Borderless #10 envelope with HP Officejet 7000 - impossible?

[ltlredwagon]

I use an Officejet 7000 in my business, a small school. So far it's been a good wide-format workhorse. I use it mostly for 11X17 stuff. I'm on a Mac (OS 10.6.5) with Adobe CS3 (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) and Word 2008 for Mac. I could buy any other software to solve this problem though.

My business letterhead and envelope has a very light (think "watermark") image of the business seal on the bottom right corner corner of the paper. The image bleeds all the way to the far right and bottom edges of the letterhead and envelope. The image covers about 15 sq. inches on the letterhead and about 8 sq. inches on the envelope.

I want to get away from using commercial printers as the pricing is astronomical for the paper I use (100% post consumer waste) and the quantities I need (small). I've had no problem creating the letterhead as I can select "borderless" letter size in the page setup.

I have not yet been able to print a borderless #10 envelope. I've tried various tricks to fool the printer, creating custom paper sizes in "Page Setup", creating oversized paper sizes, etc., and can print all the way to the right, OR all the way to the bottom, but never both - there is always a 1/4 inch or so border on one edge where the printer will not print. In some instances, if my image size is too big the printer just spits out the envelope as being the wrong sized material.

There is one way I can do it - attach an envelope to the top of an 11X17 piece of paper (just tuck the paper into the flap) and feed it into the printer. But this seems to be a rather silly workaround.

Anyone have any ideas?

Bob

 

[ghwellsjr]

Sounds to me like the only workaround. If it works, go for it.

 

[Mowerman90]

If you had a Canon printer you could do as I have done many times. Make an 8.5x11 template in your software placing the envelope in the center of the template and feed the envelope from the "center" position. I believe this is very difficult if not impossible with an HP because if you set it for envelope it will ONLY print an envelope. I know this because I used to own an HP D7640 and that was one of the reasons I don't own one anymore. The Canon driver is sooooo much easier to work with IMHO. Another reason to go for the Canon is that you don't have to feed envelopes from the tray. They can be fed from the back feed path. My MP640 will feed a stack of 20 #10 envelopes without even blinking. What with Xmas sales I'm sure you could find a Canon for less than $100 and your problems are solved.

 

[ltlredwagon]

Good idea, Mowerman. Actually, I have an iP4300 which I have used for years (after doing the US to Australia conversion) to print on printable CDs. Fantastic little printer for this task. I'll try this first for the envelopes and if it doesn't work (and if none of the genius techies out there have a better solution-???) I'll go with your idea. I could buy a few of those Canon printers and still pay less than what a commercial printer would charge for 1000 envelopes. Amazing.

So - you think the MP640 will print to the edges of the envelope?

 

[Mowerman90]

So - you think the MP640 will print to the edges of the envelope?

I know it will

 

[ltlredwagon]

Got the MP640 from Canon for $80 + tax& shipping. Bob

 

[Mowerman90]

Got the MP640 from Canon for $80 + tax& shipping. Bob

Good Deal!

 

[ltlredwagon]

MP 640 works great for borderless envelope. Buyer beware: This is advertised as an "all-in-one" printer. It has no FAX. Misleading and mind-numbingly stupid. Canon - the word is ALL. What part of this word do you not understand??? この単語のどんな部分を理解しないか。

 

[Mowerman90]

Glad to hear that your problem is solved. In case you're wondering, yes, your MP640 will also print on CD/DVDs if you change the firmware as you did with your ip4300. Go here for instructions: http://damnprinter.com/ Then look on ebay for a "G" type CD tray.

 

[ltlredwagon]

Thanks, you noted that in your first post, but its helpful to have the link. I've ordered a G tray. The 4300 is still working great, but you never know.