Printing Envelopes - Addressee Cut Off

Channing Peeples · December 2018

So, I know this isn't really a Raiser's Edge issue, but I'm hoping someone out there has had the same problem and can help me.

When I print envelopes from Raiser's Edge, some of them will come out with the top half of the addressee line cut off. All of the actual address lines are fine, just the addressee line. This occurs about 25% of the time, and there is no rhyme or reason to it. I might get one envelope that is perfectly fine, then one that is cut off, then three that are fine, then two that have the line cut off. It's so random. I'm using an HP OfficeJet Pro 8710 printer. I've googled and found other people complaining about the same thing on HP forums. None of them mention using Raiser's Edge, but I've got a strong feeling they aren't, which leads me to believe it's a printer issue. I haven't seen anyone get an adequate response. I called HP support, and they were no help. One guy told me it had to be a Raiser's Edge problem, then I got transferred to a girl who wanted me to try printing from Word to see if I got the same issue. I printed one, and it was fine. I told her it was happening when printing multiple envelopes, and she legit told me it wasn't possible to print more than one envelope at a time from Word. I kid you not. That's when I just had to hang up on her. Overall, I wasted over an hour of my time on the phone with her, not including the time it took me to put labels on more than 200 envelopes, because that's the only solution I could come up with. For the record, I did try printing from a mail merge in Word on the back side of my messed up envelopes, just to see, and I got the same result. I don't have this problem on any other printer, but I really don't want to have to keep switching back and forth to printing most things on my own printer and envelopes on the big printer down the hall.

Please tell me someone has dealt with this before and has a solution!

Christine Cooke 2 · December 2018

Are the addresses that are cutting off longer addresses? you are saying that you can see the bottom half of the words on the addressee line but not the top right? With more lines and therefore the text would be pushed up or down? I use an HP 4350 series for envelopes (dinosaur) and do not have this issue. Only if the address is too long, and then it truncates, but I have been able to determine what is too long and format to adjust.

Is this a recent development? They worked before but do not work now? Is there some sort of setting for envelopes that needs to be readjusted on the printer driver? You probably already checked that. Sorry that tech support was useless. You could try calling again but ask for a manager immediately.

Aaron Rothberg · December 2018

Hi Channing Peeples‍

I'm hesitant to blame the printer just yet, but I think one question which will go a long way in solving this problem is:

When you run your test, see some addressees missing, and then run a second test, do the same exact constituents have their addressee missing on the second test or do the affected constituents change? If it's the same constituents, I'm guessing the problem is in RE.

...and are you displaying the Preferred Addressee or an Additional Address?

Diane Ellis · December 2018

I'm more inclined to think the problem is with the printer, not with RE. If the problem is in RE, you would expect to see this problem consistently. I had a printer once where the feeder wasn't grabbing the envelopes well. This was more common with envelopes that might have a little dust on them, because the little grabbers wouldn't consistently grab and feed properly. I cleaned the little grabbers with some isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip. Improved the problem quite a bit, but not always. Your issue appears as the Addressee because it is the top line that prints. The test for running the same group of records more than once is a good test though.

It could be a setting within your mailing for the Addressee selections. Go to Mail>Envelopes and open the Envelope parameter you use. Go to the Fields to include tab. Select Constituent Information Addressee under Field to Print on the right side. Select the Options button. Choose From individual at the top. I recommend you select Otherwise use "full name" and repeat the same selection for Contacts by selecting that on the left side.

I hope that helps.

Channing Peeples · February 2019

Thanks for the suggestions. It does appear to be a printer problem. I printed two envelopes for the same constituent the other day with the exact same parameters. One was cut off, and one was not. So I'm sticking with labels for the time being.

Printing Envelopes - Addressee Cut Off

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