Can't print envelopes on old Deskjet 5550

[Charlie_SD]

I've recently connected my faithful Deskjet 5550 to my new iMac. I eventually located a driver and all seemed well. However, two problems have arisen. (1) I've lost the ability to print envelopes. For a while it worked by putting the envelope into the slot backwards -- fold on the right rather than the left. Now it doesn't seem to be working at all. (2) It now prints from first page to last, rather that the other way around, which is more convenient. (This one is really minor, but it is a puzzle.)

[MKazi · Accepted solution]

@Charlie_SD

Let me take a moment to thank you for posting on the HP Support Forums. 

I understand that you have connected your HP Deskjet 5550 Color Inkjet Printer to MacOS 10.12 Sierra. I read that the envelope printing no longer works. The printer prints from the first page to the last rather, instead it should be doing the other way around. Not worry, I'll do my best to help you. 

I recommend you to reset the printing system in the Mac OS: http://hp.care/2nAPYVU

Please refer to this HP article to print envelopes in Mac OS: http://hp.care/2vitf6b

When you print a document, you can choose to have it print from the last page to the first.

• Choose File > Print.

• If you see a Show Details button, click it.

• Click the print options pop-up menu (within the separator bar), then choose Paper Handling.

• Click the Page Order pop-up menu, then choose Reverse.

• Click Print.

I sincerely hope this information helps. Please feel free to let me know how it goes. All the best! 🙂

[Charlie_SD]

Your description for handling back-to-front printing is not what I see.I don't see a Show Details button. I see three pull-down menus. The third from the top is Copies & Pages. On that menu is Paper Handling. Choosing that item brings up another page. One item on that page is Page Order, which is always set to Automatic. That can be set to Reverse.

It appears that this has to be done for each print job. For the next job, the setting is back to Automatic. I don't know what Automatic means, but it clearly doesn't mean back-to-front.

Thanks for your help. Although it wasn't right in detail, without your suggestion I never would have thought to poke around in the print dialog.

[MKazi]

@Charlie_SD

You're most welcome. 🙂

To avoid making the changes for each print job, you may use the presets option. Please refer to the steps mentioned in "Saving default print settings as a new preset" from this link.

Hope this helps. Good luck! 

[Charlie_SD]

Again, this paper doesn't quite describe my print dialog, but it's close enough that I seem to have established back-to-front order as the standard for my printing. Many thanks again.

[MKazi]

@Charlie_SD

You're welcome. 

It is a pleasure to share this platform with you. 

Take care! 🙂

[Charlie_SD]

I have to close this discussion with some perhaps sad news. My faithful old 5550 is about to give up the ghost, printing very slowly while making unpleasant noises. I have bought a new printer, an HP Laserwriter. I have every reason to suspect that all my problems will vanish with a driver that matches my OS.

I never could get envelopes working, by the way. We'll see what happens with the new printer. Even if it does work, Microsoft's 8-step process for printing an envelope is ridiculous! (For those who might have lost the thread, with Word 2008 I have a template for printing an envelope. Fill in the address, insert an envelope into the printer, and click Print. Done.)

Charlie