Printing on index cards

[KH22]

When I print on index cards, the print comes out slanted on the card. How I get the printer to feed the index card properly?

[Squatty_C]

Hi KH22,

Thank you for coming to the HP Customer Support Forum to look for help with printing index cards on your HP ENVY 5530.

The good news is that the product specifications do suggest that the printer is able to handle 3x5-sized media.  With a little help, hopefully the skewing of the paper you're experiencing can be eliminated.

Based on your issue description, it sounds like the index cards may not be feeding straight all the way through the printer.  HP Support Agent, Dvortex, posted a resolution to a similar issue in a separate discussion thread with guidance addressing paper handling specifications and proper paper loading instructions for index cards.

As written by Dvortex (8/29/17):

"I see that you are trying to print 3x5 cards on your HP Envy printer. The [HP ENVY 5530] printer does support the 3 x 5 in cards and you simply need to change the paper settings in order to print to this card. Check the paper handling specifications here: http://hp.care/2sqkDfS 

Go to Control panel - Devices and Printers - right click on Envy 5530 and select printing preferences. Now, you should be able to set the Paper type and paper size under Paper/Quality tab to these options.

Once this is done, then you can take the paper out of the paper tray and narrow the paper guides to fit the index cards. Check http://hp.care/2wErMHT to get more instructions on correctly loading the card."

I hope this helps.

[KH22]

The drop-down menu does not contain 3 x 5 cards as an option.  Is there a way to manually add this size as an option?  Many thanks for your help!

[Crazyblue]

Hi KH22, 

Thank you for contacting HP support forum regarding to your index card printing issue on Hp Envy 5530.

As index card is generally thicker compared to usual plain paper, it takes a higher force for the printer to pick up the index card media from the paper tray. And this higher force may cause the media to skew if it is not constrained properly along the paper path.

There is an physical width adjuster inside the paper tray that you can move to fit to the right media size. Please refer to the picture below:

On top of this, please also select the right paper type and size at print setting when you send print job. This will help the printer to adjust to the right paper pick force, so the index card media can be picked up with the right force to avoid skew.

Hope this helps with your issue.

[KH22]

I've done all of that - I've adjusted the physical feeder and I've changed the paper size to a 4 x 6 card.  The card still does not print correctly.  When I first bought the printer, I did not have this problem.   Does anything inside the printer need to be cleaned?

[Crazyblue]

Hi KH22, 

Thanks for getting back. if you have done all the print settings and adjusted the width adjuster, the next step you can do is to check anything wrong along the paper path.

You can try to open up the top lid see if there is any paper debris stuck between any of the rollers.  Please also note that there is a clean out cover inside when you open up the top lid. You can open up this clean out cover and check if there is anything stuck inside. 

After checking the clean out area, please remember to put back the cover and make sure it is tightly placed. Otherwise paper shape might not be constrained properly when it pass here and therefore result in paper skew.

Hope this helps.

[Shellb85]

I finally am able to get my cards to print... but they have a corner folded up on the right side. How can I fix this