HP Officejet Pro 8600 Printer won't print envelopes, card stock or photo paper.

[GlobalRoamer]

Hi Betf,

You didn't mention which version of the 8600 you bought.  Did you buy the N911a by chance?

I bought the N911a prepared for the problem you describe before I opened the box.  That's why I bought a second tray as well.

The bottom tray will only regular size paper.  So if you are running with one tray, that is it.  If you have a second tray, the top tray is tray 1.  You can use specialty paper there.  But be careful.  The FAX machine by default uses paper from Tray 1.  Be sure to configure your 8600 to "lock" tray 1.  That way the FAX will use tray 2 instead.

[Mr_Gadget608]

I too have had this problem since the 8600 was new.  After reading 10,000 replies & suggestions, and fiddling a lot myself, I'm convinced it's a mechanical design flaw (not a driver or firmware issue) that is largely unfixable.   I've seen a number of replies indicating that people got their machine to print, but I imagine that their results will be forever intermittent.   

If you closely examine the paper path from the tray to the draw roller, it's clear that the paper needs to make a fairly sharp bend as it leaves the tray (where the paper is essentially horizontal) and enters the machine (which is nearly vertical).  You can see that the draw roller draws the paper up against a bright metal slide that is nearly vertical.   Since photo paper (and card stock) doesn't like making sharp bends, it tends to get stuck.   Thin paper doesn't have that problem (so maybe we should try thinner photo paper?). 

I get the machine to print by jiggling the paper tray as it's trying to draw the paper.  It's inconvenient but it works.