tray printing issue

[jliefooghe]

Hello

At work we have two issues with our printers that are installed.

We all set up and install the printers in our network in the same way.

So  This printer has Tray1 and Tray2. Of which Tray1 is multipurpose and the 2 is a normal one.

We only fill paper in Tray2.

ISSUE 1:

Normal printing  like PDF documents and all are working from Tray2.

Sometimes when  they create a report from an application and they click on print, it tries printing from Tray1.

Also some few other applications try printing from Tray1.

Ofcourse because we only use Tray2, we get the message please put paper in Tray1.

On our print server, we put the settings Printer source: printer auto select and paper type: on unspecified.

So in our logical thinking way, we thought that it would take the paper from the tray that is filled  (Tray2 in this case) But no.

Also forcing to chose Printer source Tray2 doesn't work. So for now we put a bit paper in Tray1 just for those few exceptional reports that need Tray1.

How can I make sure that EVERYTHING (regardless of type and size) is printer  from Tray2.

note: Tray 2 has been tested on any size and any type before without result.

ISSUE 2:

One of the printers doesn't want to print an email from outlook.

I reinstalled the printer like i install all printers.

It prints documents and notepad as a way of test but as soon as i send an email to print  it doesn't print.

I see the print job going to our printserver and i see the job leaving our server to the printer bus once there nothing is printed.

If one of you would be able to help me with either one of my two problems  then i'd be super thankful!

Thank you in advance and if you have any question, do not hesitate to ask.

Kind regards

Justin

[John_Getzke · Accepted solution]

> Sometimes when  they create a report from an application and they click on print, it tries printing from Tray1.

There are many places that print configuration settings can be stored:

- Individual document Settings

- Application Settings (Word, Adobe Acrobat, IE)

- OS Settings ( Devices and Printers / Printers & Scanners)

- Print Server Queue Settings (Print Management)

- Printer Settings (Physical tray settings and paper tabs)

Tracking down how the various areas interact with each other is a game of trial and error.  What you described here sounds like PDF is saving its own print configuration settings and your other applications are using another. 

To eliminate confusion you should remove the paper from Tray1 whenever possible if you intend to configure the tray as AnySize/AnyType.  Otherwise the printer is going to pull from the Any/Any tray anytime there is paper loaded.

> On our print server, we put the settings Printer source: printer auto select and paper type: on unspecified.

So in our logical thinking way, we thought that it would take the paper from the tray that is filled  (Tray2 in this case) But no.

See the description above.  If you are configuring an option on the print server to auto select or unspecified then you are allowing the printer to make decisions for you. The printer is preprogrammed to search for paper tray matches in a certain way, which might not be what you are expecting.  Generally speaking the printer searches from the bottom trays up for matching paper trays, unless something is loaded into the Manual Feed tray.

> Also forcing to chose Printer source Tray2 doesn't work. So for now we put a bit paper in Tray1 just for those few exceptional reports that need Tray1.

You may not be configuring your print jobs in the right area.  Something could be overwriting your command.  For example if you configure an individual print job to print from Tray 2 then it should be sent to tray 2, no matter if there is a paper tray match or not.  If the job doesnt match the settings for Tray 2 then the printer should stop and prompt the next users to check the trays and load the correct paper.

> How can I make sure that EVERYTHING (regardless of type and size) is printer  from Tray2.

note: Tray 2 has been tested on any size and any type before without result.

Remove the Any/Any Setting on Tray1.  Put something temporary in there such as Letter/Labels, even if that is not an accurate description of the paper.  When the printer searches for paper the Any/Any option will no longer be there and it will pull from the next best match, which should be tray 2 with Letter/Plain.  That is assuming you are sending the job to the printer as a Letter/Plain print job and not something else.

[John_Getzke]

> ISSUE 2:

One of the printers doesn't want to print an email from outlook.

This one sounds like it could be print driver related.  Try setting up a test queue on your print server with an alternative print driver such as a UPD with PostScript.  Then reprint and see if there is a difference.  Mix and match the UPDs to see if any perform better than others for this task.

If not then the next step is to perform a repair on MS Office.  This will reset teh Outlook settings on that client back to the defaults.  Then test print again with your normal and test queues.

Try printing the email messages as HTML and as plaintext.  See if the printer or the driver doesnt like somethign with the way the message is composed.

[jliefooghe]

Hi

Thank you for your quick reply!

For issue 2 it was indeed  a setting somewhere hidden on the client only.

for Issue 1, it seems to be working (the forcing to use tray 2 part) so far so i want to try with other printers in our network as well.

Once this is also okay then, then i'll be able to push this to all our printers as soon as i have access to our HP printer management tool.

Thank you very mucht for the well given explanations as it helped  me understand the working of the printer better.

Kind Regards

Justin