HP Envy 4500 printing large gap between certain lines

[FHC1]

I have a 3 page Word document. The print preview shows everything formatted correctly. However when the document is printed, page 3, I.e. the first page to feed, doesn’t print correctly. The first line is fine in correct position but there is then a gap of 3 or 4 blank lines before the second line is printed. As a result the rest of the document is out of position with for example no margin at the top of the page and a double margin at the bottom. I am using Word 2010 on Windows 10. There was a problem with a faulty black cartridge but this has been replaced and the print quality is fine but this problem with spacing still remains with the new cartridge. The document is solely black, no colour. This problem doesn’t happen with all documents so I am at a loss to know whether it is a problem with the printer, Word or the document. The document has been printed successfully on another printer by another person to whom I sent the document by email. This is driving me mad, not to mention using reams of paper and wasting ink. I hope someone can help.

[Dragon-Fur · Accepted solution]

@FHC1

The following is mostly commentary interspersed with a couple of suggestions that may or may not help...

Word 2010 is almost nine years old now - it may or may not be fully compatible with whatever else is going on with your Windows 10 system.  This is merely an observation.  The old software may not be "at fault", though the results may be influenced by the way the old Office Word software interprets the content when that content is sent for print.

Sending the document to a colleague may -- or may not -- prove anything substantive.  Different computers handle content and printing differently.

Why does my Microsoft Word document display differently on different computers?

The issue, if the is one, might be the way the document is interpreting the line space settings.

For example, there is a difference between "normal" spacing, "no spacing", and "Heading" line spacing.  If it is your intention that the line spacing be "single spacing", check each "blank line" to ensure that these are also set to "No spacing".

One method to help determine if there is anything going on about which Word is aware is to switch on the document formatting marks. 

File > Options > Display >

Section Always show these formatting marks on the screen

Check "Show all formatting marks"

Take a look at the document - if there is anything obvious that needs attention, make corrections.

Switch off the formatting marks when you have completed any edits

Rather than throwing the same document at the printer time after time and getting the same unusable results, try something a little different (for the sake of elimination if nothing else).

For example:

Create a new document.

Copy from the old document to the new document ONLY those portions of the content that are (have been) printing correctly.  Hand edit (add) the content near the top of the document that has been causing trouble.

NOTE:  Do not use copy / paste for images.  Instead use INSERT to add image files into your new document.  Copy / Paste can result in strange print results (chopped, odd-sized, missing images).

Save document under a new name.

Print just the first page as a test.

and / or

Suggest that you save the document as a PDF file and print that.

Still odd?  Export to PDF and then print the PDF (the one page) as an image.

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[FHC1]

Dragon-Fur thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive post. I have actually solved the problem now and I’m a little embarrassed at how simple the solution was. I was playing around looking at various settings and selected the Print command from the document in Word. The usual window came up with the settings for number of copies, pages to print etc. But there is a button called Printer Properties which I had never had cause  to use or explore when using my old Epsom printer. This has various options for type of printing e.g. every day printing, photos etc and this was set at photos with paper type of photo paper. I changed this to every day printing with plain paper and lo and behold the document printed perfectly. So the problem was simply the setting of paper type.

[Dragon-Fur]

@FHC1

Excellent!

Never, ever be embarrassed about having found the solution!  Smiling.

The "Properties" button to which you refer is sometimes called the "Print Dialog", "Preferences", or similar - the exact name depends on the software you are using to view / create the document and send it to the printer.

The print dialog is the printer software settings menu - here you can verify / adjust / set the parameters for the current job.  As you have found, sometimes what you see in the software's print menu and what you have (previously?) set in the Properties (print dialog) must match.

Some printers (many, in fact) let you change the settings in the Printing Preferences (print dialog) and then use "Save-As" to create a custom print shortcut.  This custom shortcut can be used later for similar jobs that use the same paper / size / media / source / duplex settings.  Reminder:  Settings set in Printing Preferences tend to stick until they are overwritten by new settings; it is always good to double check the Properties / Preferences / print dialog to make sure your current job setup is what you need / expect.

In point of fact, letting us know how you solved the problem illustrates the value in sharing your experience so others can benefit from your discovery.  Thank you!

Happy Printing!

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