘Paper Type’ setting change, as I have
always only used 'U.S. Letter' sized 'plain paper' - and didn’t even
know how (until now) to change “Paper Type”?!
This unanswerable question reinforces the likewise mind-boggling
experience I had (and posted) with this “HAL 9000”-like product a
month ago. And, thus, my prior “less than warm & fuzzy feeling” has
now degraded to the ‘Star Wars’ level of: “I have a baad feeling about
this (product)”! But, thank goodness I can call upon “The Power of
the HP Community” (when necessary) to rescue me from this
monster’s evil deeds. May the (HP) Force be with you!
Sincerely,
My-oh-my
11-30-2017 01:01 PM
Hi @My-oh-my,
I read the post. I thank you for your response. As @Rainbow23 is out of office for the day, I am responding now.
Is the issue resolved? The change may have occurred because of a recent software update to one of the apps on the computer or an OS update as well.
Take care and have a blessed week ahead. 🙂
DavidSMP
I am an HP Employee
12-02-2019 10:08 AM
Hello,
Thank you for posting in this thread. Unfortunately based on when the last response was made, I have closed this thread to help keep comments current and up to date. We recommend starting a new thread for your issue by clicking here.
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